Few people realize what you can do with an automotive repair manual, a little bit of free time, some basic automotive tools, and a bit of cash to throw around. A lot of people take it for granted that you have to have all of your auto repair done by professionals, but this is not the case. It depends a lot on the model of the car and type of problem, but most auto repair is actually pretty simple to do. Sometimes, you can save hundreds of dollars on fixing your car by taking a simple shortcut. For example, I used to own up an old and clunky Voyager with a rusted out rear air-conditioning unit. All the coolant leak out of it, and they said it would cost hundreds of dollars to fix. Instead, I use a clamp from a normal hardware store to cut off the rear air-conditioning unit. It cost me less than a dollar, took me no more than an hour to do, and completely solved the problem!
Nevertheless, for more serious problems, auto repair is definitely a must. I know some people who do automotive engine repair on their own, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you really know what you are doing. Today’s cars are more sophisticated and complex than ever, and it takes a quality automotive technician to really diagnose and fix the problem. Don’t get me wrong – if you have someone there to help you who knows what they are doing, you can probably get enough help to work your way through. Nonetheless, if you are even the slightest bit unsure of your abilities, you should probably leave the auto repairs to the expert.
One of the best compromises is to let your mechanic diagnose the problem, then go and repair it yourself. One of the biggest dangers with trying to perform your own auto repair is not knowing what the problem is. Amateur mechanics can jump to conclusions and miss out on the whole issue at hand. This can cause all kinds of problems, and will usually lose you more money than you can gain by not hiring a mechanic. If you have your mechanic figure out what is wrong, however, you can still save a lot of money on labor costs by doing the job yourself. It doesn’t make sense for everyone, but for some people it really does.