JACKSON, Miss.–If you’ve been traveling the couple of weeks for the holidays, you’ve noticed that gas prices have shot up. Mississippi’s average today is about $3.12 per gallon, way up over what it was for most of November News Mississippi wanted to know what to do to save money, so you’re gonna get it from an expert.
Tom Pollack is with AAA Mississippi. He says you can’t do anything about the price, but what you can do is keep your car up to specs to keep from having to buy so much.
“Tire pressure does have a direct relation to gas consumption,” he said. The first thing you should do is make sure your tire has the right amount of air in it. Pollack said you should be able to find that in the owner’s manual.
AUDIO: News Mississippi’s Kipp Gregory Interviews Tom Pollack
“We need to pay particular attention to general maintenance. Check your battery, make sure you have enough coolant and things of that nature. All these things combine to put some wear and tear on your car and as a result, your car’s gonna be burning more fuel to make up for some of the deficiencies, which is gonna cause you to return to the gas pumps on a more regular basis.”
As far as changing your oil, the recommendation is every 3,000 miles.
“I think that could be extended a little bit and it’s dependent on the use of the car.”
He said if you’re not using your car as much as a person who is driving a lot, for travel or for business, then you might make an allowance for a few more miles, but Pollack said he believes synthetic oil is a good idea.
