Earlier today I vented about a rather frustrating experience with a service center chain. I needed a replacement battery, and what was supposed to be an in-and-out affair turned into a lengthy string of frustrations.
After I calmed down a bit I reset the published post to draft mode so that I could polish it up later on when my head is clearer, but not before I was chided in two comments for not doing everything myself.
I’ve heard all kinds of criticisms over the years – that everyone should change their car’s oil, rotate their own tires, and do other sorts of maintenance and routine repairs all on their own. And if they don’t they must be a lesser kind of man. I have also heard the reverse – that only lesser men get their hands dirty.
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This has got me wondering – how many of you handle your own auto maintenance, and what is the extent of what you’ll do?
For me, I’m willing to tackle anything I can do in the communal parking lot in a half hour or so, with some exceptions. I don’t have a garage or any other private space where I can easily do common tasks like change my oil. And even if I did, oil changes are more economical – not to mention less messy – for the local service shop.
That pretty much limits what I can typically replace or service myself – bulbs and lamp assemblies, wipers, fuses and relays, topping off fluids, and easy-access components like air filters. I can change a tire, but I head to the service shop when there’s a leak or hole in a flat to find and plug.
I can handle random smaller things, like patching non-critical tubing sections, such as when my windshield washer fluid’s hose cracked and sprung a leak. There’s not much else I’ve needed to do these past 14 years. Out cars’ maintenance and repair needs have always been very minor or major, with few exceptions.
I would like to be able to say “if I can do it myself, I’ll do it myself,” but that’s not always the case.
This weekend, I had a dead battery to replace. I can change it myself, and went through a dry run on Saturday just to make sure, but on Sunday I ultimately opted for free installation at the local service center. That turned out to be a huge time-consuming mistake, thanks to their poor appointment and inaccurate inventory systems, but past experiences elsewhere showed me that parts suppliers can change out a battery in about the same time as I could. It’s typically quick, easy, and convenient to have the parts tech swap out the old battery for the new one.
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Sometimes it’s just easier for the work to be done in a professional setting, but there might be other considerations as well. With the battery, I could very well have changed it myself, but figured warranty replacement down the line might be easier if the shop couldn’t blame an improbable-but-potential early failure on self-installation.
Come to think of it, the last time I washed my own car was 3, maybe 4 years ago. I worked in the parking lot with two buckets – one with clean water, one with dirty soapy water. There might have been a third bucket, but I don’t remember, it’s been that long ago. It’s a lot more trouble to wash a car without a hose or other nearby water source than it is to take the car for a pass through the local car wash.
I’m certainly capable of washing my car, but I’d rather go to the car wash.
In different respect, there’s plenty of math I can do in my head or with a pen and scrap paper, but I often reach for a calculator. And I can cook a mean steak, but sometimes order beef when eating out at a restaurant.
Just because I can do something myself, doesn’t mean I will, and just because I don’t do something myself, doesn’t mean I can’t.
It rubs me the wrong way when someone says that I should be doing my own oil changes and routine auto maintenance. I don’t? Scandalous!
There’s also of course an opportunity cost to everything. That wasn’t the case with the battery, but it is with other things. Routine tasks for some are extra-tedious when you have a space in a parking lot instead of a garage with a lift or even just jack stands. These days, and actually for many months now, free time is a luxury I don’t have much of.
Back to the point – how many of you handle your own auto maintenance, and what is the extent of what you’ll do? Do you do everything you’re capable of doing?
Kyle Rohde
Stuart,
I think the fact that you live in an apartment changes things pretty completely. Without a garage, you don’t have a good place to do work nor really store tools, so I think you’re exempt from this “why don’t you DIY” question.
But anyway, I own a house and got a 3-car garage partially so I’d have room to work on my car. I do everything I can, which includes oil changes, tire rotations, brake jobs, spark plugs, a motor mount replacement recently, etc. I only take it in when it’s a job I can’t figure out or just don’t have the equipment for, like a coolant flush. But I don’t think I really save that much money by the time I buy tools, parts, etc. That doesn’t matter to me though, as I enjoy doing projects like that because it’s such a change from my 9-5.
matt s
Hi Stuart,
Like you, I live in an area with no driveway, garage- just on-street public parking (or a generous friend’s driveway- so this limits (somewhat) what I can do on my own. No more oil changes on my own, too messy and too much room for trouble. I do my own brakes, because I trust my own work more than the mechanics I have used in the past (I am an industrial mechanic for work), but tire changes go to the shop. Plugs and hoses an electrical stuff I will do, but timing belts and buried alternators and pumps go to the shop (anything where the engine needs lifting goes out to the shop).
I also have a new child, my first, and free time has a whole new set of priorities now. Where I could spend a whole weekend working on our cars/bikes/whatever before the baby, now I will very quickly pay someone to do that same work. I enjoy working on my car, I can certainly do most of the work myself, but I also enjoy spending time with my new family- so the family usually wins nowadays.
My take: It’s the lesser kind of man who ignores his family to spend time with a car.
John Md
The fact that you are willing to do basic maintenance items that you listed means that your “man card” remains intact. Living in an apt/condo complex makes doing your own vehicle care a true hassle.
But, since you asked what your readers do, I have a carport at my house and try to schedule any work on my truck during the 9 months of “bearable” outdoor weather. I have basic mechanical knowledge and a stocked rolling toolbox and a laptop. I do everything from brake repairs to intake manifold gaskets to oil changes. If there is something I am not familiar with, the laptop is set up next to the rig and I just follow along on a how-to I found on the ‘net, such as in the case of the replacement of my intake manifold gasket on my 5.3L V8. I had never tackled such an intense project before but, with the aid of the computer and a bit of patience, accomplished it with no problems. And the savings in cost by doing it myself….were substantial.
SO, if you can do your own work and have the place to do it, I think people should do so. But, everyone lives in different places and can’t always do the work they would like to do. It is all good!
Thanks for running this site, you show us stuff I would not otherwise know even existed and have added to that stocked toolchest based on things you have featured here. Keep up the great work.
Richard
First off, any ass who calls someone’s masculinity into question just because they can’t (or won’t) do item X is scum.
