Maintenance, the age-old question. Well maybe, not really, but for me, it’s a question that comes to mind when any sort of service is required on one of my vehicles. Should You do your own car maintenance?

Reasoning

The DIYer in me wants to tackle every and all aspects of maintenance. Even Upgrading on my cars because I feel like it’s a necessary part of ownership. I feel it’s required of any self claiming auto enthusiast.

Another reason is that I am really particular with details. I don’t trust most mechanics will take the same amount of time and effort as I would when working (although certain rare really attentive mechanics are out there). However, I think every situation is different and a cost value analysis should be considered individually.

Scenario

Let’s take oil changes. Sure oil changes are the go-to home DIY. However, I think if you have a good mechanic you trust, buying your own oil and filters and having them do it is probably worth the cost. Not having to deal with the disposal of oil, or in some cases buying specialty tools can certainly make up for the money.

For example, a car that has to be digitally reset with a specific diagnostic tool like my car, doing it home would require a substantial investment in a tool that I don’t need at this moment for anything else. So, paying for oil changes makes more sense.

Check out how to fix most of your car’s problems yourself here.

And On

Upgrades, Mods, and other things become more individual with respect to value. The experience of doing certain things is worthwhile even if there aren’t significant monetary savings.

I like doing things on my car just because I like the challenge. It gives me a chance to get my hands dirty. A mixture of both DIY and services from third parties is probably the best way to achieve that optimal balance of cost savings and value.

Unfortunately in my experience finding a good mechanic is like finding a good barber. You do your research but you really won’t know until you get in the chair. After a few hopefully, you find one that really gets it right. Sometimes you never do.

So what do you think? DIY until you die? Leave the maintenance to the experts? Mix it up? What things are/aren’t worth doing on your own?