Now, I’m a firm believer in the Do-It-Yourself life. If I can fix it or do it myself, I 100% will. There are, however, a variety of things that I would never try to do on my own, particularly when it comes to my car. Let’s be real, I’d prefer to just pay to have something fixed up, rather than accidentally mess something up and have to pay even more to get it repaired. Or even worse, damage something crucial and end up in an accident because I made a mistake! No thanks, I choose life. So, here are some pieces of vehicle maintenance that you should maybe leave to the pros. Next week I’ll provide a list of regular vehicle maintenance that you can easily do on your own.

1. Wiring Harness Repair

Wiring harnesses are the brains of modern cars, sending electrical signals to make your vehicle run. Not to dismiss your mechanical abilities here, but this is a lot like a Doctor Frankenstein-kinda project if you tried to fix this on your own. We all know how that went down. Not awesome, friends. So the question is: Is this a vehicle you are driving? Or is a junker that you’ve been working on? If it’s just a junker and you’re out here for fun or a learning adventure, you’ll likely learn a lot, and there’s something to be said for knowing how your car is wired. If however, you depend on this vehicle to get you to work so that you can pay your bills, it is so not worth it. For real, wiring harnesses are notoriously temperamental and when something’s wrong in there you’re gonna need to call in a pro at Destination Kia.

2. Air Conditioning Repair

Even at the most basic of the 3 air conditioning repair levels, I’m not willing to attempt that fix. I don’t have experience working with hazardous materials like that found in a DIY refrigerant top-off kit. This is more a risk of my own health, than damage to my vehicle,  and I’m really not interested in that risk. The next 2 levels would require specialized parts like a vacuum pump to remove existing refrigerant before charging the system back to factory specs, or even having to dismantle the dashboard to check for leaks or a malfunction. That’s a bit more than I’m willing to take on as a project, and is best left to the professionals.

3. Body Work

Unless you are literally the Michelangelo of automotive body filler putty, I promise you this will not work out the way you want. Grand aspirations of fixing up your car to it’s former glory with some putty and a dream usually turns into second-rate fill and mismatched paint. You will definitely save money, but at what cost, friends.? AT WHAT COST?! Apparently around 7 dollars for a pint, BUT THAT IS BESIDES THE POINT! It’s usually best to leave these sorts of issues to the professionals — it will look significantly better than if you tried to fix it on your own.

4. Spring Removal

In order to take a spring out of its housing, you need to compress it with a device called a spring compressor(I know, shocking!). Ok, great, that sounds fine right? Well, hold on there friend, do you happen to have an industrial-grade compressor laying around the house, because that’s the kind of power you’d need. Yah, I didn’t think so. Even if you did, keeping that spring tamed and secured is a daunting task. Like, imagine that thing lets loose and you happen to be in the line of fire. Seriously, people have been seriously injured and even died this way. Once again, I choose life. Leave this to the safety of professionals.

5. Ignition System Repair

Fun fact: messing up your ignition system will definitely make it a wee bit tricky to start your car. And by a wee bit, I mean that thing is not going to start, you are going to be late for work, and that coworker you HATE will end up with the promotion. Honestly, the risk of failure and subsequent damage here has only grown with the creation of modern electronic ignition systems. It’s no longer as simple as pulling a spark plug wire and looking for a spark. Unless you’d really like to light yourself up like that cat from National Lampoon Christmas Vacation to the tune of 50,000 volts of electricity, I strongly recommend not tackling this job by yourself!

Ok, so there are quite a few car-related fixes that just aren’t practical to tackle on your own. I get it, I too want to be a wizard and fix my car on my own, but for the safety of your vehicle, and in many cases, your life, please leave it to the professionals. Next week, we’ll talk about some jobs that are safe for you to do on your own! In the meantime, if your vehicle is in need of service, stop by Destination Kia today and we’ll be happy to get you all sorted out.