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In the United States, we love or automobiles. We take great pride in our cars and we associate them as defining part of our identity. That being said, very few of us want our pride and joy automobile to be associated with breaking down and/or a money pit. Problem is, maintenance is time consuming and often times expensive. To make matters worse, mechanics and shops can often be misleading in their diagnosis and charge us for items that we have a feeling do not need servicing but we just don't know enough about the part in question to ensure that it does not need to be replaced. Unfortunately, sniffing out a bad mechanic isn't as easy as a the shop telling you that you need to service your muffler bearing. So what options does that leave one with? You can search with great vigor for a dependable and affordable mechanic or your can consider doing the work yourself. Which one is better?

It turns out, there are two items to consider here... your mechanical ability and your drive and desire to get dirty and work on your car yourself. If you are highly mechanically inclined then working on our own car is a great option. That being said, know your limits.. mistakes can be quite costly. If you have no interest in working on your own car then your answer is clear, find a dependable mechanic. For most of us, the answer likely could lie in a combination of the two approaches. Determine what you can do yourself and what is cost effective to do so. Changing your air filter can be accomplished with a screw driver and about 10 minutes of your time. To top that off you can typically pick up the filter from your local parts house for cheaper than a shop would cost you, saving you on the filter element itself and the labor the mechanic would charge you. Other items, such as changing a timing belt, should be left to a professional unless you are very mechanically inclined. A mistake here can cost you your motor. The same goes with replacing items like water pumps or servicing failed parts. Changing your oil is the most common item people consider whenever they think of maintenance. Is it worth it to do it yourself? That really depends. You can count on spilling a bit of oil on our garage floor and you can count on rolling around under your car and possibly struggling with the oil filter, including scratching and bruising your arm depending on the location. In reality, you are likely to only save a couple of dollars here. So unless you do not trust others to change your motors ife fluid properly, take it to a dependable shop. You will save time, which as you have likely come to know at this point, is extremely valuable and worth more than $5 in most cases. I short, the decision lies with you, your ability and your drive to save time and/or money.

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