Preventative maintenance is the most cost-effective way to make your vehicle more fuel-efficient, and it can even help reduce your car’s emissions. Sure, it’s one more thing on your to-do list. But by tuning up your car on a regular basis will pay you back in substantial fuel economy gains.  

Here are some maintenance activities that will improve your fuel efficiency.

1. Check your tire pressure.

It takes mere minutes, but checking your tires make a big difference in improving your gas mileage. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that about 1% of the gasoline consumed in the USA (about 1.25 billion gallons) is wasted because of underinflated tires.

Here’s how you do it:

You first need to know ideal air pressure your tires should hold. You find this number in your owner’s manual, on the inside of the driver’s door, or on the tire itself. You then need to unscrew the valve stem cap on your tire and press an air pressure gauge onto the valve stem. If the PSI (pounds per square inch) is lower than it should be, you need to go to a local gas station and add air.

2. Replace your spark plugs.

Your spark plugs don’t last forever. You should be aware of how many miles they are specified for and how many miles you’ve put on them. Sure, they may last for 100,000 miles, but once you get to 80,000 miles, you could already be having problems with them.

During those last 20,000, you’re more likely to experience misfires and incomplete combustion. When these things happen, you waste fuel -- as much as $500 worth. If you replace your spark plugs early, you actually come out ahead with your fuel savings.

Here’s how you do it:

Your owner’s manual will tell you where your spark plugs are and how to remove them. If you aren’t comfortable doing this yourself, it’s worth a trip to the mechanics to have it done.

3. Check your wheel alignment.

What does your wheel alignment have to do with saving on gas? A lot, it turns out. If your tires aren’t aligned correctly, they are adding drag to your vehicle. The loss in fuel efficiency from misaligned can be as high as 31 cents per gallon. They also wear out your tires unevenly, which can also contribute to poor fuel efficiency.

Here’s how you do it:

A tire rotation is something you should have done regularly (every 5,000 miles or so) by a competent auto mechanic.

See? Nothing to it! Just a few quick steps, and your car will be maximizing its efficiency. You just have to remember to perform these maintenance activities regularly in order to get the most benefit from them.

Image by Patrick Emerson via Flickr, licensed under CC BY 2.0.