Here’s a smart investment tool for new model car owners, older model car owners, used car shoppers, and DIY mechanics looking to save a lot of money by avoiding scams and/or wasting money firing the parts cannon at their ailing vehicle.
Saving Money on Your Car
Over the years I’ve lost more money than I like to think about when it comes to the cars and trucks I’ve owned. And mostly because it was an inexperience thing.
I’ve been scammed by mechanics while stranded on a road trip in the desert; I’ve fired the parts cannon at a repair I did not correctly diagnose; I bought the wrong tool---or more precisely, a too expensive tool when a much cheaper one would have done the job just as well; I’ve wound up in the emergency room because I did not wear the proper safety equipment while working on a car; and, failed to recognize the signs and symptoms quickly enough to avert disaster with a vehicle (fortunately it wasn’t my car).
But that’s all in the past. I don’t make those mistakes so much now---I have plenty of new ones always in the works.
My point is that after a repair or maintenance I like to go back over the receipts to calculate what it cost me and then do some armchair wrenching on how I could have done it cheaper. You’d be surprised by just how much you can learn from this simple practice and cut down on your car repair and maintenance expenses.
Scan Tool Investing
What got me reflecting about this lately was an informative 100PercentJake YouTube channel video where the host discusses the merits of owning and using a new scan tool that not only reads and passes on trouble codes back to you for diagnosing problems you are having with your car, but is also capable of two-way communication that allows you to do actuation testing of the modules that control many aspects of your car’s operating systems and features.
In other words, it will give you a lot of real-time data and function testing of questionable components and systems to help narrow down the problem quickly.
Better yet, the price of his reviewed scan tool is only $800! Which is inexpensive for a quality scan tool.
The point being that you can imagine how such a tool can pay for itself when it comes to controlling your car repair and maintenance costs as well as having a good idea of impending repairs (or scams) to come that would benefit:
• DIY shade tree mechanics.
• Used car shoppers inspecting a potential buy.
• Car owners wanting to avoid being successfully scammed with unneeded repairs or servicing.
Related article: Save Thousands Yearly in Scam Car Repairs and Maintenance with This Guide
The Value of This Video
The value of this video is that it goes beyond what most scan tool-related videos provide that typically praise more on how cheap one can be found, but not so much as to the actual practical usefulness and capabilities you are getting with the purchase. In this video the host takes you on a brief tour of his new scan tool and shows what it is capable of and what makes it so cool and useful.
That said, here is the video in its entirety posted below that is a fun watch even if you find the idea of owning and using a scan tool a little intimidating.
MUST-HAVE mechanics tool in 2022?
And finally…
For additional articles about saving money with your car, here are a few selected related articles:
• Save Money with This Best “Made in USA” Tool Test Review
• 10 Real Ways to Really Save Gas and Money
• Everything You Need to Know About Saving Money Buying Toyota and Lexus Parts
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Timothy Boyer is a Torque News automotive reporter based in Cincinnati. Experienced with early car restorations, he regularly restores older vehicles with engine modifications for improved performance. Follow Tim on Twitter at @TimBoyerWrites for daily new and used vehicle news.
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