Janice Lieberman of Consumer Reports discusses how to maintain your car to save money down the road.

<div class="block">Janice Lieberman of Consumer Reports discusses how to maintain your car to save money down the road.</div>

Stretching Your Dollar

Stretching Your Dollar: How to Lower Car Costs

We're finally seeing gas prices come down a little, but that's not enough to get the most mileage for your money. The way you maintain your car and drive could save you money down the road. Gassing up is your biggest expense. Get the best price per gallon you can and make sure your car is fuel efficient. If you're a member of a warehouse club, by all means, get your gas there. It's as much as 25 cents a gallon. If you have a gas station or brand that you're loyal to get their credit card or join their fuel rewards program, because again, that can get you 5, 10 cents a and, but fuel efficiency is just as important. £100 of stuff in your trunk reduces your car's fuel efficiency by 2% or more. And when it comes to tires, technology is changing too. Newer tires spin in a way that throw water on the road away from the car, which means you don't want to rotate right and left. That will not only create greater safety problems, but it also reduces efficiency if they're under inflated over inflated, improperly aligned, all of that will reduce your fuel efficiency by several percentage points. And here's something that may surprise you. You don't have to change your oil as much as you used to. If you use synthetic oil and you have a newer car, it should be only 5 to 10,000 miles. But most of them, it's how you drive. If you're going 80 MPH, you are 27% less gas efficient than if you're going 60 MPH. Neil says spend money on brakes. It will cost you 6 to $800 but better brakes will last you longer. I'm Janice Lieberman and that's the real deal.