Ready to Roll: Do You Truly Know Your Car Repair Proficiency?

How well do you know your automotive skills? What maintenance tasks do you know how to do, and which ones are you less confident about doing by yourself? You see, it’s one thing to know how to repair your car, but assessing and understanding how much you actually know is another thing entirely.

After all, you can’t drive to your destination unless you know where you’re coming from. That’s how car repair proficiency works too. Let’s figure out where you’re starting from and see where you can go from there.

Knowledge Is Power

Everybody knows knowledge is power, but how does that apply to vehicle owners like yourself? Well, think back to before you bought your first car. You didn’t just walk into the dealership, play Russian roulette, and sign the papers, did you?

In the weeks, maybe even months, leading up to your purchase, you no doubt went back and forth constantly researching and studying everything there was to know about your dream car. But like many others, you probably didn’t just consider what model or even what variant to get.

How much can I afford to spend on a car? What type of transmission am I more comfortable driving? Because you sat down and asked yourself these things and probably more, you got to buy the perfect car for yourself. That’s the exact same empowerment you can expect to feel when you assess your car repair skills.

By being familiar with your car repair proficiency, you’ll know just where you can push things and when you might need to start asking for help.

What Do CarParts.com Customers Have to Say?

In July 2023, we conducted an online survey that got 1,500 responses from a mix of CarParts.com customers and non-customers. We’ve crunched the numbers to see just what people thought of DIY repair and how confident they felt about their own car knowledge.

Let’s break down some key takeaways from the survey.

Almost Half of Them DIY Their Car Repairs

21% of respondents claimed they performed car repairs and maintenance themselves, while another 18% said they performed car repairs and maintenance with the help of a non-professional yet trusted friend who knew more about cars than they did.

Only 5% Believed They Have an Expert Level of Experience

When asked to rank their level of experience with car repairs and maintenance, only 5% believed they were experts. The majority humbly ranked themselves as either a novice or an advanced beginner.

Funnily enough, most customers had more confidence in their friends than in themselves, with 21% ranking their friends as experts and 37% ranking them as proficient.

Many Felt Confident Doing Easy Maintenance Tasks

When asked how confident they were in performing specific maintenance and repair tasks, most people felt confident doing easy to mid-level maintenance tasks. Some of these tasks mentioned in the survey include the following:

• Bulb Replacement (Easy)
• Wiper Blade Replacement (Easy)
• Oil Change (Easy)
• Spark Plugs/Coils/Wires Replacement (Mid-Level)
• Tire Rotation (Mid-Level)
• Brake Pad Replacement (Mid-Level)

Diagnostics and shock or strut replacement were the only easy and mid-level maintenance tasks that people didn’t feel confident doing by themselves or with their trusted friends. What about you? Which of these tasks do you feel confident doing by yourself?

Most Respondents Felt Less Confident Doing Repairs

Aside from replacing their headlights and tail lights, the majority had lower confidence when it came to repair tasks. Here are some examples of easy to difficult repair tasks mentioned in the survey:

• Electronics Replacement (Easy)
• Headlight/Tail light Replacement (Mid-Level)
• Starter Replacement (Mid-Level)
• Electronics Replacement (Difficult)
• Air Conditioner Repair (Difficult)

People felt least confident about engine replacement, with 45% of respondents not feeling confident and another 15% feeling neither confident nor not confident. Where do you stand when it comes to doing repairs on your own vehicle?

What Do All These Numbers Mean?

While only a small percentage of respondents think of themselves as auto experts, almost half of them do their own car repairs. A vast majority even felt confident about performing easy to mid-level maintenance tasks either by themselves or with a trusted friend.

Sure, they might leave difficult repairs to the professionals, but they’re more than capable of getting their hands dirty to change their vehicle’s oil or replace their wiper blades. This means they’re most likely underestimating their proficiency in repairing their own vehicle.

