If you are not an expert at vehicle maintenance, but you do not want to have a service technician charging you lots of money to fix vehicle problems that can be prevented, I have some ideas that can help you out, and save you money.
My first idea to help you avoid problems with your vehicle is a very simple one; utilize the information booklet that comes with your vehicle. It is located in the glove box of your vehicle, and it contains all of the information you need to know about your vehicle to properly maintain it. Vehicle specifications, fluid requirements, and all other information regarding your vehicle is in this booklet. This booklet is very important, because it tells you what maintenance you need to do to maintain your vehicle, and it tells you when you need to do it, and there is a maintenance log inside of it that you can use to keep track of the dates you have any maintenance work done, and you can mark down how much mileage is on your vehicle when the work is done. Keeping track of your mileage is very important if you ever need to use your Manufacturers Warranty.
If you are technologically savvy, you can use your computer to keep track of all maintenance work done. Computers normally come with Microsoft Office, or Microsoft Works, and these programs have tools for keeping track of your vehicle. There are tools in these programs that you can use to keep track of where you go on road trips, what repair and maintenance work you have done, and tools that provide you with a check list to make sure that you do not forget to do anything when you are doing vehicle maintenance. You can even setup a maintenance reminder on your computer that will alert you when you need to do maintenance. If you use these tools, if you ever want to sell your vehicle, you will have a record of everything you have done with your vehicle. If you keep good vehicle records, you can see if a part of your vehicle is being repaired, or replaced too much, and you can take steps to repair your vehicle before it becomes a major problem.
If you want to save yourself some money in the future, get an extended warranty for you vehicle, because the need for repairs normally happens after the original warranty has expired. A warranty is not required if you have the ability to repair your vehicle yourself, and repairing your vehicle yourself will save you a lot of money. You can find instructions on how to repair your vehicle in a shop manual for your vehicle specification and on the internet for free. Any parts you need, you can get from a good auto store. As long as you understand what you are doing, use the right tools, get the right parts, and take proper safety measures, you will not have problems doing repairs and maintaining your vehicle yourself.