To answer your question, I do a lot of work on my vehicles. Why? Because after sitting in an office all day, it’s something I find cathartic and allows me to think in a totally different way and use my hands. I do all the basic work, and have done a substantial amount of serious work, including electrical rewiring/splicing, all the way up to a head gasket replacement… let me tell you, the moment I turned the key was one of the scariest moments of my life. “If I got anything wrong, you can say bye bye to the head/engine.”
Anyway, I won’t tackle suspension work, unless it’s basic stuff like shocks and sprints. I won’t tackle body and paint. But the rest is fair game.
Although now, as other things in my life start to take more and more of my time, I find the amount of time I have to spend under the hood greatly diminishing… meaning I’ll just end up paying someone else to do it. C’est la vie, I guess.
James
Stuart,
I have a two car garage at home that contains my two daily drivers. I alternate between them on a weekly basis. If I need to work on one, then I can put that one out of commission for an extended period of time.
I have service manuals for both my vehicles, so given time and the proper tools, I am willing to tackle any maintenance or repair that is either mechanical or electrical in nature.
The following is a sample of the work I have performed on my vehicles:
1. Fluid changes: oil, transmission oil, differential oil, coolant, brake fluid.
2. Timing belt change.
3. Headlight upgrade from halogen to projectors.
4. Concealed subwoofer amp installation.
5. Rear transmission mount replacement.
Working on cars is a complete and welcome departure from my daily working on programmable chips; I enjoy the challenge and am not afraid to make mistakes. If I am in the garage for an extended period of time, I simply pump sports talk radio, baseball game, or basketball game through my Sony Walkman to provide entertainment throughout the time I am there.
I now spend time daily helping to raise my baby niece, which cuts into the time I used to spend working on my cars. However, I will never outright abandon the effort to keep my cars running.
I now spend time daily helping to raise my baby niece
richard
I do all my own car servicing and i can also change lorry tyres on the vehicle roadside if i have to. last week i changed a JCB front tyre using only washing liquid two tyre levers and the rear arm to break the bead, you have to know your limits or work out the costing and practicalities of any given job
Corey
I’m a very handy guy. I do a ton of work to my own house and am currently renovating a bathroom from the studs out. I have my Master HVAC, Electrical and Gasfitting license in two states and DC. I build my own computers and can recite the prologue to The Canterbury Tales in Middle English from memory.
If it comes to yardwork, picking matching colors, or anything involving advanced beginner car maintenance, I punt (early and often). I have a wide skillset, but I have very obvious limits and I know what they are. I can change my battery, I plug my tires, I cut in paint without an edging tool, and I can use a hedge trimmer. But these are things I’m much less comfortable with and am happy to let someone who does these things more often have control over them. I know my limitations and am comfortable with the shortcomings I have.
Bruce
Tasks I’ve done on my own:
1. All oil changes, I can buy enough full synthetic and a filter for less than the cost of a change at the quicky-lube. Plus I’ve never cross threaded my drain plug
2. Battery replacement 🙂
3. Brake job. It’s scary how much they charge for a 20 minute job. Seriously, get a manual, give it a try. I’ll never pay someone else to do it again.
4. Drive line repair/replacement. My local auto parts place let’s you ‘buy’ that fancy U-joint press tool and return it within 48 hours for a full refund!
5. Engine removal and replacement. When it’s time for a rebuild on that classic car/truck, getting the engine in and out takes a day each way. A quality warranty rebuild on that motor costs about as much as a shop will charge you for the remove/replace.
6. Tranny pull for rebuild. It’s not hard, just time consuming.
I can’t imagine a routine maintenance task on a vehicle that I wouldn’t prefer to do myself. The extra info it gives you about the overall state of the vehicle has no price. Oh look, that CV joint is going bad…. Looks like a transmission is seeping a bit…. Holy crap, look at the size of that nail in my tire!
Andrew
For me I do what I can. When I was in an apartment I was able to do 2 brake jobs (Car work wasn’t allowed in their parking lots…) during the warm months. Anything more serious and I’d probably have to go to a mechanic unless I had a friend willing to share grarage/driveway space and tools. Brakes are technically easy jobs; just remove the lugnuts, 2 more for the calipers, and 2 more for the rotors if you’re replacing them too. That’s not to say I haven’t run into a stripped bolt that required a mechanic to get off, and rusted on rotors that require several hits with a sledge to remove. Oh, and snapping a caliper bolt at the very end of the job at 5:55pm on a Sunday, and the closest shop is closed by the time you get there.
At my apartment I had a flexible job and no kids. If my car was out of commission I could even ride my bike into work as a last resort. Now I live in a house with a kid, and my brother, with two kids of his own; has a nice set of air tools that I have to “schedule” time for because being without a car means I have to bum a ride off my wife in the morning because my job is really only highway accessible.
All that being said, I try to do as many jobs as I can on the car to save money and build my skills, but at the same time I always have my oil change done at a mechanic. Not even because of money savings, but because a good mechanic gives your car a once over and can spot things my eyes/ears can’t; like the fact that my rear brakes are probably a week away from grinding on the calipers, or that my car is throwing low voltage codes on startup (My battery was apparently on it’s last legs, and all the battery testers I used on it were showing as AOK). That low voltage thing also fried a transmission sensor that took a few hours under the hood to fix, mostly because I had to unscrew a bunch of things to reach it, and I snapped a clasp that held it in, but it would’ve been about $200 to have a mechanic do it, when all it cost me was time, $30 for the sensor, and a jerry-rigged pipe clamp to account for the snapped clasp.
In the end it comes down to how flexible with time you can be, and how handy you can be around cars. Batteries I would replace on my own because with the majority of cars can have a replacement in while you’re still in the parking lot of the shop you’re buying from. That’s not to say something like a BMW, which requires some kind of software check or reset, doesn’t require a trip to the mechanic. I think you can do battery replacements on bmw’s at home, but it requires some trickery on your part.
Oh one more thing on oil changes, some people have massive trucks and suv’s that require lots of expensive oil, so maybe there’s more incentive to do that type of oil change at home.
