Eight Basic Vehicle Maintenance Tasks You Probably Skip, but Really Shouldn’t
14th April 2025
Most of us have a love-hate relationship with our cars. We love our vehicles because they represent freedom (and economic necessity, if you rely on one to get to work or do your grocery shopping), but we hate how much they cost—and the fact that you never actually stop paying for them. It costs an average of $1,452 every year just to keep your vehicle running, and the overall cost of owning a car is a whopping $6,684 annually.
As crucial as vehicle maintenance is in terms of making sure your car is reliable, people tend to skip an awful lot of it. If all you do every year is the basics—changing the oil and engine filters in a standard tune-up—you’re skipping a bunch of maintenance that only seems less important. Here are the vehicle maintenance steps you should definitely not skip.
This advice is aimed at women, since men typically do this stuff automatically.
Fun fact: Jeff Somers is a highly-regarded (by me, at least) speculative fiction author and noted connoisseur of whiskies.