Do it Yourself Auto Repairs
Do it yourself auto repair has gained in popularity over the last few years. Some would say that this is due to the poor economic conditions. People are attempting to reduce operating costs on family automobiles anyway they can. This has brought the diy auto mechanic back into the driveway.
Another factor behind the boom in Diy car repair is the fact that people are keeping their rides longer. After five years of making payments people are hesitant to dive back in for another five or now available seven-year automotive mortgage.
This means they will be keeping their vehicle, on average of an additional three years past the payoff date. As we all know the older a car gets the more things will require fixing.
Preventative maintenance can not only reduce the amount of future repair costs but in most cases is well within the skill set of the average do it yourself auto repair mechanic.
If we look at the big picture 10 years of car maintenance leaves a large opportunity to save money on auto repairs. Performing even just the simple maintenance items on your own car such as air filter replacement and changing your own wiper blades will help.
If you were able to do all of the maintenance schedule, as outlined in your owner’s manual this would add up to even larger savings over that same ten year period. Most car maintenance is considered to be gravy work by professional mechanics.
The reason being is that compared to some repairs on the automobile regular maintenance is much easier to perform and there for more profitable.
How to learn car repair
If you want to mop up the maintenance gravy work, or are interested in increasing your do it yourself auto repair skills you should consider learning more about auto repair. The way I learned was by reading reference materials and applying that new knowledge to actual vehicles.
You can view some of my recommended automotive resources on my page about how to learn car repair. Yes you may not want to start out by working on a Bentley but you can work your way up.
Another good trick is to practice up at the junk yard. Practice taking off a water pump on an old rusted or totaled Monte Carlo before you try the same thing on your wife’s nice Monte Carlo.
Scheduled maintenance is still the best way for new do it yourself car mechanics to get their feet wet. And the owner’s manual that came with the car is the trusted source of what to do and when to do it.
If you do not have your owner’s manual or the vehicle is used. You can still access the vehicles proper maintenance schedule by using online auto repair manuals.
Mitchel Diy manuals is one of my favorite web based programs that can supply a lot of cost-saving information for do-it-yourself auto mechanics. Not only will it tell you what service to perform at what miles but it will also supply factory part numbers and fluid capacities.
This way you know what to get and how much of it you need. Saving money on your automobiles scheduled maintenance costs over a 10-year period can help pay for the next vehicle.
Every preventative maintenance decision you make is important to the future cost of repairs. This is why I recommend quality car repair information as opposed to asking your uncle Burt that may not know as much as you think he does. Car repair self reliance is well worth the time investment in my opinion.