Kevin F
So… Beyond the ability and facilities (tools and pad) to do the work yourself. There is the desire. I like working on my (key word there “my”) cars. Similarly to mowing my own lawn. I get in a zone and sort of relax doing it. Kids/wife/work are out of my head and its just me and the project at hand, be it a simple oil change (fumoto ftw) or clutch replacement. the best part of being a multicar family with descent garage is, if I get tired, something else comes up, or most importantly, become frustrated, I shut the garage door and walk away. This does mean things take substantially longer but, on my terms. All of my neighbors have a lawn service, but I enjoy the act and nod approvingly of my self cut grass.
jason. W
I have little to no experience working on cars. I also do not like cars very much. This means everything gets taken care of by someone else. I can check fluids and add if needed. But beyond that its someone else’s livelihood I will be supporting
Dave L.
I was just discussing this with a friend yesterday. Now, I do what I can with what I have-I’ve done brake pad & rotor replacements (mostly because I was disgusted with poor jobs by garages), filter changes, plugs, batteries, bulbs, minor bodywork, like that. I’m limited by the lack of a lift, air tools and room in my garage. Also, the car has to be driveable by the beginning of the week and one’s time is worth something as well.
At one point there wasn’t any kind of aftermarket electronics I hadn’t installed in a car, but NOW, cars are so complex, messing with wiring can be a big risk. Example: An alarm installer I know told me that he once attached a wire to a terminal he later learned was never supposed to have anything attached to it…it blew the whole wiring harness in the Jetta he was working on! I can only imagine what that was like to replace.
Which brings me to another point: Finding (factory) service manuals isn’t easy these days and you’re nearly sunk without one. My gal bought a new Accord recently and it came with a dizzying array of gadgets, like most new cars. It also has a continuously variable automatic trans which 1) is sealed-the DEALER has to check the fluid level and 2) if the belt breaks it supposedly costs between $3000 and $7000 to replace! I have to face the reality that there may be less and less that I can fix on this car when it gets older and I STILL can’t find a factory manual. I will do as much as I can, but some things will just have to go to the dealer…and I’m not real happy about it.
Mike
Honda factory manuals are available through both Honda and Helm. There is also AllData which is sometimes actually better than the factory manuals.
The general repair manual for my Civic was $50 and the engine electronics manual was $75.
Dave L.
Thanks-I’ll have to check those out. Couldn’t find them for a 2013-14 Accord last time I looked.
Mike
Out of curiosity I checked Helm. While they do have the manuals, the pricing is… painful. They’ve split the manuals into sections that they sell individually and each one is $50. So a manual that might have cost $75 is now effectively priced at $400 or so! Maybe in time the cost will go down.
Mike
I do most everything myself except automatic transmission internals, machine work, tires and windshields. The tools do cost money, especially automotive specialty tools, but in the long run I’ve always come out far ahead. (One exception: I have a few specialty tools that I bought because they were awesome and they haven’t paid for themselves since I didn’t actually need them.) At this stage in my life I can finally afford a vehicle that doesn’t need repairs very often other than routine maintenance but that certainly was not the case in my younger years. I’d be lucky to go two months without some kind of major failure. Repairs get expensive real quick, so it was either learn to do it myself or be without a car.
I certainly do not look down on anyone who doesn’t do their own work, though. In my experience, those who criticize others for not doing automotive work tend to be pretty clueless. They are experts in all things automotive until it comes time to actually diagnose a problem or do a repair. Suddenly their story changes to “I’d do it myself but I don’t have the tools” or “you can’t work on these new cars with all their electronics.”
Steve Cox
My Dodge, and my wife’s SHO are under warranty, so I take them to the dealer for the $29 service. The kids windstar, and Eagle Talon we do everything at home.
DanG
Not having a home with a garage kind of limits the amount of work you can perform on a car. When I was younger I was in that predicament. Most of the time the landlord of the apartments I was in did not allow anyone working on their cars in the parking lot or the carports. One time I was a little frustrated and pissed off at the landlord and I figured he not be able to see what I was doing with my car. I drove into the carport and started changing the oil, filter and air filter. What I did not know is he would patrol the apartment complex every 6 hours. Well the time I was changing the oil. He happened to walk by. He has so pissed his face turned beet red and told me to refrain from my task. I just told him I will finish it up an that will be the end of it. Several days later I was given a months notice to evacuate the premises.
Now that I’m married, I have a two car garage and tons of tools. I will attempt to do everything but major engine work and the valves. I have 3 vehicles in which I change the oil, and oil filter, the air filter. I will change the spark plugs and the spark plug wires, the brakes(front and rear) the old style brake pads(which are a pain in the butt) and the new disc (which are really easy). I will change the battery and even ones that were in the back seat. I change both the serpentine belts and the timing belt. Replace computer components as needed, such as oxygen sensors.
I change the automatic transmission fluid and filter. I change the radiator fluid and hoses if needed. Most of the time the thermostat but wife’s Mazda was a challenge and required special tools to remove it. If the job requires a specific tool to perform the task I will not spend the ridiculous amount of money for a one time use. I did it once before. The special tool is in my tool box and the car has been gone for ages. I enjoy working on cars but I certainly would not make a career out of it.
Hang Fire
Dan, I hear you on the special tools. My threshold is one-time cost. If it is cheaper to buy the specialty tool+parts than pay for a garage repair, I’ll buy it. If it is a 2, 3 or 4 time use before the tool pays for itself, I’ll pass.
Also ebay is your friend. You can get used specialty tools, or see what you’ll get by reselling a one-time tool by checking out the closed listings. Also Harbor Freight has specialty ball joint, bearing and bushing tools for 1/6 of the tool truck prices. They may only be good for one front-end, but then they’ve more than paid for themselves.
Joshua Latham
Im pretty much like Mike above. I do everything except Auto trans, machine work, and windshields. I have changed my own tires before and boy was that an adventure.
I am now changing out the freeze plugs on my Jeep 4.0. It has been a great learning experience, especially since there is one on the back of the block so I had to pull the tranny. While I was at it I rebuilt my power steering pump, because it has been leaking since I got the car.
