25 Great Ways to Save on Car Costs

8. Hunt for zero-percent financing deals

While rare, some carmakers and dealers offer auto loans that charge no interest on select vehicles. Typically only available from a dealer’s in-house financing department for new-car purchases, zero-percent APR loans require borrowers to have excellent credit to qualify, with some lenders setting the bar at credit scores of 740 or higher. Unlike a zero-percent APR credit card offer, the interest rate remains zero for the loan’s duration, not just an initial introductory period. However, these loans typically last just 36 to 48 months — about a third less than the length of today’s average auto loan — and, as a result, require higher monthly payments. Caveat: Taking a zero-percent APR loan may require you to give up cash rebates or other discounts that could reduce the car’s purchase price, so check whether a zero-percent loan would provide you with the largest savings.

9. Get preapproved before heading to a dealership

Once you find an appealing loan offer from a bank, credit union or online lender, apply for preapproval — a written offer stating that the company is willing to lend you a certain amount of money at an agreed-upon interest rate if you meet their underwriting requirements. Once you have this letter in hand, see if the dealer’s financing department will beat the offer, advises Montoya.

10. Refinance for a better rate

You’re not necessarily stuck with your initial auto loan. Replacing it with a new loan with a lower interest rate sometime in the future could reduce your financing costs and get you out of debt quicker, depending on certain factors. If interest rates drop or your credit score improves, refinancing might get you a lower rate and save you a significant amount of money. For instance, if you owe $25,000 on a loan with 48 months remaining and a 9 percent interest rate, you’d pay $4,862 in interest by the time you pay it off. Refinancing to a new 48-month loan with a 7 percent rate would save you $1,127 in interest. Before refinancing, make sure to account for any title transfer fees your state might require, origination or application fees the new lender may charge, and any prepayment penalties your current lender might charge for paying off the loan early.

Car insurance

11. Shop around

Don’t automatically renew your auto insurance policy every year. Instead, get quotes from several insurers annually to make sure you’re getting the best rate and coverage. “It’s easy to shop around and get multiple quotes without much effort now,” says Stephen Crewdson, senior director of the insurance intelligence group at J.D. Power. “You can do this by speaking to an independent agent who represents many different insurers or using an online quote comparison site.” Car owners who switched insurers in the past five years saved a median of $461 in annual costs, a 2024 Consumer Reports survey found.

12. Bundle insurance policies with the same carrier

Many insurance companies offer discounts to customers who purchase more than one policy. The savings can be significant: Progressive says new customers save more than 20 percent on average by bundling home and auto insurance; Nationwide says it offers discounts of up to 15 percent for bundling those policies; Allstate says you could cut up to a quarter off your costs by bundling; and State Farm reports customers who bundle save, on average, $1,273 annually. If you don’t need homeowners insurance, you could bundle renters, motorcycle, boat, RV or life insurance with your auto policy to nab a better rate.

13. Don’t overlook special discounts

Many insurers offer a wide variety of other discounts that you might qualify for. One of the most common is a safe driver discount, says Crewdson, typically offered to drivers with no tickets or collisions for a certain period. For instance, Allstate pays customers who go six months without a car accident a bonus in the form of an account credit, while Progressive says it charges safe drivers 34 percent less on average than those who’ve had accidents or violations within the past three years. You may want to try usage-based insurance, which uses telematics programs to record and evaluate how you act behind the wheel, Crewdson adds. You often get a discount just for signing up, and then your rate could drop by as much as 30 percent if you’re a responsible motorist. The drawback: High-risk behavior, such as speeding, could lead to higher premiums.

Drive fewer than 10,000 miles a year? Ask your insurer for a low-mileage discount, or consider getting a pay-per-mile insurance policy, which charges a daily base rate and a couple cents for every mile driven. For infrequent motorists, switching to pay-per-mile could cut their bill by as much as 40 percent, says insurer Mile Auto. In addition, you might qualify for a discount by being a member of certain credit unions, professional organizations, the military or groups like AARP. Setting up automatic payments and going paperless could cut your insurance bill, too. Having a car with certain safety features, like an antilock braking system or anti-theft devices, might also earn you a discount.

In 34 states, taking an approved defensive driving or driving education course earns motorists a discount of up to 15 percent. (Some insurers apply this discount to eligible older drivers regardless of where they live.)

