Changing oil means draining the old engine oil and putting in fresh oil. It helps keep the engine running smoothly, and it’s usually a straightforward job compared to safety-critical repairs.
“Brake works” means checking that your brakes actually stop the car the way they should after you’ve done work on them. You want to confirm it’s safe before you drive fast or on busy roads.
Brake failure means the braking system can’t slow the vehicle as intended, which can happen from issues like worn pads, air in the hydraulic system, or incorrect installation. The hosts emphasize that the risk is high because there’s little margin for error once you’re on public roads.
Brake pads are the parts that create the stopping power. When you brake, they clamp onto the spinning brake disc to slow the car.
Concept
vehicle servicing and repairs
Vehicle servicing and repairs refers to the maintenance work and fixes that keep a car operating correctly—everything from routine fluid and filter changes to more involved brake work. The hosts are debating where the line should be between DIY tasks and professional-only jobs.
Rotating tires means swapping them to different wheel positions. This helps them wear more evenly so you don’t end up with one bald tire much sooner than the others.
A fuse is like an electrical safety switch. If too much current flows, it breaks the circuit to prevent damage, so blowing one can stop certain parts of the car from working.
LIVE
On the radar, I saw this article out of SCN.
SCN of all places, mate.
So covering for driving.
Yeah, it's an interesting one.
DIY trend, putting Australians at risk was the headline of the article.
And it goes on to say apparently one in 10 Australians are using AI
to assist with car repairs and maintenance.
One in 10.
And I think it's a bit higher than that.
And I don't know how they've got that statistic.
So we'll take it with a grain of salt.
But anyway, that's what they're reporting.
One mechanic stated that you shouldn't do.
You shouldn't be able to do your own brake pads.
Right.
I just wanted to get your thoughts on that.
Would you do them?
I've done them. You've done them.
They have done.
How's your brakes?
Perfect, mate.
I've had to test them a bit in this wet weather as well.
No, they're fine. They're great.
I think there's inherent risks with anything that you do to your car,
The best way to learn about your vehicle is to do things on your vehicle.
You know, replace the brake pad.
Like exactly what Corey was saying a few weeks ago,
it's like looking at the service manual, looking at the instructions,
like going through the tutorials.
I would say, I agree with that.
I haven't agreed.
Definitely agree with that.
You agree.
I agree with that.
What you're saying there, holistically,
I wouldn't say that the brake pads, if you've never ever touched a car before,
I wouldn't go and jump into brake pads.
No, I agree.
Like if you have brake pads,
indicator comes up on the dash that, you know,
Lauren's come up recently, please check brake pads.
I wouldn't change the brake pads on Lauren's car.
I'd probably send them away.
But I wouldn't be.
Yeah, if you've never.
I agree, you've never done any maintenance on your own vehicle.
Yeah, I wouldn't be jumping into brake pads straight away.
I think if you're not a handy person, but there's also the fact
that you've got to learn, but maybe don't.
Maybe break pads, maybe not solo.
Like if it's something like changing oil, changing oil, maybe fine.
That's fine.
Like make sure you're all set up, got the right stuff.
You don't want oil going everywhere.
That one is probably OK, because I don't think there's a catastrophic end to,
you know, yeah, stuffing that up.
Well, yeah, I don't know, mate.
I think you're going to drive off knowing that there's no wheel in the car.
Like if it doesn't work out, you're going to be out.
I think if you do your brakes, you test to make sure that they work.
And if they don't work, you don't drive on the roads.
Yeah, like you can test if your brake works
without going 100 Ks an hour on the freeway. Yeah.
Yeah, I agree. I definitely agree with doing like you've got to
to to learn you need to try like it's
but I just I wouldn't be doing that as a first off.
No, I've got my car.
I've never done much about it.
I'm, you know, that's you've got some someone there who has done it before
and then they can show you through, then absolutely.
But that's a good one.
You also got to like, yeah,
it the inherent risk of brakes failing is is huge.
I agree. So, you know, I do agree with that.
I know what you mean. I know what you mean.
Like your brake pads are kind of a very breaks, obviously,
a very important part of the car.
You don't want to. Yeah.
Interesting article for SCN to put.
Yeah, it was an interesting one.
Yeah, because they normally they would normally just be sport based.
Wouldn't they? Yeah.
Well, I think there's this like a more of a print like digital print.
It's it's just kind of a general one that they talked about it on radio.
So it's a bit of a it's just like an article based off of their radio segment.
But anyway, I was just kind of thought like,
should you be able to do your own vehicle servicing and repairs?
Like, is that I think you should find to do all that kind of stuff.
I think brake pads is kind of a limit where it's like, well, it's not a limit.
Like if you know how to do them, you know how to do them.
And I think when you do a general service in your car,
you're changing oils, you're changing filters, like you're rotating tires,
cool, like that kind of stuff, like, which is pretty straightforward, I'd say.
And if you don't know how to do that, you can find guides to do that.
And you're not risking, you know, another person's car or life or anything
if you if you mess up on on your oils or anything.
But yeah, brake pads is kind of that one where it's like you can do them yourself
and they're fine to do yourself if you know what you're doing and you understand how they work.
But to do them, you first go without.
Anyone's help without anything and you're just using AI, you might run into a fuse.
I think you just got to be careful.
That's probably the part. The AI part is, yeah.
But brake pads, I don't know.
I did mine and they're fine. They work great, like they're not.
And you'd be confident to do them again.
100% because it's worked.
Yeah, because it's worked.
I know how to put brake pads on.
Like obviously my old man, heavy diesel mechanic, like we did it together.
He ran me through how to do it all and stuff.
And it was well, I think that it was fine. I think that's the answer there.
And that's if you don't have someone that's done it before to run you through what it looks like.
Don't just go ripping off wheels and.
Adjusting brake pads.
Yeah, well, it's just like doing your own vehicle servicing.
I think it's such a big part of being a full driver and owning a full drive.
It's like learning your car, learning your maintenance on your car and how to do your own repairs.
So if you ever out in a situation where you need to fix something like extremely costly
when you don't do any of it yourself, 100% it does.
It's very expensive out there.
So like if you're saving a bit of money and you can do your own servicing,
then by all means do it.
But I don't think that, yeah.
I reckon that's a great, it'd be great.
I feel like I'm just going in circles in my brain.
No, it's fine.
All your letters.
You don't have to have an answer.
No, I'm curious to see what other people think about it as well.
I think people will fall in the same boat.
If you've done it before and you've been shown how to do it correctly
and you're confident that you can do them, then it's probably fine.
If it's your first time, probably don't pull the car apart
and do brake pads.
Not the important car apart, but you know what I mean.
You don't dive into brake pads first.
You've got to have some sort of understanding of what's going on.
But I think a basic service would be...
I'd love to be able to confidently do the basic service,
which I've kind of probably...
You'd be able to do it fine.
You have no problem.
But it'd be something you'd be cool to master.
Thank you.
About this episode
The hosts debate whether DIYers should be allowed to service their own 4WDs, sparked by an SCN article warning that “one in 10” Australians use AI for car repairs. The conversation centers on brake pad jobs: one mechanic argues you shouldn’t DIY them, but the hosts counter that with proper guidance, tools, and testing, it’s doable. They agree basic maintenance like oil, filters, and tire rotations is safer to learn first, while brakes carry higher stakes and shouldn’t be a beginner’s first project.
A recent segment from an SEN radio show discussed the rise of AI and how 4WDers are using AI to service and maintain their 4WD's. Should we be careful with the use of AI and servicing a car?
The 4WD Podcast powered by Tyrepower. Recorded at BackChat Studios built by grounded.