I am not afraid to tackle any type of job as long as i have a manual. The things that scare me are the random electrical things, I hate chasing down wires. I did take my ECM or PCM apart and reflow all of the solders so I could fix the random dying problem on my Jeep ZJ.
If I lived in an apartment a lot of the stuff I have done would not be an option.
Don M
At the moment, my vehicles don’t go to a shop for anything except paint. And they don’t go to a shop for that very often because most of them aren’t worth enough to justify having them professionally painted.
Everything else from oil changes to engine swaps I do myself. My newest vehicle is also 15 years old so I’d be spending a fortune on maintenance if I couldn’t do the work myself. I can pick up a set of ball joints for 100 bucks but labor at a shop to install them is 700 -1000 bucks. Since they’re 15 years old, they don’t have a ton of complicated electronics to deal with either, a $20 code reader is sufficient to troubleshoot 95% of the electronics on the vehicles.
I also have the time to do all of the work right now (no kids and reasonable work schedule) so the money saved from taking it to a shop justifies the time I spend on them as well as the money I spend on tools to keep them running.
And, as another reader mentioned, I thoroughly enjoy the time I spend working on them. Two crappy hours in the garage replacing something that broke is still a good two hours for me. It may not be for you.
SawdustTX
Up until I had kids, did all my own work, including major engine rebuilds, all maintenance, even some interior re-upholstery and exterior paint. Only exception was transmission – won’t touch that. During the child rearing years, I did very little except some quick minor repairs. It was simply a matter of time and priorities.
Now with kids off to college, I’m back doing more significant work, but I still leave the routine maintenance to the shops – it’s just so much faster and more economical to have a shop do it in 45 minutes. I always have, and still do, wash and detail my own cars inside and out, including the engine, because it keeps me intimately aware of what’s going on with my car…and because I find it relaxing and much more instantly gratifying than the months long projects of my desk job….same reason I still mow my own lawn.
Mac
Do most nearly everything myself. Even rattle-canned a car or two way back in my past. Pretty sure they came out looking like they were rattle-canned too. Lol.
Caleb
I generally do it all myself. When I lived in the dorms in college I could only do non-fluid stuff with the tools in my truck, so really limited ($18 oil change at Wal-Mart). Same thing at the apartments I lived in before buying the house. Bought a house with a good sized driveway and 2 car garage largely so I could fix things.
I use the same criteria for auto and home repairs: How hard is it? How much time will it require? Do I have the tools needed to fix this? How much will it cost to buy the tools I will need? Will I ever use these tools again? Can I rent/borrow the tools from an auto store (most have loaner tools you can buy, use, and return for a full refund)? What will I do with the waste? How much will it cost to have the repair done somewhere else?
What this normally means is that I do a lot of stuff like oil (buy on sale), brakes (buy once, return for warranty), and simple parts (alternator). I will typically research and see what I can handle. I have a repair manual that lives in the trunk of each car (used from Amazon). So far, I have handled most everything short of transmission stuff, glass, alignments, and tires (don’t have space for the tools). My grandfather used to have a front-end shop so my dad learned a lot there and we have friends who can help us figure out problems.
For me it is a mixture of saving money, saving time, and knowing my vehicle. I would rather wait 30 minutes at home for my oil to drain while I do other things than sit in a quick-lube place for 90 minutes, even if I only save $5 and don’t have to listen to sales pitches for unneeded repairs. I also know it is done right. If I am in the mountains and something goes wrong outside of mobile phone coverage I have a good chance of fixing it and making it home. I do maybe 6 oil changes a year and 1 set of brake pads so I can take my time and do it right rather than have someone who is doing 20 a day forget a step. It has happened to friends and relatives. I also help out friends. I have saved 2 friends over $150 each on brakes in the last year.
A great example: I bought an A/C manifold last year because the simply ones that come with cans were not cutting it. Spent about $75 on it. I can buy cans of R134a for $6-8 at Big Lots. Used 3x for my vehicles and once for my dad’s. Will use it again when I replace the condenser on one of mine this winter. $75 has already saved us over $400.
NitroSpaceLobster
What do you use for a vacuum pump?
Hang Fire
hehe… because NOBODY just vents and refills, right? That’s illegal!
NitroSpaceLobster
No, as in how do you remove all of the air from the system before you charge it?
RX9
You can get cheap vac pumps from HF and others for under $200. Throw in another $50-80 for the manifold gauges and you’re set.
Caleb
http://www.harborfreight.com/air-vacuum-pump-with-r134a-and-r12-connectors-96677.html
only works when it is empty as it is illegal to very R-134 into the air.
Caleb
vent. not very.
NitroSpaceLobster
I handle everything that doesn’t require an alignment rack or a tire machine. I became tired of paying top dollar for bottom of the barrel work to be done on my vehicles. The term skilled tradesman has become a lot like its older brother, common sense.
Mike
Everybody should learn to change their own front brakes it’s that easy the hardest part is removing the lug nuts you can save yourself anywhere from 200 to700 dollars depending on your car and they are all pretty much the same
runbikebeerwoodtools
I changed my starter, exhaust, oil, fender,battery, rattle can spray paint and water soaking bondo, In my garage My truck is 24 years old and It still runs. But when the clutch went I left it to the pros. nuff said
928'er
In my (supposedly) grown up job I am an attorney, so, as others have said I find working on my cars cathartic.
As a starving student I was taught auto mechanics by a ’59 Triumph TR3. The TR3 was your basic worn out old English sports car – probably had 300k miles on it when I got it. During the 7 years I drove that car I rebuilt the engine, made one transmission out of two, and stripped and repainted the car. It got me through college and the first two years of law school. Bought it for $300 and sold it for $5,000 some 30 years ago.
As you may have guessed from my toolguyd name, I’m now a Porsche 928 guy. As of last May, I’ve owned my ’82 for 20 years. My ’89 is a newbie, I’ve only had it for three. One of the first things I did after I bought the ’82 was plunk down $300 for the 9 volume (!) set of factory shop manuals. Paid for themselves the 1st time I used them. The only time my cars are in the shop is for alignments and body/paint work (been there, done that).
