car breakdowns - have a go at fixing it yourself and save ££££££££!

olias

Ok, so am embarrassed to admit, that as a middle aged mand I know nothing about cars - have barely ever looked under the bonnet, and topping up the oil and checking the tyres was a major achievement.

I currently have a 12 year old Land Rover Discovery - and I recently discovered that it can be very easy to have a go yourself at repairs and save an absolute fortune.

case 1 - self levelling air suspension at rear collapsed - was quoted £240 X 2 for parts (apparently good practice to replace both sides at the same time) plus a couple of hours labour - total would have been close to £700! A quick look on the net showed sevearal step by step guides complete with full colour pics of every stage. I bought the parts for £149 total off the internet, and spent £20 on a trolley jack and £20 on axle stands and £10 on a set of spanners - the job only required taking off the wheels and undoing one nut and a clip on each side. It was easy - total saved £500.

case 2 - needed to replace a sensor at a quoted cost of £130 plus half an hour labour (minimum billed). Total would have been about £180. Again, checked the net, bought the part on line for £35 and fitted it myself (involved undoing 1 screw!) - total saved, £145

case 3 - ignition barrel worn, not allowing key to turn - breakdown recovery called and they stated that it would be impossible to get the car moving and I would have to call out an autolocksmith to replace the barrel (quoted approx £300 for part and a couple of hours to fit, plus call out charge). I again went online and looked up how to fix it - I WAS able to get it moving at the roadside, £45 for the part and about an hour to fix, a few screws and a bit of faffing about - total saved about £550.

Thats £1200 saved in a few months for the sake of a couple of hours searching the internet, and a couple of hours of my time with the car.

Just wanted to post this to encourage others to have a go - its not as hard as you think!

Olias

SailorSam

I do all my own jobs, i work on the principle that if someone else can do it, then with a bit of reading i'll be able to do it myself. I probably take longer than a professional but at least i know it's been done right.
There have been jobs though where i've had to hold up my hands and give up, but not often. There's that much free help now on the Internet i'm sure most people could do the run-of-the-mill jobs.

Dukesy

I always do the work on my classics - from taking the engine apart and fixing it to touching up the bodywork. Same with my 1980s Golf; the lack of an onboard computery system makes working on it ever so simple.

I am deeply ashamed to admit though that I once had to get a garage to change a headlight bulb on a truck we owned. I spent hours trying to do it and googling it. It turned out that most of the front end of the bloody truck had to be removed to get at the bulb... Absolutely ridiculous.

richard734

I do 90% of the work on my cars myself, but I am lucky in that I have a very, very good mechanic who will let you hire a ramp for £20 a hour and free advice/use of tools if youi get stuck.
Which normally translates to me trying for 10 minutes, being called a numpty, told to get the coffee in and it being done by the time i get back...
Had some brilliant tutorials on a sunday morning from an ex pro-rally car builder who also uses the garage.

arcon5

If doing repairs yourself add to your tool kit a set of irwin bolt grips and angle grinder for those trickier jobs. Also don't go too cheap on sockets and extension bars - otherwise you'll see them split and snap under strain.

arcon5

... and a butane gas torch can also come in handy.

A magnetic pen type tool will also earn its money when working in smaller spaces where to risk of dropping bolts is much greater.

SailorSam

arcon5 wrote: »

... and a butane has torch can also come in handy.

And then if you get to the point where you realise you're never going to fix it, you'll be able to set it alight and try and claim off your insurance.

olias

arcon5 wrote: »

If doing repairs yourself add to your tool kit a set of irwin bolt grips and angle grinder for those trickier jobs. Also don't go too cheap on sockets and extension bars - otherwise you'll see them split and snap under strain.

Thats the other benefit - you get to buy lots of shiny new tools and can justify it because you're saving money! lol.

Olias

ianders

arcon5 wrote: »

add to your tool kit a set of irwin bolt grips

I 2nd this. After much swearing and rounding off of rusted bolts holding caliper on, I went to screwfix and picked up irwin bolt grips on Saturday and had the bolts out in under 10 mins.

Also if your bolts are rusted, get in with a wire brush to dislodge some rust, give it a skoosh with WD40 or plus gas etc.. and try and get a 6-sided socket on there.
I've only got 12 sided sockets and that's what rounded the bolt imho.

arcon5

ianders wrote: »

I 2nd this. After much swearing and rounding off of rusted bolts holding caliper on, I went to screwfix and picked up irwin bolt grips on Saturday and had the bolts out in under 10 mins.

Also if your bolts are rusted, get in with a wire brush to dislodge some rust, give it a skoosh with WD40 or plus gas etc.. and try and get a 6-sided socket on there.
I've only got 12 sided sockets and that's what rounded the bolt imho.

Interestingly enough that's why I bought them - to remove the caliper retaining bolts which were both seized and partially rounded (despite using 6 sided sockets and WD40).

TrickyWicky

Yeah I'll chime in here and recommend DIY. I got a car that is a tad tricky to get sorted at any mechie so I had to start doing this stuff myself. I don't like doing it but I do feel better when I get something fixed myself.

Unfortunately you must learn where to stop when it comes to collecting tools as you really can go too far.