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I don't think it is worth it to you to buy parts for your mechanic to install, main reason is that the auto part store gives your mechanic a decent discount so that they can charge you list price on parts without having to charge for their time in ordering parts, so if you find that they are charging a markup on auto part store prices then call them out on it and move on to a more honest mechanic.
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) is who puts the standards and ratings on motor oil and gasoline they also do a great deal of testing on automotive ideas and parts, their testing on spark plugs boiled down to stock copper core plugs give the best power and mileage for the dollar, silver core are a little better but cost way more then they are worth and exotic metal tipped spark plugs are only good because they last 100,000 miles instead of 15,000-20,000 miles.
Synthetic motor oil is worth it unless your engine is wore out and burning a lot of oil, same with synthetic transmission fluid.
How soon do you need new tires? Low Rolling Resistance tires will often save you more then the cost of the tires in the first year of use and web sites like TireRack.com let you sort out the LRR (low rolling resistance) tires.
To me filters that filter better are worth buying, filters that can be washed are only worth it if they filter out more dirt, K&N filters let a lot of dirt pass and that wears out the rest of your engine, some of the micro fiber filters filter down to a smaller micron (dirt size) and the foam air filters have so much area that they can hold a lot more dust then others, but just going with a high quality like a Wix filter is often the best choice and it's worth letting your mechanic know that you would rather spend the extra $3 to get the part that will help your car last longer because a car that lasts is more Eco then one that wears out.
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