Taking your car to the local auto repair center might
be convenient but when you realize how much you could have saved if you had got
under the hood yourself you might think twice before making that booking.
Some major car repairs need some professional guidance
to be done properly and safely but there are plenty of basic tasks and regular
maintenance activities that you could manage by yourself, helping to cut the
cost of motoring down considerably.
Save money
on regular maintenance and repairs
You might be tempted to save as much money as possible
by skipping some regular maintenance tasks and leaving repairs until something
goes wrong, but that often turns out to be a false economy.
Changing the oil every 7,000 miles or so is a real
no-brainer. It prolongs the life of your car and the cost of your time and some
new oil is nothing compared to a major engine repair.
Keeping your tires properly inflated is another
essential activity. It saves wear and tear and improves your car’s driving
performance when your tires are at the right pressure.
Don’t be
afraid to get your hands dirty
Fear of doing something wrong can hold some people
back from getting their hands dirty and tackling an auto repair job but there are many tasks that are
much easier than you imagine.
A classic example would be replacing the brake pads on
your vehicle.
You want to do it right for safety’s sake, of course,
but with a wheel lug wrench, a jack, and some pliers, plus a set of brake pads
and anything else that can be found here, you could spend almost ten times less compared to a
typical auto repair bill, by doing the job yourself.
Each new pad should be good for at least 30,000 miles,
and if you follow the instruction manual for your car or an online tutorial,
you will most likely wonder why you have been sending the car to the repair center
all these years.
Spark plugs
are easy
You could easily land yourself with a big repair bill
if you get someone else to change the spark plugs but the cost of doing this
job yourself is many times less, and not that difficult.
Modern spark plugs are capable of lasting for up to
100,000 miles so you won’t have to be under the hood for this task that often.
However, when you consider that the cost of buying and changing the spark plugs by yourself is only about
10% of a typical auto repair bill, it is well worth getting the spark plug
wrench in your hand and following an easy set of instructions.
Keeping a lid on the annual cost of motoring is a
challenge but by doing regular and easy auto maintenance yourself, like
replacing the oil, changing oil and air filters, windshield wiper blades, and a
number of other easy tasks, you could save a decent stash of cash.
