Five Reasons to Carry Out Your Own Car Maintenance Jobs

If it seems like your car spend as much time in the garage as it does on the road, have you ever considered whether there are any repairs you could carry out yourself?

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You might think you’re under qualified to be tinkering with your own car, but the fact is that many simple jobs are easier than you’d have thought.

Here are five reasons to consider trying your hand at car maintenance instead of taking it into the garage.

It’s not as difficult as you’d think

Sure, your repairs might not go exactly to plan. But the worst case scenario is probably either that something gets broken temporarily (which can be fixed), or you might only fix something in the short-term.

Either way, chances are that your car isn’t going to burst into flames or just stop running all of a sudden, so surely it’s at least worth a try?

Cars are made to be sturdy machines, and you’d be surprised at just how simple some of the jobs carried out at garages are.

There’s lots of help out there

In the digital age, it’s easier than ever to try out things you would never usually think to do, thanks to the proliferation of how-to guides.

Instead of struggling to find the right page in the encyclopaedia of an owner’s manual, you can simply bring up a tutorial on YouTube on your phone or tablet and have someone talk you through the process step by step.

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For example, AutoMD has videos and blogs on all manner of repairs, which if you follow them correctly, make it pretty difficult to go wrong.

It’s cheaper

One of the most obvious reasons you would benefit from carrying out your own repairs is the cost!

Garage repairs are at an all-time high, with the average rate around £75 per hour, with the higher end dealers charging closer to £200 per hour!

When you consider all you need to pay is the price of any parts or equipment, the financial benefits of doing it yourself are plain to see!

Choice of parts

When you take your vehicle to your local garage, you often don’t have a lot of input into which parts get used in your repairs.

While it might not seem like too big of an issue, a lot of local garages use aftermarket parts, parts which have been made with inferior materials, and that weren’t made specifically for your model of vehicle.

If you do your own repairs, you can rest assured that you’re using genuine parts which will stand up to the test.

We spoke to a genuine Honda parts dealer, Cox Motor Parts, who said: “When you choose genuine parts, you know you can count on the highest quality.

“Genuine parts are manufactured to strict quality standards imposed by Honda engineers for an exact fit and precise operation.

“Many non-genuine parts may claim to be of equal quality, but they are not produced to meet their manufacturer’s engineering and material specifications.”

It’s quicker

Of course, this depends on how quickly you get the job done! But generally speaking, if you want something done quickly, you’re best doing it yourself.

Taking your car into the garage could mean you’re without it for a couple of days, which is even more of an inconvenience if you need your car for work on a daily basis!

Once you’ve got a bit of practice behind you, doing it yourself should have you back on the road in a fraction of the time.