When you come right down to it, keeping your car in tip-top shape can make a world of difference in gas savings, not to mention wear and tear. Proper tire inflation alone can save you up to 5%. Properly aligned wheels or replacing a faulty thermostat might save another 2%. An engine performance check-up can save you even more. Altogether this could improve gas mileage by as much as 11%.

Should your vehicle begin to use more gas, it's telling you that it needs more attention. Whether it's bad spark plugs, a dirty air filter, a clogged fuel injector, improper wheel alignment, or low tire pressure, the only way to keep on top of things is through frequent maintenance.

Albeit maintenance neglect has always been an issue, today's vehicles can tolerate greater periods of abuse because of improved technologies. Eventually, though, there comes a time when neglect catches up and it gets costly. The old cliché, "You can pay me now, or you can pay me later" should really state, "You can pay me a small amount now for maintenance, or you can pay me hundreds of times more for repairs because of maintenance neglect."