If you’re searching for great ways to cut down on car repairs and save some cash, then make it a habit to have your automobile regularly maintained through regular oil changes and having your tyres rotated. This is arguably the best method through which your auto mechanic can monitor the health of your car.
By doing so, parts get inspected and are not allowed to deteriorate to a point where major car parts are affected. If the major parts do break down, you could end up incurring far more expenses that you would if your car had regular servicing.
Just as you care for preventative dental checkups, regularly taking your automobile to its 'dentist' can save you from headaches and expensive car repairs.
There’s more. One other method that will help you to save up on automobile repairs is by buying the car parts yourself and bringing them to the repair shop. Since shops mark up the parts they use for repairs, you save some serious cash if you do the sourcing yourself. But is it worthwhile?
The truth is that this is not really a good idea in the long run and here's why.
You might not receive a good faith warranty if the warranty expires
Assuming you find a very good deal on a car part on an online auto parts shop, and you take it to the repair shop to have it installed by your auto technician, it may seem like a harmless move. You must realise, though, that if the items that you bought end up becoming faulty, you will be at a loss for that item. Your repair shop won't be held responsible, and the items will not be covered under the warranty of your shop.
This is so because the parts that you bought for your car may not have been recommended by your repair shop. Also, those car parts may have been produced with substandard items or may not be a right fit for your car which will ultimately result in poor performance.
The only part that a shop warranty covers if you purchase and bring your own car parts is their labour which implies that they will re-install a part that was not properly installed, but they will not take care of the items that you brought.
It is obvious that you would not go to a restaurant and give them your steak and then ask that they cook it.
Legal liability discourage repair shops from installing parts that you bought
A repair shop that installs an item that later leads to an auto crash could see itself being held legally liable. For this reason, a lot of repair shops will not accept to install an auto part that was purchased by customers.
You could make wrong decisions
Repair shops for automobiles actually invest quite a lot of funds into equipment for diagnosis. They also stress the importance of their technicians upgrading their knowledge. If you do not have any background in the field of mechanics, it will be very difficult for you to detect the problem.
When your vehicle begins to give off signals that there is a problem such as making sounds in an unknown location, the best thing you can do is to leave your car with the experts. These professionals are trained to accurately detect the problem and what parts need to be replaced.
Inconvenient
If you end up purchasing parts that are not right for your car, it means that you will have to make your way back to the store where you made the purchase or probably wait longer to have a replacement shipped to you. Instead of wasting valuable time purchasing car parts that may not be suitable for your vehicle, it would be simpler to delegate the matter to the auto repair shop.
Repair shops know the best suppliers
Repair companies have built a relationship with suppliers of auto parts. This connection facilitates transactions. Auto repair shops can make a quick call and order for emergency deliveries from distribution centers in their locality. These suppliers most times recommend the best car part that will be best for the job that they want to do in your car.
It could actually look like suppliers of car parts always recommend parts that are more expensive, but, these suppliers would not want to destroy a valuable relationship with their clients by asking them to make use of an auto part that is not fit enough for the job.
It's always good to find a reliable mechanic and a go-to repair shop. If you trust them enough, you wouldn't have this dilemma in the first place.