The only way I can afford to own these cars is to do my own work and for me working with my hands is kind of therapeutic. Which is a good thing. Porsche only built ~60,000 928s over an 18 year production run and since the last 928 came off the assembly line 19 years ago – the “dealer” doesn’t even know what they are – let alone how to work on them.
SC300'er
Maintaining a 928 has always seemed to me like it would be an exercise in extreme masochism, the automotive equivalent of vacationing at Guantanamo Bay.
That said, guys like you probably know more about keeping your particular ride in shape than the master techs at the local Porsche dealership. What’s more, you and the rest of the madmen keeping 928’s, old Jaguars, 8-series, and other nightmare projects on the road serve as an inspiration to all the other shadetree techs out there, myself included.
Much respect to you, sir.
Jesse Neil
I try to do all my own work unless it requires some tricky diagnostics, expensive shop equipment, or welding. I live in an apartment, but can borrow my parents driveway. My last two cars have been a 2005 Ford Taurus and a 1999 Jeep Cherokee. I purchased both of them because they have cheap and available parts, have a reputation for reliability, and are stupid easy to work on. With both vehicles, I knew that as long as I know what the problem is and the tools are will eventually pay for themselves, I can fix it myself.
monomach
Honestly, the fact that you don’t even do easy, quick maintenance on your own makes me disregard everything you write about tools.
If you’re sitting around polishing your toolbox jewelry and never using it, you are not in any way qualified to tell us whether something is good or a piece of rubbish.
I thought you were one of us, so this is pretty disheartening. It means that every single review on this site has to be disregarded because the source is extremely suspect.
monomach
Also, keep in mind that 18 year old kids working the Autozone parts counter who know next to nothing about cars change batteries in the parking lot. I think you can handle that without a garage.
Stuart
Sorry that you feel that way.
“One of us?”
Just because I don’t do my own auto maintenance out in the parking lot, doesn’t mean I don’t like to get my hands dirty.
I like to work with hands. There are few things as satisfying as building something with my hands.
But I have so little free time that I would much rather spend it on a fabrication project, honing my woodworking skills, or designing a scratch robotics project, than changing my oil out in the parking lot during who knows what kind of weather.
And yes, I clean my tools before putting them back in the toolbox.
Maybe when I move to a house with a garage things will change.
Andrew
“Maybe when I move to a house with a garage things will change.
That’s questionable; having a house just means you’ll have more projects to work on, haha.
Also, while an oil change is really a basic job, sometimes you find you have to be crafty to understand the logic (or lack of) of what the mfr had in mind for your “simple repair” you’re doing that is no longer simple because wear & tear or rust have changed the name of the game.
Hang Fire
Yes, I handle all my own maintenance, and previously and lately, almost all my own repairs, on 3 vehicles. When I traveled a lot for work and had a baby at home, I used a local trusted mechanic for repair work. Trust is a big, big deal in auto care. Like you found, there are local shops that cannot get even the basics correct. I also have horror stories. One such horror exerience bounced me back from maintenance-only to repairs again. It helped that the baby grew up and is old enough to hand me tools.
I am very fortunate to come from a family that was mechanical on both sides. While I was an apartment dweller I was able to use the family’s garage for work. Now I have my own garage. If you don’t have access to a garage, you should consider where to draw the line- limiting yourself to maintenance and easy repairs.
I completely understand the limitations of being an apartment dweller. I once swapped out a broken timing gear in a rental community with strict rules against such work in the parking lot. I helped another guy replace a warped engine head in front of his townhouse. Both repairs were successful. Neither is an experience I would care to repeat. We saved a lot of money but endured a great deal of hardship.
Today’s prospective mechanic is blessed with Internet forums. The How-To guides on vehicle-specific forums are amazing, much better than the average Youtube video. The reason for the difference is obvious. On web forums, only moderators can move a decent How-To up to the Stickies. On Youtube, anyone can get thousands of hits if they just come up with the best title and get their video up first, even if the video is awful and full of misinformation.
The forum how-to’s are so good I have come to deeply resent the Chilton’s and Hayne’s vehicle-specific repair manuals. They are full of very generic knowlege, very few blurry B&W photographs and the infamous “reassemble in reverse order”. On the other hand, forum how-to’s are full of hi-rez color photos, annotated with circles and arrows, begin with a list of tools and parts (by part number) required, and carry you all the way through reassembly. How many aftermarket repair manuals have any of that? Exactly none that I’ve seen, and I’ve seen over a hundred.
Another advantage is temporary or vehicle-specific access to Alldata is affordable, and so is factory repair manuals (which unlike aftermarket are usually fairly useful) on CD/DVD. Digital factory manuals usually run around $45-$50 as opposed to $250-$500 for a set of printed manuals.
While I understand not everyone is cut out to do vehicle repair themselves, I encourage anyone who is “handy” to learn how to check fluids, replace wipers, cabin and engine air filters, check tire pressure and tread depth, replace headlight and running light bulbs, and know the maintenance schedule of their particular vehicle. No one should be surprised by $1,000 of maintenance estimates at the dealer. If it does happen, any car owner should be able to say “did this already, need this, this can wait” in an intelligent manner.
Reisen
Lots of great responses in this topic, but this one was, IMO, the best.
I’m 34, and have been working on my 2002 BMW 3 series since it went out of warranty (about 8 years ago). A list of things I’ve done:
– Fluid changes
– Control arms
– Front and rear shocks/struts/springs
– Valve cover gasket
– Spark plugs
– Fuel filter
– Front and rear brakes & rotors
– Idle control valve / throttle body
– Thermostat
– Coolant pump
– Battery
– Alternator
– Oil filter housing gasket
– All pulleys
– Radiator tubing
– Oil separator (this one was a PITA)
While I own a Bentley service manual, I primarily use it for torque specs. Per Hang Fire’s post, I find that internet DIY’s are far more detailed, have way better high resolution, color pictures, and often contain follow-up discussion about various ways to best perform a step.
