Don't try these at home…

New research and data released by a leading automotive remanufacturer, has uncovered the top ten strangest DIY repair attempts on cars; including a man who attempted to use bubblegum to fix his car radiator and a woman who replaced her car door locks with heavy duty padlocks.

Whilst many people may put off visiting a mechanic for as long as possible when they first discover that a repair is needed for their vehicle, most will eventually take a trip to the local garage in an effort to resolve the problem. 

However, the team at www.bba-reman.com have looked back through their repair history to see what DIY lengths some drivers go to in order to make sure their vehicle keeps running. BBA Reman also conducted a poll of 1,036 car owners in the UK, to compile an ultimate list of the top ten most outrageous DIY car repairs. The most weird and wonderful examples of frugality highlighted in the past 12 months were as follows:

1. A man in his late 30s attempted to use bubblegum to try and fix not one, but 5 small leaks in his car radiator. He also poured 250g of black peppercorns into the radiator, after reading that ground black pepper could help repair radiator leaks, which caused a strong odour in the vehicle and a blockage.

2. An electric fault that caused a woman’s front headlights to stop working decided that she would secure 2 battery operated torches to her bonnet with rope, despite the fact they were super bright. 

3. An elderly man with faulty air conditioning attempted to cool down one hot week last summer by taping 20 handheld battery operated pocket fans to his dash board and switching them all on at the same time. 

4. One couple, on noticing their speedometer wasn’t working at all, bought an iPhone 4, downloaded a speedometer app and then fixed it to their dashboard with an iPhone holder. Despite being one of the better DIY repairs to come from the research, it wasn’t the most accurate ways of monitoring the speed of the car; especially considering the couple had been using it for 6 months. 

5. A 19 year old man from Bristol found what he deemed to be an ingenious way to fix his leaky exhaust pipe, with a few empty beer cans cut open and used to wrap around the damaged area, sealed with brown parcel tape.

6. A woman in her late 50s who had managed to lose both sets of keys to her Volkswagen Polo decided that she would wind heavy duty chains around her car when not in it, sealing both front doors shut with 2 similarly heavy duty padlocks to prevent thieves from getting in. 

7. A man from Leeds who had managed to snap off his indicator lever decided to replace it with a twig to make sure he could still successfully indicate whilst on the roads.

8. When a young driver from Stroud noticed that his sunroof was stuck open, thanks to a faulty electronic opening/closing mechanism, he improvised with an open umbrella and a hefty amount of duct tape, despite this doing nothing for the security of the vehicle. Still, he said it kept the rain out effectively. 

9. Despite airbags being a vital safety feature in modern motors, a male driver from Yorkshire decided to take matters into his own hands when informed by a mechanic that there was a fault with his. He cut out various sized sections of memory foam from a mattress topper he had in his home and glue them to the different sections of his steering wheel, thinking that the soft material would be sufficient protection in the event of an accident. 

10. A married couple from Epping decided that in the absence of their car’s bonnet, they would opt for a double duvet cover to protect their engine and car parts from the elements, fastened down with duct tape. 

Chris Swan, founder of BBA Reman, said the following about the top 10 weird DIY car repairs: 

“The extreme lengths some people will go to in order to avoid spending money at a garage is highlighted perfectly by our findings. As crazy as some of the examples here might sound, they raise the valid point that many people may be putting themselves or others in danger by carrying out DIY repairs, particularly on electronic elements of their cars. 

“It is because of this that we are therefore committed to letting car owners know that they can save money, as well as help the environment, by getting electronic car parts remanufactured as opposed to just having them replaced. Trust us, it’s certainly the safer option too!”