Nearly all Americans are worried about money these days. Between foreclosures, skyrocketing rent, businesses shutting down and so on, it’s only feasible that you would be looking for ways to save money, especially on your vehicle.
For some, this may mean keeping their vehicle longer, in fact the average age of cars and trucks on the road is 10 years, according to Polk, an automotive market firm. Another way to save is by putting off maintenance and repairs. According to Consumer reports up to 40% of people are postponing maintenance on their vehicles. In doing so, they also felt the value, safety or reliability would suffer, with some saying it was an embarrassment.
So what can you do about it?
One option is the Do It Yourself route. We’re going to explore the pros and cons of DIY car repair, figure out what is safe and not safe to do on your own and whether it will save you money versus going to the shop.
How Much Do You really Know About Your Car?
Cars have become more complicated over the last 10 years, and just keep getting more complicated. Before you could just open the hood and readily identify parts of your engine. Now, especially if you have a Hybrid, you can barely figure out where to add washer fluid. They look more like a rocket ship underneath the hood.
You used to be able to take a handful of simple tools and fix your vehicle. Now vehicles have advanced to the point of being almost completely run by computers.
Technicians today spend years of training to learn how to fix today’s cars and are constantly updating their skills to keep up with technology. This includes their tools, which can run into the thousands for diagnostic equipment and specialty tools.
The times of watching your dad change his oil and use that limited knowledge is no longer enough to tackle more complicated repairs.
Don’t fret however, there are still things you can do from home that are safe and relatively simple for the do it yourselfer.
What are “safe” DIY vehicle repairs?
Below are some simple things you can do yourself without much to worry about.
- Replace Wiper Blades
- Check fluids and tire pressure
- Replace headlight and tail light bulbs (on most models)
- Changing a flat tire
- Replacing your cabin or air filter
- Changing your oil (however please dispose of it properly, your local auto parts store usually offers free disposal)
The more repairs you do allows you to them gain experience and knowledge to start doing more complex jobs such as:
- Replacing belts, hoses, spark plugs
- Replacing alternators and starters
Whether your a pro or a beginner, the thing to always keep in mind is to be properly prepared. Here’s how:
Diagnose the problem correctly:
Misdiagnosing can happen to the best of us, even the pros. If you replace the wrong part, you waste time and money and could even add to the problem. What was going to cost $100 at a shop may now cost you much more. Simple advice – never guess what is wrong. Instead, have a shop diagnose your issue so you know for sure how to proceed and what your next steps are.
Research Repairs:
You want to research your repair you will be performing. Vehicle repair manuals are easily obtainable both online and at your local parts store. We suggest you get one if you plan on doing more repairs yourself on your vehicle. You can also consult your owners manual, online resources and instructional videos before starting a repair. After you have researched your issue, you should have a better understanding of the tools and equipment needed to perform your repair.
The Right Tools:
You must ensure you have the right tools for the job, but be careful. Some jobs are nearly impossible without the proper tools and can add hours to a simple repair. Your repair manual will help guide you to what you need.
Time To Perform The Repair:
You don’t want your only vehicle disabled when you need it, so leave yourself enough time to complete the job and address any issues that will inevitably occur. We suggest doubling the time a job calls for just to be safe. Having an open, nearby parts store during your repair is HIGHLY recommended as well.
Bottom line, if you don’t have the knowledge, skill, preparation and time needed to do the repair, it’s best and most cost effective to leave it to the pros.
When is DIY car repair not an option?
The likely hood of you destroying your vehicle over replacing your wiper blades is fairly slim, but there are many repairs that can be dangerous to you and your vehicle if not done properly. Here are some of the repairs we recommend you leave to the professionals.
- Safety-related repairs: Working on any safety system on your vehicle must be done so with caution. This includes brakes, airbags, and steering systems. Failure to repair these properly can result in injury to you and others on the road. Suspension systems are extremely dangerous since they are under a lot of pressure due to springs and require special tools to fix. We strongly suggest these tasks be left to a repair professional.
- Timing Belt Replacement: If something goes wrong here, you can ruin your engine beyond repair.
- Transmission Maintenance or Repair: Same applies here, if you damage something it can cause irreversible damage. Most newer vehicles are not even serviceable any longer, they are sealed units and have to just be replaced.
- Overheating: One of the easiest ways to damage your engine is to have it overheat. So rather than risk it, have a shop deal with this issue.
- Fuel system: Failure to properly reconnect fuel lines or components can cause fuel leaks and possible fires.
- Check Engine Light: Many things can trigger the Check Engine Light to come on, so this one is best left to the pros who have the proper equipment and diagnostic computer to determine what is setting the codes off.
If any one thing has instilled the DIYer with false confidence, it’s the code reader. Sure, it’s a pretty empowering feeling to pick up a code reader from your local auto parts store, hook it up, and get that number (called a diagnostic trouble code or “DTC”).
As soon as you get that number, you assume you know what part you need to replace. It’s not always that simple unfortunately. Sure, maybe you’ll get lucky, but you could end up replacing a part that didn’t need replaced in the first place and can then lead to replacing more parts and the problem still exists.
A code reader is just part of what a technician does in order to diagnose a problem with your car correctly. No matter what your skills, unless you’re highly trained and skilled as a mechanic with the right tools and equipment, we don’t recommend you attempt most repairs at home. If you have a hard enough time putting IKEA furniture together, most DIY repairs on your vehicle will be out of your league. Thus, stick with the simple things and leave the rest to the car repair professionals.