I personally have posted a number of BMW DIYs on various forums. Generally, I’m iterating on an existing procedure that I learned either from someone else, or from the Bentley manual. However, I’m adding pictures, and explaining where steps could be skipped (ie. “It’s not really necessary to remove the fan if you use a stubby wrench”), or where I did something differently. Sometimes, you can literally create your own specialty tools, as I’ve done to remove an E46’s alternator or adjust the window regulator.
The one fault I have with DIYs is that you will sometimes get bad information. Anyone can contribute, and they are free to put completely wrong torque specs, as well as refer to part numbers (or parts) that are wrong for your model. Thus, I always try to verify torque specs with an established manual, or at least with numerous different DIYs. Everyone knows what over-torquing a bolt can do, especially with modern aluminum engine components.
I don’t have a garage, but if it’s an easy DIY (ie. brakes), I’ve been known to drive to a school parking lot on a weekend, and do it there. Unless there’s a sporting event, it’s usually pretty deserted, and the only interest I gather is from people walking their dogs.
For more in-depth DIYs, I believe you at least need a garage. In my case, I drive to my in-laws (a few hours away), and they can babysit the kids and hang out with the wife while I work. On something big like the Oil separator (which can involve pulling about a third of the engine compartment), you need to be able to walk away and leave the vehicle for a few hours / overnight, if necessary.
That leads to the whole “which jobs to DIY” discussion. In my view, there are 5 types of vehicle repairs / maintenance items.
– Something breaks, leaving you stranded. You generally have to pay a shop here, as you don’t have the time to plan the DIY, order the parts in advance, you may be busy with other things, etc.
– Fluids. I used to change my own oil, but it’s just no longer worth it. The labor costs are so low for oil changes these days, it’s not worth my time. Plus, I have to collect the oil, and take it somewhere for disposal. I also have shops do coolant / brake flushes, as the machines will do a better job, way faster, and they deal with the fluid disposal.
– Easy DIYs that shops make a killing off of. Stuff like fuel filters, brakes, alternator, etc. etc. Especially with a luxury car like a BMW, I’d be paying $400+ for something that might take me an hour to do, most of which is getting the car on jackstands. I always try to do these. Money-wise, you’ll rarely find a better use for your time than spending 2 hours saving yourself $1K. At least twice a year, I find myself in this situation with my BMW or my wife’s Audi.
– More complicated DIYs, like a valve-cover gasket, suspension work, the afore-mentioned oil separator, etc. This is more of a toss-up. I do it because I like the challenge, learning about the vehicle, and enjoy it. However, I often reach a point in these jobs where it’s “not fun any more” and I just want it finished. Especially if you encounter complications (stuck/rounded off/broken bolt, stripped threads, dropping a tool / part into the engine bay, broken plastic, etc.), it can turn into a nightmare, fast. Bloody knuckles and accidentally breaking other parts are common. I know people who have gone as far as accidentally missing a pickle fork with a sledge (when trying to fry a ball joint), and hit the vehicle instead. Obviously, the nightmare is jack-stand failure. Each person needs to individually gauge their skill / patience / risk tolerance here.
– Big jobs that require big / dedicated tools, or huge amounts of time. Because I’m working in someone else’s garage, without a lift or air tools, I probably won’t be dropping my transmission any time soon. Nor will I be doing welding work on my subframe. I can ask my in-law’s to store my jackstands, ramps, floor jacks, and a box of hand tools in their garage. But an engine hoist / compressor capable of powering automotive air tools / transmission jack? Probably not. Also, it’s one thing for me to crawl under a vehicle on jack stands (ie. little clearance) and get filthy, but I can’t really ask my wife, her parents, or my 4 y/o daughter to help me. Thus, I’m generally limited to DIYs that don’t need a second set of hands. Big jobs often require one person to position the heavy part (ie. the bell housing for a transmission), while another person fastens it in place.
Lastly, I think the trend of women in the DIY world is great. I’m sure there are some women who are great mechanics, but none of the women I know in my life would qualify. For one, without air tools, you need to be decently strong to perform many tasks. Frying a ball joint with a pickle fork, beating on a stuck rotor with a dead-blow mallet, or even removing a stuck bolt with a breaker bar often requires a lot of strength. Heck, even removing stuck hose fittings / electrical connections can be really challenging.
tomo
For background. I have an 86 vw cabriolet that I drive around, it’s as much a practical (30+ miles to the gallon) toy as anything else. The wife and kids ride around in a newer Subi. I work on both it saves me money I might not be as fast as a shop but I have the tools and the understanding and when I have the time It’s worth it to me to have looked at the bits and pieces responsible for transporting my family safely from A to B. If I don’t think I can do a job safely I pay someone who can but I look at it before and afterwards they are my family. I don’t do all my own oil changes the shop can do that better but I do do some of them I want to know whats happening in there and know in advance if I kneed to start watching out for something.
John
If I have time and feel adventurous I’ll tackle repairs myself. I’ve done throttle body cleanings, sparkplugs & coil packs, shocks, differential & t-case fluid changes, etc. but there are some things that it just doesn’t make sense to do it myself. If it’s under warranty, it’s the dealer’s problem.
I’ve been taking our cars to the local Ford dealer for the Works package which is typical oil&filter, top off other fluids, tire rotation, and visual inspection of other components because at $39 I don’t save much money and they can do it faster than I can buy the parts, get everything out, do the actual work, and clean everything up.
Tonight’s adventure is changing the blower motor on my 2012 Fusion. Part was changed last fall under warranty which is now expired. Warranty on the repair is also expired due to mileage. Ford wanted $160 for the part and another $160 for labor – said they stock the part and can quote it from memory since it’s a common failure. A little digging on the interwebs found the Motorcraft part for $57 and change (which has now raised to over $90 in line with Rock Auto and another source I saw). Everything I’ve read on the repair says it takes 10 minutes tops as it is only an electrical connector and 3 screws since it mounts directly under the glovebox with nothing covering it.
Here is the real gripe though – since I started driving in 1995, I have replaced exactly ZERO blower motors on an ’86 S-15 Jimmy (sold at 145,000 miles), ’94 Grand Prix (sold at 160,000 miles), ’04 Escape (still own at 147,000 miles), and an ’05 Colorado (sold at 188,000 miles) until I bought the Fusion which after tonight will be on its THIRD motor in less than 26 months (not a typo) and approximately 55,000 miles of ownership since new.
