Experts say retired car owners need to master this money habit before they learn it the hard way

Nothing kills your car budget faster than maintenance.

But that sentence means so many things that some experts decided to put together a list of dos and don’ts when it comes to vehicle maintenance.

There are a few rules to follow, but it all boils down to one thing in particular.

And apparently that’s a mistake that has to do with human nature.

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This is the one thing you should bear in mind

For most people a car is the most or second-most expensive thing they own.

Partly because it represents a significant investment, but also because it comes with several financial burdens.

Insurance, taxes, and of course maintenance.

And the biggest problem with maintenance, according to experts, is that most people delay it.

Proactive, consistent maintenance will save you a fortune.

Stretching the time between appointments can lead to surprise bills because a minor and inconsequential issue can easily become the end of the world if you ignore it.

Routine maintenance, according to a list put together by GOBankingRates, can save retirees between $1,000 and $5,000 (on average) over the course of vehicle ownership.

Translated, it’d be tempting to give in to human nature and ignore a small problem and just hope it goes away.

But it’s probably not a good strategy.

Your car can actually ‘age’

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that repair costs climb sharply for vehicles aged 6 to 15 years.

So basically your vehicle starts ‘aging’ after six years, which is interesting.

They found that people under the age of 25 and individuals over the age of 65 had the highest average vehicle age.

Older car maintenance costs average $499 for households over 65.

Interestingly, the data completely ignores automobiles that are 15 years old or older.

Maybe it’s because they assume that after 15 years, your car will have either met its fate at the crusher, or it’ll spend most of its life parked in a garage and not on the road.

Obviously that depends on the vehicle.

Some cars are notoriously unreliable – the Range Rover L322 and some old Italian classics spring to mind – while others are unkillable.

And when it comes to unkillable cars nothing beats the Toyota Hilux.

Jeremy Clarkson once attempted to destroy it using several ‘creative’ methods (above), and absolutely nothing worked.