The cost of a component failure on your vehicle is often much greater than the sum price of the replacement part and the labor to install it. Depending on the type of failure, you may need to spend several days without your vehicle or even pay for a tow to get yourself home safely. These costs can add up, ultimately turning a simple repair into an expensive nightmare.

By replacing parts early, you can avoid breakdowns and handle the work on your schedule. Of course, replacing parts too early means spending money unnecessarily, so it can pay to understand the best time to begin thinking about preventative maintenance for your car's parts.

Researching Common Failure Points

If you want to begin a preventative maintenance schedule for your car, researching common failure points is an excellent first step. Many vehicle manufacturers and models have dedicated online communities, often with helpful information about repairs, recalls, and potential headaches. These resources can help you understand the parts most likely to fail on your vehicle.

You should consider the relative cost of replacement versus the cost and likelihood of failure during your research. It rarely makes sense to spend several thousand dollars replacing parts before they fail, but smaller items that are all but guaranteed to fail (such as water pumps or alternators) are often good targets for preventative replacement.

Technical service bulletins (TSBs) are another research source to consider. Manufacturers release these to dealerships and independent mechanics to provide advice for common issues, and they can help you locate problems for your specific car. However, it's a good idea to discuss any TSBs of interest with your mechanic before adding them to your preventative maintenance plan.

Deciding When to Start

In general, replacing parts as part of your maintenance plan on a vehicle that's still under warranty is rarely worthwhile. Instead, start looking at possible failure points as your warranty period ends. If possible, consider adding some of these jobs to routine service work. For example, you may be able to save some money by replacing a water pump along with your timing belt.

If you're approaching the end of your warranty period, speaking with a trusted mechanic is the best option for developing a preventative maintenance plan that works for you. They can help you decide on parts that may be cost-effective to replace preventatively and also advise you where labor may overlap with other jobs.

While a preventative maintenance plan may seem like an added cost, it's often far more cost-effective over the long run. Since you're only replacing parts destined to fail anyway, you'll save money by avoiding all the other associated costs of a vehicle that refuses to start or, worse, breaks down far from home. Reach out to a professional for more information about preventative maintenance.