14. Modify your coverage

While most states require a certain minimum amount of auto liability coverage, you can still personalize your deductible and other coverage limits to better suit your needs and potentially save money as a result. Increasing your deductible — the amount you have to pay out of pocket when filing a claim — from $200 to $500 can lower your annual car insurance costs by 15 to 30 percent, according to the Insurance Information Institute. It might also make sense to get rid of comprehensive and collision coverage depending on your vehicle’s value, says Michael DeLong, insurance researcher with the Consumer Federation of America. As a car depreciates with time and usage, collision insurance, which covers crash damage, and comprehensive insurance, which covers storm damage, theft and fire, become less beneficial.

“If your car isn’t worth much now, then it may be worth dropping” comprehensive and collision coverage, DeLong says. The Consumer Federation of America recommends dropping comprehensive and collision coverage if your policy’s annual premium costs more than 10 percent of your vehicle’s value.

15. Raise your credit score

Auto insurers look at a variety of factors when determining how much your insurance plan will cost you, including your credit score (unless you live in California, Hawaii, Massachusetts or Michigan, where the practice is prohibited). “Insurers discriminate against people with lower credit scores, even if they’re good drivers,” DeLong says. “You’ll pay hundreds or thousands more in premiums if you have a poor credit score.” Americans with clean driving records and excellent credit (scores of 800 or higher) paid 49 percent less in premiums for the same insurance coverage as those with fair credit (scores of 580-669), according to a 2023 Consumer Federation of America study. Those with poor scores (below 580) paid 115 percent more than those with top credit scores and 44 percent more than those with fair credit scores. You can increase your credit score by making credit card payments on time, reducing your credit utilization ratio, avoiding new debt and reviewing your credit report for errors. Credit reports are available for free on a weekly basis from the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — at AnnualCreditReport.com.

Gasoline

16. Check your tire pressure

Maintaining the right level of tire pressure, as recommended by the sticker normally found inside the driver’s door or your vehicle’s manual, could save you as much as 11 cents per gallon on fuel usage and extend a tire’s life by 4,700 miles, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. However, tires regularly lose air, so you may need to make frequent adjustments. Usually, cars built since 2007 have tire pressure monitoring systems, so act quickly when the warning light turns on. To optimize tire pressure, check yours monthly using a tire gauge, as most monitoring systems only alert you when pressure dips 25 percent below its target level.

17. Use an app to locate cheaper fuel

Want to save money at the pump? Several free mobile apps, such as AAA, GasBuddy and Gas Guru, allow you to view fuel prices at nearby stations to help you find the cheapest option. (You can filter results by fuel grade and distance.) Warehouse stores and gas stations away from major highways and city centers tend to offer the lowest prices. Switching to a station charging 18 cents less per gallon than your regular spot when refueling a 15-gallon vehicle weekly equals $140.40 less spent on gasoline annually. Just remember: Driving out of your way to the cheapest spot could cost you more than you’ll save, so carefully weigh the journey.

18. Choose the best payment option

With gas stations, cash remains king. Many charge 5 cents to 10 cents more per gallon when you pay with a credit card to help offset the transaction fees levied by major credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard. For a 15-gallon vehicle refueled weekly, shaving 10 cents per gallon leads to $78 in savings annually. If you’d rather pay with a credit card, opt for one that rewards spending on gasoline. For instance, the Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express offers 3 percent cash back on gas station purchases up to $6,000 per year, then 1 percent after that. The Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card also pays 3 percent cash back on gasoline, up to $2,500 per quarter.

19. Buy the right gasoline

Choosing premium-grade gasoline may seem like a smart way to improve your car’s fuel economy and performance, but for most vehicles the upgrade brings no benefit, according to a test conducted by AAA. If your car was designed to run on regular fuel, choosing premium at the pump can be a costly mistake — one that 16.5 million drivers make annually. Premium gasoline can cost 40 cents to $1 or more per gallon than regular.

20. Drive smoothly

Your car’s fuel economy has a lot to do with your driving behavior. Aggressive drivers — those who often speed, accelerate hard and slam the brakes — lower their car’s gas mileage by 10 percent to 40 percent in traffic and 15 percent to 30 percent on the highway, meaning they waste $0.25 to $1 per gallon, according to the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Try to drive smoothly and watch out for red lights and stop signs to avoid accelerating or braking rapidly, which can lower your vehicle’s fuel efficiency. Also, avoid idling and don’t disable the auto stop-start feature common in newer cars — it can reduce fuel usage by 7 to 26 percent, according to test results published by the Society of Automotive Engineers. While driving on the highway, turning on cruise control to maintain a steady speed can improve fuel efficiency.

