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There are certain items on a car that can easily be replaced without taking the car to a garage. Let’s find out what these are!

What Car Parts Can You Replace Yourself?

First, if you are unsure, feel the type of work your car needs may be dangerous, or believe you’re underqualified, then please take your vehicle to a garage and a mechanic will be at hand to replace any parts.

Some jobs are too large and require the eye of a qualified, professional mechanic, but there are other basic jobs that take minimal time and only a little know-how and can be done at home with a few basic tools. Therefore, if you are comfortable working on cars and want to save yourself the cost of labour by going to a garage, you could have a go at replacing some parts of your car yourself.

Here are some parts that you could look to repair or replace at home:

1. Wiper Blades

Your windscreen wiper blades will start to leave smear marks and make annoying, squeaky noises are a while, as the rubber strips degrade. Ineffective wipers can be a hazard as your vision will be limited. This is probably one of your easiest jobs to do, as you can just buy the suitable ones for your car and clip them in once you’ve unclipped your old ones for your front and rear windscreens.

2. Oil and Oil Filter

When you change your oil, your engine should run much smoother. Our advice would be to research how often your car (based on its make and model) should have an oil change and how to perform it. It should be a fairly straightforward job that only requires a few tools.

Whilst you do this, it may also be worth changing your oil filter – as this is accessed from inside the oil tank. Changing both the oil and filter helps to ensure that the engine will operate optimally.

3. Spark Plugs

Spark plugs should be changed about every 30,000 miles you drive – so this is a much less regular job for most people. Depending on the number of cylinders in your engine, you will usually need to buy four or six – but you need to check first before you buy and replace.

4. Battery

It’s normal for batteries to degrade over time, but when you need to change it, it should be quite a straightforward swap with the old one.

Most car batteries last between two and five years and a recommendation that most go by is to change your car battery every three years.

5. Bulbs

It is a legal requirement that all lights are visible on a car.

You may think that a bulb is a simple switch, like a lightbulb in your house – and for some bulbs in some vehicles it is. However, for certain cars, you may need to remove additional parts to get at the headlight or taillight housings.

6. Air Filter

Air filters prevent dust and dirt getting into your car’s engine via the air intake.

Depending on where you drive your car, you should look to change your air filter between every 15,000-30,000 miles.

This should be a simple swap – you’ll see a rectangular cold air collector box under your bonnet and inside will be the spongy, foam material that needs to be swapped.

In Need of Car Parts?

Whether you need brake pads, a battery, a bumper or anything else, you can search our stock of car breakers online or visit one of our car breakers yards in Edinburgh and York to find the parts you need!