Reality is that manufacturers don’t design cars for future service ease. Service department is what keeps your local dealership open and manufacturers know it. When I was working on construction of a new GM dealership in 2004 and 2005, the owner said flat out that he would abandon new car sales in a heartbeat if GM would let him since all of his profits came from the parts and service departments and actually subsidized sales to an extent. Said his other dealerships were a similar situation.
John Md
From one John to another, thanks for the post about GM and their essential catering towards the maintenance side of the equation. QUITE a few times over the past year as I have worked on my GM GMT800 SUV I have thought, why on earth did they not use a good metal for something kind of important like, say, your BRAKE LINES? Or low grade bolts on your exhaust manifold? Or engineering things like an exhaust manifold bolt placed in an area that are almost impossible to access, or a pitman arm that is blocked by a cross member of the frame, or….etc etc. Or, to change a headlight bulb in a GMT900 SUV you have to practically disassemble 1/3 of the front fender???? It is all because they are gonna get their pound of flesh from you at the time of sale, and as often every time thereafter.
Thus, I do as much of my own repairs as possible. Ugh. Government Motors at their very best.
SteveR
Stuart–Comments were all over the map, as expected. Some like to do their own work because they can; some because they enjoy the challenge, and still others others because they have to for financial reasons. I usually have the tools on hand for the jobs I tackle and enjoy the feeling of success when you complete the job. However, there’s lots of things I won’t touch if it’s beyond my abilities; I generally don’t mess with electricity (120 volts and up), as you could get electrocuted or burn the house down (that’s a tough one to explain to the insurance adjuster). So much stuff is electronic (computers, phones, cameras, I-pads, etc.), that I often feel overwhelmed. Even messing with cable TV hookups can be frustrating. The Cable Guy comes equipped with all manner of job-specific tools and meters, plus specialized knowledge about the cable system’s inner workings; my chances of success are pretty slim by comparison. The same goes for working on current vehicles because of the amount and kinds of equipment they now come with.
For instance, I took my car to Best Buy recently to have the alarm system checked out. It was an older after-market system and I suspected a fuse had blown (turns out I was right), but I wasn’t crazy enough to tear into the wire bundles and sensors to try to trouble-shoot it myself if something more involved was the cause. The young guy doing the job was a Master Installer and could run circles around most people that do that kind of work. He also got a previously “dead” radio speaker working which simply had a broken wire from the factory installation. No one else, including the Toyota dealership, could trace and find the problem that he discovered fairly quickly. He even got my trunk lid release working again (also part of the alarm system). He did all of that at a very reasonable price, so I didn’t feel “taken” or victimized.
I had a sliding glass patio door repaired three months ago that I could have taken apart myself, but not being able to remove the roller wheels and reinstalling everything properly made it a no-go for me. The installers used dual-wheel rollers as replacements (ours originally had single nylon wheels). They had repaired dozens of patio doors like this and did the whole job (including removing the bottom of the door w/o breaking the glass) in approximately 30 minutes. For these and other reasons, I feel I’m often better off letting a professional do the job given the level of difficulty and knowledge required. Yes, I’m sometimes humbled by what others can do easily that I can’t, but I don’t lose any sleep over it. Neither should anyone else.
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Dave L.
Pros frequently have tools and experience we don’t. I once tried to replace the center drag link on a 73 Olds 88…two nuts…simple, right? After spending about an hour with a mallet and a “pickle fork” in a parking lot and only having bloody knuckles to show for it, I took it to a garage around the corner. With a lift and air tools the guy had it swapped in five minutes. After that I resolved not to do my own suspension work.
RICHARD DECKERT
Doing auto maintenance was not and has not been forced upon me by anyones opinions! The opinions I cherish are mine and my few special people. I’ve done fluid changes, tire changing, spark plugs, intake manifold, generators etc. Light work. as i grow older and become less physically able. i let others do most. Not always garages. sometimes friends . I don’t think the onus is on us to do or not do”MAN” tings.to each his own by the talents GOD has given us is what we should be doing. It does feels good when I accomplish stuff myself[ or with a little spousal encouragement and or sympathy. BUT then- that’s just me. bye
Dave L.
Physical limitations are indeed a reality: I would probably become a mechanic but for not being able to lean over a hood too long-back troubles.
Oldasdirt
I no longer do my own maintenance as I don’t feel safe working under a car supported by jack stands.I take my cars to a local mechanic that I dealt with for years. I will change air filters and top off fluids when necessary but that is it.
Kurt
I ran an auto shop 20 years ago, and do pretty much all my own work to keep up my minivan, which is 12 years old and has about 140K miles on it. I’m lucky enough to live in a small town where having a separate shop on your property is not uncommon, and I have mine set up so I can move my woodworking equipment out of the way and bring the van in for work. I picked up a set of factory manuals off of eBay for the old girl, which helps a lot. Just did the valve cover gaskets and a tune up, belt, front brakes, and cooling hoses. Earlier this year I tracked down an evaporative system leak by making a smoke machine to pressurize the system – took about 4 hours to make the machine, and 5 minutes to find the leak LOL, but it saved me a trip to the dealer (50 miles roundtrip) and who knows how much money. Last winter I did the front struts, and much of the front suspension.The one thing I don’t do myself is oil changes; for the 10 bucks I save in labor I’d rather have someone else do it.
Tom
I do every bit of maintenance that I can on everything I own: my car, my house, bikes, technology, even my stuff for my neighbors. I try to fix everything that is within reason and my capabilities. The more I do, the more I realize I can do. It’s really satisfying to look back on a project that I was kinda scared to start on and see that I was able to finish it and that I learned a whole lot in the process. I also save a lot of money with DIY, too. $20 for me change my antifreeze, $120 to do it the shop. I got quotes to remodel my master bath and they all came in at $15-25k. I did it myself for $5k. Sure it takes more time than to hire it out, but it gets done exactly the way I wanted it to and I’m the kind of guy who isn’t able to sit still anyway. I love learning how things work and figuring out how to fix them. It’s in my blood.
