Frugal Car Maintenance Tips

I love all this but will never get under the hood. My husband does a lot of fixing and repairing. Just off the subject...We bought a little Dihatsu (sp) years ago at a salvage yard for 2500...It was a few years old and that car never gave us a minute of problems, except routine stuff. I painted the car bright colors and it was a delivery car for my gift basket biz. Just had to tell you that Bill. I admire people willing to do the work and if they don't know how find a way. I still congratulate Bev for changing the brake pads...Never will forget that. Great HUB

My dad would love this, because he has worked on and with cars all his life. He even has helped me so many times,w hen minor repairs and oil changes need to be done and am so sharing your article with him. Thanks for all the wonderful tips and do very much agree that you can safe tons of money doing your own repairs here. Have of course voted way up and shared all over!!

Thank you for all this useful info. I have done some of the work on my cars or have had friends who have helped me and the price difference is ridiculous! This shows a really great and doable way to save money! Up+, my friend!

The simple things can be done without having to spend lots of money on them, like replacing a bumper or headlight. This is great and will be useful for many! Sharing.

This isn't just frugal Bill, its smart! Why give up all that money for someone to spend a few minutes switching out a battery....of course there's a learning curve but there's always a learning curve in life.

I'm lucky because my husband's been a car guy all his life though its easier to work on his '39 Ford then it is our 2010 Chrysler Van!

Voted up, useful, and interesting.

Doing a car repair myself is so satisfying. It often takes less time than is needed to schedule a repair with a garage and then wait for it to be done. All the "how-to" videos available from the web for free make it easy to learn. And I can definitely find better things to do with the extra money than pay $75 an hour to a mechanic. The best tip in this hub is to order parts from far-away junkyards and have them shipped. Voted up!

This is definite food for thought. It is also a simple matter to remove the inside of the car door to make repairs in there, too, like a broken window or repair the window crank.

Hi Bill,

This is such a useful look at car frugality, my little teaching paycheck does not allow my family to enjoy the luxury of more than one car, and even when i noted how much we were spending on mechanics, i had to go for a short course in mechanic. We can choose how we want to live but the situations we are in dictates. Very useful tips you have shared here, small actions can make a really big difference. Voted up.

This hub is very timely! My husband's truck failed the safety inspection and we need to fix some things. We've been discussing the costs of the parts. I completely forgot about checking out the salvage yard, thank you!!! :)

This look like some great advice, I have very little to do with the car, my husband however does a little tinkering now and again. This is very useful, running a car can be a very expensive business.

Great Hub! As we each turned 12 my father started taking us to salvage yards and teaching us how to do minor work on the car. It has stood me in good stead all these many years and saved a boatload of money. Terrific advice and step by step directions. :)

I am very lucky to have a family member who is a mechanic and car dealer. But as our cars become more and more sophisticated and computer-run, it becomes more difficult to fix the smaller issues yourself.

Well, I think you have come up with an area of frugality that I could more closely examine! Between my husband and myself, we can change a tire, a headlight, and maybe some spark plugs. But, I never thought too much about doing the real maintenance myself....and I definitely never thought to go to a salvage yard to get the part. These are excellent ideas!

I always have snow coming.....till June! :)

OMG Bill, I hate to admit that my battery and bumper need to be replaced. The batter is running on empty and the bumper has been beat to death. I think my headlamps are okay because I see a lot that I don't want to see. Thanks for the tips but if you don't mind, when it comes time to replace them, I'm just going to call you and have you ship me the arts. You're the expert and I'm just no good at this stuff. I don't know how you write so well and fix cars too. :-)

So far I haven't had to learn how to fix my car, minor stuff like you described my husband usually does it... eventually. I have replaced my own battery, and I can change a tire. Thanks for the tips, I'll keep them in mind if I ever have to maintain my own car.

My son is one who does his own car maintenance. His father owned a dealership and my son loved getting his hands dirty, starting at an early age. I wasn't happy at the time but, today i see the benefit of learning. Another great ' how to ' hub..

Interesting hub, bill.

I was brought up in a country where labor is cheap ( India) thus, did not know all this. However, wanna train my kid to be hands on things thus, will give this a try.

We enrolled in Cub Scout so that we also learn with him :)

Passing it on to my husband. Many votes as useful and interesting.

A valuable article Billy. And absolutely essential. I wish I would have taken an auto mechanics class at some point. Thanks so much and up, useful, awesome, interesting and sharing.