Self-Awareness Is Power Too

If you think about it, knowledge is only power if you’re aware of it. After all, how can you put all that knowledge to good use if you aren’t even sure what you actually know and don’t know? That’s why self-awareness is also important.

Knowing exactly what maintenance and repair tasks you can and can’t do means you don’t have to constantly second-guess yourself anymore.

However, self-awareness isn’t something that comes naturally, just like automotive knowledge. You’ll have to take the time to actually learn by assessing your knowledge and skills.

Benefits of Accurate Self-Assessment

Assessing your own skills might seem like a lot of effort, but it’s a great place to start if you’re trying to build up the courage to try out simple repair tasks on your vehicle by yourself. If you still aren’t convinced, consider some of these advantages:

Save Money

Let’s start with the biggest reason why people DIY car repairs: it saves them big bucks. Professional mechanic services can be pricey, and they can sometimes even cost more than the actual part they’re repairing or replacing.

That isn’t to say professional fees aren’t worth it. After all, you aren’t just paying for a mechanic’s time. You’re also paying for their expertise and years of experience. Unfortunately, not everybody can afford it.

In fact, 65% of respondents cited cost as one of the reasons why they chose to repair their own vehicle by themselves or with a trusted non-professional. That’s no surprise, as spending around $50 to $100 for labor fees can easily pile up especially if you’re also paying for gas and car insurance.

Just like CarParts.com customers, you can save yourself some money by doing minor repairs on your own or with a friend. All you have to do is assess your knowledge and skills first so you know what minor fixes you can DIY.

Have Complete Control

Going all the way to a repair shop can be a hassle, especially if you have to leave your car there and ride the bus home. That’s why the second most common reason why respondents preferred DIY repairs was to avoid the hassle of dealing with a mechanic or repair shop.

Around 29% of the respondents also felt a lack of trust in mechanics, while another 24% felt there was a lack of transparency with mechanics. If you knew what repairs you could DIY, you wouldn’t have to deal with going to a repair shop all the time.

You can have complete control, which means you’ll have the freedom to follow your own schedule. You can also shop for and choose replacement parts according to your preference.

Learn Valuable Skills

According to the CarParts.com survey, over half of respondents saw a lack of knowledge as the biggest obstacle preventing them from repairing their own vehicles.

Repairing your own car is easier said than done. You’ll need to know exactly what you’re doing, and you also have to have the proper tools. However, having a few car repair skills in your back pocket certainly wouldn’t hurt.

Knowing how to fix your vehicle is a valuable and practical skill for any car owner, so why wouldn’t you want to assess your own skills?

Build Confidence

You might not be confident about your abilities now, but assessing your skills can change all of that. By figuring out your car repair proficiency, you won’t have to feel unsure of yourself every time you have to replace a part or do an oil change.

After some time, you might even start to enjoy the challenge, just like 35% of respondents who saw DIY car repair and maintenance as a personal achievement.

Impress People

Looking to impress your friends and family? What better way than to wow them with your knowledge of automotive repairs?

Out of all the people who answered the survey, 12% admitted they chose to perform maintenance and repairs on their own vehicles because it impressed their friends and family.

Once you assess your own car repair proficiency, you can do the same. You can wow all your friends and become their go-to person for car advice. It’s a great way to help your friends while improving your own automotive skills.

Expand Your Car Repair Knowledge

We know repairing your own vehicle isn’t easy. It can be time-consuming, and not knowing exactly what to do can make it even more stressful than simply going to the mechanic.

But that’s exactly what self-assessment is for. Figuring out your knowledge and skill level might help you realize if you actually have what it takes to fix the issue at hand. If you don’t, then you’ll have a better idea of what you need to learn first before you pop the hood.

If you don’t know where to start, don’t sweat it. Our G.E.A.R.S. survey can help you evaluate your car repair proficiency. Just answer a few questions and find out how your automotive knowledge fares against other CarParts.com customers.