I’m sometimes really good at coming up with crazy ideas. Here’s another one.

Owning a car can be expensive, and when you drive as much as I do, you start to look for ways to lower your costs.
Some things I do, or have done include:

• Maximize time between oil changes. My driving is mostly highway, so I should be able to get 9,000 – 11,000 kilometres between oil changes, and I always get a synthetic blend for high mileage engines.
• Drive the speed limit. I’m a male, and well, most of us like to drive a little fast, in fact I normally do a speed limit + 10% cruising speed, but I have found that I can change my L/100KM (MPG) just by slowing down to the posted limit.
• Proper tire inflation. I check them every 2 – 3 weeks to confirm that they are within 0.5 PSI of the manufactures recommendation.
• Tire rotation. Every 10,000 km, lines up really nice with getting an oil change.

Now, I know that I could probably get better economy by bumping my fuel grade up from regular to extra/mid grade or even going to premium/top grade… but I drive close to 48,000 km each year (or did last year and am on track to do it again this year), so getting the best bang for my buck with gas prices where they are is important.
Here’s my Fuelly Badge, and I’ve tracked every fill up since I bought my 2008 Ford Escape in August 2011.

 

 

And in MPG too: 

I’m going to be going through a set of tires every 2-3 years, assuming I’m not overly crazy with my driving, and get 10k – 15k from my winters and 30k – 35k from my summer set, so that is going to be an extra cost, plus the cost of the oil changes, the extra for the better oil, and the fun of getting shock and struts and other front end parts replaced more often thanks to living in New Brunswick, where roads are often littered with pot holes in the spring.

I guess it is finally time to get to the real point of this dialogue. I want to get sponsors for my vehicle, real people and businesses willing to pay or give time/parts towards maintenance, and in return, they can advertise on my truck. Now I’ll have to do some more research to see if this is practical, and how it might impact my tax returns in the future, and if anyone would want to advertise on my vehicle, but it’s worth a shot.
Picture the vehicle below sporting some stickers that don’t add horsepower! (Not my real Ford Escape)