It’s also a good way to teach my kids about managing money. If we tackle a job like changing the oil in the car, the extra money we saved by not paying the shop can be used to buy ice cream sundaes.
I’ve got a nice arrangement with some of my neighbors, too. Everytime I do little things around their houses that they can’t handle (hang a ceiling fan, fix the dishwasher, etc.), they do some babysitting a couple of nights and my wife and I can go out for a decent dinner and actually get to talk and finish our plates without the food getting cold. 🙂
Chris
Do all my own maintenance and modding myself on all my vehicles… car, snowmobile, 4 wheeler, etc… Do everything myself unless there is something I can’t do in the driveway or unless it’s warranty work on my new car (2013 fusion)
Been wrenching for 15+ years and took auto tech in college and became a block apprentice for awhile till I left the trade… Not very often my car or girlfriend’s vehicle ever see’s a garage… yearly inspection for the govt, tire changes on rim’s and other things are the only times it see’s a mechanic
Phil
I am one of those people that just has to do everything myself. I do everything on cars except paint them. I have a decent sized garage, but I don’t have the height for a normal lift. In my more ambitious 20s, I built my own house, and I’m living happily in it to this day. I fix and maintain everything in it. I love the independent feeling I get when I tackle various big projects myself, especially when I hear of horror stories from people and friends who had to pay lots of money quite often for mediocre work. I don’t expect everyone to be like me, and I know a few very handy types that don’t have the space to work. Trying to work on a car alongside a busy street or crowded parking lot sucks, and some locales won’t let people do such work due to regulations. I think people should learn to do some work on their vehicles, it puts them in a position to not be taken advantage of when they take them in for service, and they can spot potential issues before things get bad, such as leaks or loose parts.
Don’t let the chest thumpers give you grief.
Moose
I do as much as I can. This would include oil changes, brake work, water pump replacement, and fuel pump replacement. Anything I think I can do I will do. I recently had a transmission go out. I paid a pro 1500 bucks to re-build it and didn’t tackle it on my own. I have 3 vehicles so paying for repairs seems wasteful. The main thing though is I really like doing it. I’m not a golfer or a gamer, I don’t watch 5 hours of TV in a month so working on vehicles or my home is what I enjoy doing. I have a 16 year old son who I am teaching to be self reliant. This is our father/son bonding time. Some day he will be working on his families cars with my tools and hopefully remember me fondly and be proud of what I taught him.
RX9
I do as much as auto maintenance and repair on my car as I conceivably can. Labor costs can make repairs prohibitively expensive. In my experience, these labor costs are often far in excess of what the proper tools/manuals for a DIY effort can cost. What’s more, if you don’t need the tools after the job, part of that cost can be recovered by putting them on eBay/Craigslist/barter.
That said, there are a few instances in which tool costs are so prohibitive it just makes sense to farm out the job to someone else. For instance, when your torque converter goes bad, you will find out that buying a remanufactured unit is way easier than trying to overhaul it yourself, as the $80-600 cost of a unit is dwarfed by the thousands upon thousands of dollars all the tools need to remanufacture a torque converter cost (the furnace for brazing, specialized circular tig welding machine, balancing and testing units, etc.).
Your choice to work on a car boils down to a question of time, money, and desire/ability to grapple with the physical and mental challenges of repair.
There are many benefits to repairing the car yourself, but to me, the best benefit is the fact that you will no longer feel so upset by your car having troubles. If you know what is going bad, and how you can fix it, you are not longer at the (very limited) mercy of the dealership.
That freedom alone, is priceless.
RX9
(typo)
…you are *no* longer at…
Joey K
I do anything, and everything I can when working on my vehicle(s). I’ve swapped axles, changed over to a slip-yoke eliminator on my Jeep. If I can do it, I’ll do it. Right now I have a 72 Datsun truck I am slowly working on. Teaching myself body work, rust repair then soon how to build a turbo engine…
Everybody has their preferences when it comes to their cars. Generally, If I am able to change the oil I will. If its more a hassle, I’ll take it to a shop. Though I am, and will always be weary of this Lube and Service shops. I’ve heard too many horror stories, and hell I would never go to the Sears Auto center by me, and I worked for Sears for 6yrs. I now work for an autoparts store, so battery changing is a norm unless I’m pulling out fender liners and the sort.
If you have the space, time and drive… I believe anybody (man, or woman) should do work on their cars. It only provides them with valuable knowledge about their vehicle, but it also teaches them a life skill.
The only thing I don’t do is rotate my tires. Why rotate them when I can drive 10 minutes to Discount Tire and have them do it for me. Free rotations and spin balancing for the life of the tires? I’m in!
joe
“…If I am able to change the oil I will.” …hell I would never go to the Sears Auto center by me…”
I needed a quick oil change and went to sears, since I don’t trust a lot of people, I checked their job and the motor was over filled. From the understanding how motors work, that could have killed my motor. With out getting all technical, what basically happens in an over fill is that the oil developed a lot of bubbles that don’t lubricate the cylinder walls and can cause other expensive wear and tear….i just drained the oil myself and saved it for future use….but I will never go back to sears for an oil change again even if it was done by a newbie in that particular day.
I will go for display tools for cheap that they sell here and there though.
joe
No offense to the mechanics but working on cars is pretty much easy when it comes not digging deep in the electrical or inside the engine type of things.
I’m just a DIYer and have changed gas pumps, radiators, electrical fans, have pull out the floor carpet to paint (when I was about 21 yrs old), have repaired estimated $3000 dollar damage by insurance with $300 bucks and elbow grease, bleed my own breaks after doing some break repair, have replaced friends wheel bolts (he forgot to tighten the lug nuts and the tire flew off in the freeway), have replaced broken windows and replaced (fixed) power window motors, I replaced the truck bed in my f150 by myself when a teen crashed in to me on the back….the list goes on and on.
When I need experience help, usually just call a friend of mine that is a mechanic, describe the symptoms, and he tells me what it might be and I take it from there and do all the manual labor.
The perks of being a serious DUYer is saving in money and the opposite is being asked a lot to repier your relatives stuff for free…lol…but it pays off at the end.