As winter approaches North America, temperatures are falling. Just a few weeks ago, we had our first few snowflakes and freezing temperatures; though that went by without much incident. When the temperatures drop, one money leak begins to creep its ugly head – warming up your car.

Warming up your car refers to turning on the engine and letting it run idle to “warm” it up. The idea with letting it warm up is that it’s like you stretching. You let the engine idle a little before making it do any real work. It sounds great in theory but it’s completely unnecessary. Your car doesn’t need this and you’re just wasting fuel.

There’s another type of “warming up your car” that people refer to and that has to do with the inside of your car. Sometimes you like to let the engine run so it can get hot and begin delivering hot air into the cabin. Again, that sounds great except it’s costing you money. Much like how your mom probably told you to put on a sweater when you were cold, rather than turn up the thermostat, it’s better for you to avoid this when possible. (Also, the engine gets warmer when you’re driving… so just get going)

If you live in a place where ice can develop, some of these rules go out the window because you need heat to melt the ice before you can safely proceed. If you live in one of those areas, you probably already know this. If you don’t live in an area like this, quit idling your car and throwing money out the window.

(Photo: spakattacks)

I hate shopping for cars. As a result, I try really hard to ensure that I get a good value for a car so that I don’t have to shop for one anytime soon. My husband and I still have the first car we bought as a married couple. We bought it nine years ago, shortly after our son was born and we got sick of trying to throw a bulky carrier in the back of a two-door vehicle (which we traded in, just so we wouldn’t have to deal with it). Since then, we have added another vehicle to our establishment.

However, as the 2001 Saturn ages, we are again turning our thoughts to car shopping. We’ll probably hold off for a little while longer, since the car has remained reliable and is decent condition, thanks to the magic of proper car maintenance. As we think more about what’s next, though, it seems apparent that we will soon have to decide between a new car and a used car.

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The buy versus lease debate has raged since the auto lease became popular but one thing is for certain about a lease: You aren’t going to end it early without paying a lot of money to do it. The recent economic headwinds have caused a rise in not only lease defaults but also people who, due to a job loss or other economic event, want to terminate their lease early. When they call the leasing company or go to the dealership where they leased the vehicle, they learn that early termination of a lease is difficult and expensive.

Why? Because the monthly payment for your car lease is calculated with the assumption that you’re going to hold the lease through the end of the term. If you don’t, the leasing company loses a lot of money in part, because they have to recoup the cost they incur for the depreciation of the car. The earlier you terminate your lease, the less money they recoup.  Although you’re probably going to have to pay something to get out of your lease, there are ways to greatly minimize the payment.

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I have a friend who absolutely loves his car. It’s not a fancy car, it’s just new to him and he treats it like his baby. He takes very good care of it, gets it washed once a week (more if he gets it dirty), and is generally a very caring owner. He also fills up with premium gasoline because, well, he thinks the gas is “better.” The only problem is that, just like his once a week car washes, he’s leaking money like crazy. While it’s debatable whether or not you really need to wash your car once a week, it’s almost certainly a leak if you go to a car wash, putting premium gasoline into a car that doesn’t need one is completely unnecessary. It’s as bad as putting regular unleaded into a car that demand premium.

Is premium gasoline better? “Yes.” Yes is in quotes because it’s better at handling compression. The higher octane means it can be compressed more before exploding. Cars that require premium gasoline will compress the gasoline to much higher PSI before igniting it. If you put regular unleaded into a premium gasoline engine, it’ll misfire. The fuel will ignite before the engine is ready and that’s the reason you’ll hear “knocking.”

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We listen to a lot of NPR (WAMU) and every so often we’ll hear a pitch to donate our “used vehicle, RV, boat or airplane.” We considered donating our private jet, seeing as how they’ve fallen out of favor ever since the auto company CEOs used theirs to a Congressional hearing, but just haven’t pulled the trigger yet.

One thing we have done, though this predates our appreciation of NPR by several years, is donate a used car to a charity. About seven years ago, my wife’s car died (blown head gasket) and it didn’t make financial sense to repair it. We were looking around at our options and decided that donating it to a local school was the best option for us (I mentioned the car in passing in my post on why you should donate your car).

So how do you donate your car? It’s a simple three step process.

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I drive a 2005 Chevy Aveo that I bought new. In case you have never owned one, they were made with sub-par parts. For example, the thermostat housing was made of plastic. Thermostat housings are near the engine, so within 3 years, it had gotten so hot on and off that it cracked in two. Amazingly, the replacement part was metal. Long story short, I have looked into what problems can be ignored and what problems can’t when it comes to a car like mine. Please keep in mind that I am not an auto professional – I just own a cruddy one and am sharing my experiences.

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With gas prices being so high, I have been thinking about how to save at the pump for the last few months. I realized that becoming self-employed was going to help since the commute to my day job was causing me to need to fill up every 5 or 6 days. Since quitting your job isn’t an option for everybody, I also tried to think of other ways a person could kill their need for a car. I have come up with several main options. You too can save yourself some money on gas and vehicle maintenance by opting for alternative forms of transportation. Here are a few of the ways I can think of that you can kill your car.

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When I first started driving, I was like any other early driver – I wanted to get where I was going as quickly as I could. If that meant sacrificing a few MPG to do it, I didn’t think twice. Back then, gasoline was much cheaper, I had far more disposable income, and my fuel efficiency wasn’t something I spent too much time thinking about it. Now that I use the car more often, see the pain at the pump each time, I’m more cognizant of how my driving habits affect my fuel use.

Nowadays, I drive more casually. I tend to drive at slower speeds, I’m almost never in a rush, and it’s done wonders for both my fuel mileage and my general disposition. At first, it was tough. It didn’t bother me that trips took a few minutes longer (I hardly noticed), but driving felt a little longer because I wasn’t going as fast. Then I learned to enjoy what was on the radio, enjoy the sights (even if it’s just some trees whizzing by on the highway), and I felt zero anxiety about seeing police cars stopped at the side of the highway (when you’re going at the speed limit or just a few miles over it, instead of ten, you will never get pulled over for speeding). I think it has translated to better fuel efficiency but more importantly, I think I’m calmer.
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