Vehicle maintenance and repairs

21. Do some basic maintenance yourself

Taking on a few routine tasks yourself can reduce maintenance expenses. “Changing the cabin air filter usually just takes replacing a few clips and popping in a new one. Most people can do it after watching a YouTube video explaining it,” Montoya says. If you took a 2021 Honda Civic to a dealership in central Florida, for example, you’d likely pay between $78 and $96 for the service, with labor costs accounting for more than half the amount, according to Kelley Blue Book estimates.

Checking your vehicle’s engine oil, replacing wiper blades, adding washer fluid, changing light bulbs and swapping out air filters are fairly straightforward tasks you could try tackling. Many owner’s manuals provide instructions, and there is no shortage of step-by-step video tutorials online. Missing a tool? AutoZone, Advance Auto Parts and O’Reilly Auto Parts allow customers to borrow specialty tools, like slide hammers, torque wrenches and ball joint press adapters, for a limited time — you just need to put down a deposit that covers the tool’s purchase price, and the money will be refunded when you return it.

22. Follow the manufacturer’s maintenance schedule

Your car’s owner’s manual typically spells out what maintenance services your exact model requires and when to do them. Sticking to that schedule will keep your vehicle running efficiently and help prevent breakdowns. It could also help you avoid falling for deceptive sales pitches. “Dealerships and garages may recommend services you don’t need till much later because they want to make extra money,” Montoya warns. Reviewing the manual can also clear any outdated beliefs from your mind. For instance, in the past, many vehicles benefited from oil changes every 2,000 to 5,000 miles, but newer cars may only need oil changes once a year or every 10,000 miles. “You may be doing too much and wasting money if you could have gone several more months without that service,” Montoya says.

23. Estimate repair costs before visiting a mechanic

If you know what maintenance or repair work your car needs, research the average cost in your area before you commit to a particular mechanic, Tucker says. Using Kelley Blue Book’s repair pricing tool, you can enter your car details and ZIP code to see what it deems a fair local price for many common services provided by dealers and independent garages.

Armed with this knowledge, you can better judge if a repair quote is a rip-off or the going rate. But don’t talk to just one mechanic. Researchers from Jerry, a digital auto insurance comparison company, tested the benefits of shopping around by calling 145 repair companies near Phoenix. They found that costs for an engine air filter replacement varied from $20 to $60, while replacing brake pads could cost anywhere from $240 to $900 for the same vehicle.

24. Ask for a break

You may be able to knock a bit off your bill by simply asking for a discount. Customers who went to an independent mechanic or a chain repair shop had more success with this method than those who went to a dealership, a Consumer Reports survey found; independent repair shops were the most likely to negotiate on price. Repeat customers, those who visit in the morning or midweek when the shop may be slow, and those seeking larger repairs or service packages may find it easier to get a discount or negotiate the price.

“Negotiating might allow you to get a slight discount, maybe 10 percent. But the best way to pay less for a repair is to get price quotes from different shops in your area,” Montoya says. “Either way, you should negotiate upfront before the repairs are performed.” Some memberships automatically entitle you to discounts. For instance, AAA members receive a 10 percent discount on repair labor, up to $50, when they visit one of its approved facilities. Costco members get 15 percent off, up to $500, from certain service centers.

25. Pay attention to the warranty

When you purchase a new car, it includes a manufacturer’s warranty that covers repairs if certain parts fail, either within a set time period or mileage. Most manufacturer’s warranties last for three years or 36,000 miles, according to Kelley Blue Book. Damage from accidents and typical wear and tear, however, are not covered.

“Garages are great places to get repairs, but save them for when your car is outside of warranty,” Jones says. “When in-warranty, go to a dealership so you can be sure manufacturer parts are used, the service is performed the way the manufacturer directs, and there’s a record detailing the service received.” Altering parts, adding new parts or failing to adhere to the manufacturer’s suggested maintenance schedule could void parts of the warranty and allow dealerships to deny your claim, so be careful. Check your owner’s manual to see your car warranty’s terms and conditions.