It’s no secret that running a car is expensive. You have to pay road tax, fill it up with petrol, buy insurance – the list goes on. But there are some problems with cars that take those expenses to the next level.
In this post, we’re going to have a look at what can go wrong with your car. And we’re going to ask what you can do to reduce the cost of new parts, if anything.
Air Conditioning Compressor
We might not think that replacing a compressor would be that expensive. But it’s worth remembering that the compressor is the key part of any refrigerator. And refrigerators don’t exactly come cheap. The average price of a compressor comes in at about £200 to £500.
Engine
The engine is at the centre of any vehicle. And by most measures, it’s the most complicated part. As a result, there’s a lot that can go wrong. And when it does go wrong, things get awfully expensive.
If you’re lucky, you’ll only have to replace one or two parts of the engine. But sometimes the whole motor can blow up on you. Often this is because the oil wasn’t kept topped up, or you drove the car with the wrong fuel.
A new engine for, say, a Renault, usually comes in at between £800 and £3,000 – so not cheap. But there are ways that you can avoid these high costs. Renault breakers, for instance, do spare engines that start at about £300. Not bad.
Head Gasket
The head gasket is essentially what keeps the coolant and oil inside your engine. When the gasket blows, you’ll notice it. The engine will quickly overheat and start smoking. And you’ll start noticing smoke coming from your exhaust.
What’s surprising is that gaskets themselves are quite cheap. So why are they so expensive to replace? Well, the biggest problem is the labour involved. A blown gasket requires a lot of work to put right. And so most of the cost will be in the form of the mechanic’s labour time.
Car Keys
Most of us don’t give our car keys a second thought – until we lose them. But we should. Modern car keys are a collection of high technology designed to help keep our cars secure. But when we lose our keys, we can’t just go to the locksmith for a new set. We have to go back to the manufacturer and get the whole system replaced.
If you’ve got a sophisticated car, like an Audi, this can cost anywhere from £150 to £600. This is the price for having just one set of keys cut and replaced.
But what happens if you lose all your sets of keys? Well, then you’re in big trouble. Because there is no other key to copy, the whole car’s computer needs to be reset. And that can end up costing you well over £1,000.
There are a couple of ways you can make sure you don’t lose your keys. First, you can attach them to your house keys. Second, you can put them in the same place every night.
