One of the disadvantages of owning your own car is the money you have to spend on regular maintenance projects. It’s easy to spend several hundred dollars a year, not even counting gas. One way you can cut down these expenses is to take care of some of that maintenance yourself. Here are five cheap car fixes you can do on your own.
Changing you own light bulbs on your car, whether they be tail lights, headlights, or brake lights, can save you a fair amount of money. Luckily, this project isn’t too difficult either. You can find light bulbs at any auto parts supplier, but many hardware stores and discount stores like U Pull & Pay also sell them. Replacing a bulb is usually as easy as removing a screw or two and disconnecting and reconnecting a couple of wires.
Spark plugs provide the spark that starts your engine, so if they are in bad shape, you might have trouble starting your car, or it might not start at all. Changing your spark plugs before they fail completely can prevent a costly tow. Having a mechanic change them can easily run you $50 or more, so by doing it yourself you can save a significant amount of money. Doing the job yourself generally takes less than an hour and doesn’t require any special tools.
Your friendly mechanic or technician at the oil change place may offer to change your worn-out windshield wipers for a price that’s about double what it would cost to change them yourself. Pick up wipers at an auto parts store, hardware store, or discount store and swap them out yourself with ease. It’s a job any novice can do.
One of the easiest do-it-yourself car repair jobs is changing the air filter. A dirty filter can make your car run rough, and also reduce your gas mileage. In most cars, all you have to do is locate the case the air filter sits in, open it up, remove the old one and mount in the new one.
If something electrical isn’t working on your car, it could be a blown fuse. Your fuse box is located underneath your dash, and changing a fuse is as simple as pulling out the old one and plugging in a new one.
These are some of the many easy car fixes you can do yourself to save money. Take a look at a few mentioned here and see if you can save yourself a little dough the next time you need a quick fix.
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