Can't get much more frugal than having, not one, but two mechanically talented sons!! What a bargain........UP+++

LOL...I am SO LUCKY that my hubby is a mechanical engineer. He even does body work! Take a car to the mechanic!? Pfft. The only time I've ever taken a car to the mechanic was when we had a Subaru and the whole rear-end had to come off "yesterday" because of a faulty wheel bearing. It kept going bad and we had to keep it under warranty - it had to be repaired 5 times before we gave up and sold the car. So, we didn't end up paying for those repairs. LOL. Everything else? You betcha...he'll even replace the windshield when it gets cracked. Oh, that boy is so special....

Bill, this is one more area I'm frugal at. Been doing such minor repairs and replacements ever since I was in college. Initially learnt all this by observing the mechanics and then carrying them out when needed.

Great job here my friend and feels nice to relate to this hub.

Voted up and useful.

LOL... the things we do for love and loyalty.

Thank you for this. No longer own a car.

Bill - I've done much of what you've mentioned. Starters can be a bear to replace, especially since a car on a rack makes access so much easier. The basics are fairly simple. However, I did have a Turbo VW Beetle that was a nightmare to replace the driver's side headlight. You almost had to take off the fender (which probably would have been easier) to get to it. The only caution I might add here is that if your car is under warranty, be careful of the parts you use. Dealerships are known for refusing to honor warranties due to substandard parts creating problems, or so they say. Wear items generally are not covered under most warranties after and initial break in period, but, again, if they can be used in any way to void warranty work (of which the manufacturer always pays the dealership less to do) they will do it to make a greater profit margin. Great job, my friend!

i dont have a car yet --- but who knows?

Greetings Bill,

Votes up to Bev, way to go for the female drivers. Thanks Bill for a really useful write on simple cost cutting in an industry known for over pricing - generally! As my other half is a car mechanic (honest and talented I may add!) I know certain things now as a newbie driver of a few yrs but loved your step by step for light bulb replacement, something so many of us don't know (me included) but do now!!!!

Excellent tips as always my friend! Up all the way!!

People do most of the things themselves where I come from, but I don't do anything else than wash my car, LOL! I'm leaving the rest to Magnus or my sister's husband, who repairs cars all the time. This hub is very useful and I'm sure we could save more money by doing more things ourselves. Now I'm off to work. Have a wonderful day my friend! :)

Bill, so fitting that I come back to this article. I had saved from Christmas since September and it all went on my truck two weeks ago. Nearly a thousand dollars later, here we are. Through it all, it did give me two weeks to come up with some money and I made it through. A vehicle is so important. You have to keep them up and running. Don't let things go on your car because it can cause more problems and then you have two or more issues. Luckily for me, I shopped early but had to cut many off my X-Mas list. Should have been more prepared though. Wise words and information as always Bill. Hope you have a wonderful holiday and it is a blessing to have such an inspirational friend. Looking forward to 2013!!

Great hub, Bill. I've done the light bulb and battery thing. I even overhauled a carburetor on a Toyota a long time ago. It wasn't hard - just lay the parts out in the order in which they come off, then reverse the process with the new parts!

Now that I'm a homeowner I can say I've become an OK plumber thanks to Youtube and the 'net. I must say I have not yet attemtpted to become a car mechanic BUT it is in the near future.

Your first paragraph sums up my life quite nicely "living from paycheck to paycheck", saving for vacations and Christmas presents etc. As I can only imagine many others do the same. Living frugaly is the only choice my family has now a days....any tips on replacing a car antenna (that will be my first DIY car project - as it doesn't require to much grime, tools, and knowledge of the innards of a car).

I might add the feeling of replacing something yourself as well as saving a couple bucks (sometimes MUCH more) is like no other!

Thanks for sharing with us billybuc!!!

~Becky

Great article and I can attest to the usefulness of the internet. It got me through a roof repair. Although it doesn't tell how a klutz should properly come down off a ladder. My way is to hit the ground face first.

I can change a tire, check my oil and change it and change my battery, although the battery changing doesn't happen very often. My brother is a very good teacher. Other than that, my way seems to work rather well for me. I kick the ever living hell out of it and yell four lettered words until someone who knows something about auto's comes along and takes pity on me.

Regards,

Beckie XO

I am attempting to catch up on the 400 hubs I missed over the holiday break. I figured I would get the best out of the way first.....LOL How's that for butt kissing?

Love, Beckie