For years, the motor industry has told us how complicated modern vehicles are, and you must always visit a main dealer for servicing work.
If your ’van is under manufacturer warranty, we’d definitely concur. But what if you have an older vehicle, or want to do a simple job that doesn’t need to involve pre-booking and a tediously long wait in a reception area?
Actually, some tasks on modern vehicles are easy to do and best of all, you can save a small fortune by doing them yourself. If your dealer is miles away from where you live, you need to factor in your time, too. For many jobs, it’s quicker to fix it yourself than travel.
The tasks we’ve outlined here won’t steal a whole weekend of your life away – just a few hours, tops – and they don’t require specialist tools.
HOW MUCH CAN YOU SAVE?
As an example, Halfords charges £20 for swapping a vehicle battery. This is five minutes’ work with a basic socket set on most ’vans, so it’s an easy win. They also charge £9 for fitting each light bulb. Again, these can be an easy fit.
However, the big wins come if you do your own oil changes and replace the brake pads. A simple oil and filter change can cost £180 or more at a main dealer; doing it yourself can cost as little as £50 and an hour of your time.
Save even more on brake pads and discs: a BMW dealer once quoted over £500 to replace the front pads and discs on our car, while identical top-end OE parts cost under £200. An hour later they were fitted, saving over £300.
THE BASICS
Before you start, a few safety basics. First, know your limitations. If you’re the sort of person who has never put up a shelf, you might want to think twice before graduating to motorhomes. But for most people, if you’re methodical and careful, you’ll be fine.
Many jobs on a vehicle involve lifting it up and it’s vital to do this safely – start by parking on solid flat ground, such as Tarmac or concrete. Grass and gravel are not suitable. If you want to raise it to remove a wheel, it’s wisest to invest in a trolley jack and a set of axle stands and chocks. work underneath a vehicle that isn’t on axle stands and with
