Forgetting to budget for car repairs is easy but very depressing when you see your bank account after bringing your car to the shop. Hundreds of dollars in repairs each year add up quickly. But don’t worry. There are plenty of simple automotive repairs you can do yourself to save money!
Changing Your Battery
Never bring your car to a shop for a dead battery. For one, you might not need a new battery at all. Look at the date printed on your current battery. If the battery is younger than five years old, try hooking it up to a battery charger to see if there’s hope for it. Such a discharged battery typically takes 6 to 10 hours to recharge.
Once you’ve ruled out a discharged battery as the cause of the issue, buying and installing a new battery is simple. Several local stores sell batteries, so refer to your owner’s manual to ensure you get the right one. From there, unplug your current battery by unhooking the negative (black) cable first, followed by the positive (red) cable. Then, replace it with your new battery and hook up the positive cable, then the negative one.
Replacing a Flat Tire
Learning how to fix a flat is a quintessential part of car ownership. Make sure you never become stranded on the side of the road and always have a spare in your trunk. Before touching the tire, apply the parking brake and secure the other wheels with wheel wedges (or large rocks or sticks). Once you have the wheel cover or hubcap removed, loosen the lug nuts on the wheel.
Next, use your jack to lift the wheel by putting the jack on a sturdy part of your car’s frame. Refer to your manual to learn proper jack placement for your vehicle. When the jack has lifted your vehicle, fully unscrew the lug nuts and remove the flat tire. Now, repeat the process in reverse with your spare tire! Hand-tighten the lug nuts, lower the vehicle, remove the jack, and re-tighten the lug nuts.
Removing Scratches
Many scratches are completely fixable without taking your car into the shop. For example, you can mend scratches to your clearcoat with nothing more than soap and water. Other scratches that damage the paint are easy to fix as long as you know what you’re doing.
Now that you know about these simple automotive repairs you can do yourself, you can save yourself time and avoid excessive auto shop bills!
