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5 Reasons Why You Should Avoid DIY Car Repairs

  • Written by Brighton Panel Works


When it comes to car repairs, there are several factors that could tempt you to do it yourself. Perhaps you've watched a number of YouTube tutorials on DIY car repairs, or pride yourself on your automotive know-how and hands-on skills. Or maybe you are just looking to save yourself a bit of money. Either way, the urge to settle a car repair on your own is an understandable and even common train of thought among car owners.

However, there are far more compelling reasons why you should not handle car repairs on your own. Here are some reasons why you should get a professional to carry out your automotive fixes and smash repairs in Melbourne instead of trying to do them yourself. 

Modern Cars Are More Complicated

These days, car repairs are not as straightforward as they were a generation or two ago. The newer models of cars are equipped with the latest technology, from the engine and hydraulic systems to built-in computer and electronic parts. If there is a fault with some of these more complex components of your car, you will need much more than just a wrench and some basic mechanical knowledge to sort it out. 

Professional mechanics undergo regular training to keep themselves up to date on the latest technological developments and industry standards, so they are the ones who are best suited to fix them.

The case of the wrong diagnosis

In many cases, repairing your car can actually be quite easy – it's making sure that you are actually carrying out the relevant repairs that is the difficult part. Diagnosing the faults in your car should be done based on active experience and a sharpened skill set, rather than a gut feeling or layman advice. 

Let's say you have problems starting your engine and assume that the fault lies with the battery, when it is actually the alternator that is not charging the battery properly. If you go ahead and change the battery yourself, you would find that this is an unnecessary expense and that the real problem remains unsolved. 

DIY repairs can lead to bigger problems

Mistakes can happen under any circumstances, and if you are not an experienced mechanic, there is an even higher chance of them occurring. Furthermore, your DIY repair can lead to more complicated issues that were not even there in the first place. For instance, shoddy DIY brake repairs can end up affecting other parts of the car. Or you could try to fix your faulty exhaust pipe, only to cause damage to the entire exhaust system. 

If this were to happen with your professional repairer, you could always bring your car back to them to address the issue – but in the case of do-it-yourself repairs, you will be solely responsible. 

You will risk voiding your warranty 

If your car is still under its warranty period, then this is all the more reason for you to avoid doing any major repairs yourself. A DIY repair may save you the cost of a visit to the mechanic, but you run the risk of having to foot extensive bills that would and should have been covered by your warranty instead. 

Warranty conditions vary from one manufacturer to the other, so to be 100% sure what your terms are, you should always read them closely. However, it is safe to say that a botched repair job done anywhere other than the manufacturer's designated service centres would definitely void your car warranty. 

Save yourself some time

At the end of the day, DIY car repairs could save you some money, but they do take up time. A licensed automotive professional may be able to carry out a particular fix in a couple of hours, but you could end up spending your entire day on it due to lack of experience. 

So, if you want to do the repair yourself because you feel like it would be faster than taking a trip to the workshop, think again. When taken into consideration with the other risks and possible issues mentioned above, it's usually a wiser decision to leave the car repairs to the seasoned professionals.