Who would've ever thought it - Americans are becoming frugal. Obviously, it is because most of us don't have a choice, but we have to start somewhere. One area this new attitude is showing up is with the return of popularity of do it yourself car repairs.
It wasn't that long ago that working on your car was considered not only a manly thing to do, but a good time. Slowly, but surely, that view changed as cars became more complex. The only group that continues doing it are younger kids who lower and trick out cars with aftermarket parts. Unlike the muscle cars of yore, the modern cars getting the attention were everything from Mazda's to Honda's and other small cars that offered a blank slate for some serious customization.
For the rest of us, a few hours spent working on the car changed dramatically. Instead of getting our hands dirty, we just drove the car down to the local lube shop to get the oil changed, get a tune up or whatever. Getting under the car to change out parts just was not a common function. This is all starting to change dramatically.
Money is tight these days. Even if your financial situation hasn't changed, I'll be your nervous it will. A recent poll found 75 percent of us are worried about our jobs. That's a huge number. Unfortunately, I can't say I feel any better about things. It would be nice to hear some good news for once. Regardless, this fear is leading all of us to a new attitude - one where we try to get the most out of every buck we got.
When it comes to your car, you can save a ton of money doing your own maintenance and repairs. Admittedly, repairs can be a bit technical these days, but maintenance is still maintenance. Let's consider an oil change for example. What does it cost you at the oil changing place - $40, $50 or more? Well, you really just need a few quarts of oil, an oil filter and a filter wrench to do the job yourself. Total cost? About $30, but that includes $10 for the oil filter wrench that you only need to buy once.
While repairs can be a bit trickier, there are plenty of manuals to help you pull them off. Even better, the web is packed with sites devoted not only to repairs, but to repairs on specific cars. These sites have step-by-step instructions and often have videos of the actual repair. This obviously makes a world of difference and doing the repairs yourself will save an absolute ton of money.
There once was a time when working on your car was considered pretty commonplace. In these troubled economic times, those days have returned. Take the time to take care of your car and it will take care of your and save you a ton of money.
Dirk Gibson is with DCJAutoParts.com - your online home for high performance auto parts and accessories online.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dirk_Gibson