Repair Serious Car Problems

Don't ignore those strange clanking, rattling, bumping, squealing, hissing, pinging, grinding, or scraping sounds you hear while you're driving. You might be not only damaging your engine, but also slashing your fuel economy as well.

Fixing a severe maintenance problem can improve your gas mileage by up to 30 percent, saving you both gas and money in the long run.

If your engine needs some major work, tend to it right away. You could be wasting up to 15 gallons of gasoline-and about $45-for every month you put off seeing the mechanic.

FuelEconomy.gov