Car Repairs You Should Learn to Do Yourself
Cars are pretty cool and complex. However, they are not so complicated that you cannot maintain them yourself. Instead, you can make quite a few quick fixes and checkups that will save you thousands of dollars at the end of the year. And let us not forget that performing some car maintenance basics yourself feels downright fulfilling!
Here are four quick car maintenance basics you can do yourself:
1. Changing Your Brake Pads
Here’s a fix that only takes about an hour. And after your first few tries, changing your pads becomes extremely easy as well! Once you get a few of the car maintenance basics like removing the tire down, you’ll be a pro in no time!
Now for the numbers. It’s not uncommon to find shops that charge upwards of $200 for front brake pad replacement services. Meanwhile, you can buy your own front brake pads for as cheap as $50 (if not much less depending on your car’s make and model)! So it’s easy to see where you can save more than $100 per change by doing this yourself. So just, imagine how much this will add up over the lifespan of your car!
For an in-depth guide on when to change your brake pads, give this article a read.
1. Changing Your Oil/ Oil Filter
Get ready to get your hands dirty here! For only about $20, you can change your own oil. And as far as tools go, you’ll only need a ratchet, an oil filter wrench, an oil pan, a funnel, and lots of paper towels/ newspapers. That’s it! Furthermore, think about how many times you change your oil in the year? About four-five times for most people. And remember that oil changing services check-in at $60 (if not more) a shot. So that’s about $40 savings per oil change. For most drivers, that’s $160 a year! So you can see how the savings add up over time!
2. Flushing Your Coolant
When it comes to basic car maintenance services, flushing your coolant isn’t always what comes to mind first. And this makes sense seeing as you’ll only do this every 4 years or so. But even with that said, you’ll save a few dollars by learning to perform this maintenance yourself. As a whole, flushing your coolant only takes about an hour of your time. Furthermore, all you really need here is some antifreeze, distilled water, and a chemical flush of your choice. Just make sure you safely dispose of your coolant. DON’T get lazy and flush it on the ground! As a whole, shops usually charge upwards of $150 for this service. So you can easily save $80 depending on the brands you purchase.
3. Changing a Tire
Yeah, yeah, this one almost feels cliché by this point. But it’s easily one of the most common car maintenance basics you’ll ever make. Just think of all the ways you can blow out a tire driving down the road! Just to name a few, you’ve got hitting a curb, slamming into a semi tire, driving over a nail, taking a tight turn too fast, your tire just going flat, and countless other causes.
Really, who cares how much you’re saving here? Do your pride and self-respect a favor and learn to change a tire! But if you’re really keeping track, many services will charge about $50 alone to drive to your car and perform the service—that’s not including the price of the tire itself.
To perform this car maintenance basic task yourself, all you’ll need is a spare tire, a lug wrench, vehicle wheel chocks, and a jack. It’s a small one-time investment and all these tools will easily fit in your car’s trunk!