It costs a lot of money to maintain a car these days ($30 to $50 a month on average) but you can save cash if you do some of the work yourself.  The routine maintenance on a car driven 15,000 miles per year can easily run--- or more.  You don’t have to be an expert mechanic to do the simple repairs and maintenance on your car.  There are auto-parts stores almost everywhere.  Storefront auto parts supply chains like Advance Auto and NAPA are supplemented by online and catalog auto parts suppliers such as Parts America, Auto Parts Direct and Edmunds in the US.  Each country has its own auto parts supply chains that can easily be accessed.  Just do a Google search for auto parts. 

So how much of this $360 to $600 per year in car repair and maintenance can you save if you do some of the work yourself?  If you change your own oil three times a year you can save about $30.  Change a burnt out signal light once and you will save about $10.  Buy your tires online at a discount supplier and have a local garage mount them for you and you will save about $50 to $200.  Wash and wax your car five times a year to save about $40. 

The small jobs such as bulb replacement and minor body repair such as a small scratch that can be touched up can add up.  But the key to saving big money on car repairs and maintenance is being able to take on some of the larger routine jobs such as brake repair.  Repair your own brakes and save $100 to $250.  Repairs such as these have to be done absolutely right so get the car manual and talk to your auto parts supplier to make sure you can do it safely.  Educate yourself by reading the car manual, searching the net and talking with knowledgeable people.  The more you know the better decisions you can make about repairs you might do or hire others to do for you.  Knowledge is power and it can protect you from making a mistake or getting ripped off. 

A few years ago my wife took our family van into one automotive repair shop for the annual state safety inspection.  I had told her that it should cost about $20 to $30 and no more and to be suspicious of anything else.  The mechanic came out with a worried look on his face and said all the brake rotors had to be replaced.  The car was a death-trap, an accident waiting to happen.  He said that they had the tires off and could have the job done in an hour or so for just $299.  “Put them back on,” my wife said with her heart in her throat.  The next stop was a small gas station near our house.  The mechanic there checked everything out and said that the brakes were absolutely fine with years of use left in them and $25 would cover the bill.  We had finally found our trusted family mechanic. 

Actually the best way to save on car maintenance is to buy the right car in the first place.  Buy a new or used car that is rated well by Consumer Reports and other car rating organizations for low maintenance costs (and a low total cost of ownership).  Then you can save money without having to do any more work beyond making a good decision when you buy the car. 

In theory you can buy all the parts and equipment to do almost any automotive maintenance or repair job.  The real key to doing it yourself the smart way is to know when it’s best to let the experts do the work.  Safety comes first before saving money on car repairs.  When you must have the work done by others make sure you are using a reliable and trustworthy repair shop.  All too many automotive repair shops these days have employees on commission who will try to sell you things you do not need just so they can make money.  Ask your friends for referrals and stick with those dealers and auto repair shops you learn that you can trust.