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Seriously, basic maintenance should be part of drivers ed courses. I also believe that everyone should buy a Haynes Repair manual for their car. It will explain how to maintain your car and you can decide if you able to do the repair or if you should take it to a pro. It will also help you understand the process so your not going to a mechanic with no clue. Some places will take advantage of the clueless customer.
Sure tools can be an expensive initial cost, but if you spend it on good quality tools they will last you the rest of your life. For DIYers, Craftsman Industrial is a great choice. The Industrial tools are still made in the USA and are higher quality than the newer Craftsman crap in your local Sears. SK and Armstrong are two other quality USA made tool companies, but they are a little more expensive. Not truck tool expensive, but not cheap. Pittsburgh Pro line at Harbor Freight is good too if you're on a budget. Their mechanics tools have gotten much better and they have a life time warranty.
A 3/8 ratchet and metric socket set, a couple of different pliers, metric wrench set (including a oil filter wrench), screwdrivers and a tool box to hold them will get you through most maintenance and minor repairs. You don't need the seven foot tool box full of tools the pros have. If you do end up needing a special tool, you can rent them from most parts stores.
Most larger cities have recycling programs that will take your used fluids for you. Most parts stores will to it too, including Wal Mart's with auto centers.
I don't have the room to pull an engine or do any really involved work, but changing brakes, oil, bearings, CV joints, coolant etc is easy and it does save money.
My dad bought a pair of ramps you drive your car up onto so you can get underneath to change the oil. It was something he wish he didn't bother with, as he ended up only breaking even, not even saving any money. It would've been better to let a mechanic with the training, equipment, and fast service to handle it. He knew when to look out for maintainence stuff such as: check the oil, refill the coolant, refill the washer fluid, like tire pressure, rotating, them etc. In 2 separate houses he lived in, the automatic garage doors would break down from time to time, and he fixed those.... one was electrical. The other was the track got a bit bent out of shape.
He wasn't going to rebuild transmissions, redo the engines, change the transmission fluids, change the timing belt, etc. He had his hands full commuting and working 11 hours per day, 5 days a week, fixing other things around the house, how to balance the budget to put my sister and myself through college. That's not even counting when he was on business travel at times... a month or 2 at a time.
In these such cases, time is the commodity that needs to preserved. You throw $$ at that, not give up your precious time.
I do as much of the work on my car as I can, mostly brakes, small stuff like cleaning the EGR, fuel filter... because I am cheap. Oil change- meh not worth it. Dealing with the old oil is a pain and I can take it to an oil change place and it costs what a fiver more.
This I'm a macho man because I fix my car is a bit silly.
All day long at work I guide customers through how to do various repairs on their boats, and it has become apparent to me that some people need to put down the wrench and let someone else, who knows how to do it, do the work for them. I will get halfway through explaining the most simple repair, and I see their eyes glaze over and know they have no clue what the basic concept is that I am trying to explain.
I grew up with a Father and Grandfather who could fix anything, and they did. They built our home and barn with simple (non power) tools and could fix anything on our cars that went wrong. Men back then had a common sense approach to fixing and building things, and so many men today actually know less than their Wives about tools and repairs.
I knew we were in trouble when I was telling one customer how to hook up a 12 volt accessory on his boat and when I told him to hook up the ground wire he said " Do I put that ground wire over the side of the boat and into the water, or what ?"
Cars today are so complex that the average person can't really do a lot. Some years ago I bought a new car, and when it was in for the first service I asked the technician to bump up the timing a little for more power. He laughed and said " I can put the distributor anywhere you want it, but by the time you get to the end of the parking lot the computer will decide it needs set back to where it was."
I do as much of the work on my car as I can, mostly brakes, small stuff like cleaning the EGR, fuel filter... because I am cheap. Oil change- meh not worth it. Dealing with the old oil is a pain and I can take it to an oil change place and it costs what a fiver more.
This I'm a macho man because I fix my car is a bit silly.
Reading this and thinking of what I've been doing in the last couple of years, I think doing your own minor brake work is probably the most cost-effective and time-effective DIY procedure.
This is all so typical of today's society. We all know what the OP ment, help yourself get ahead in life saving money by driving older cars and doing your own maintenance. For those struggling it is very good advice. Of course since the OP said "man up", instead of talking about the core issue everyone has to jump on the PC bandwagon to debate the issue. This is all so typical today.
Even though cars today are actually simpler to work on when it comes to the basics with much more access to information to learn about vehicle repair, more expensive to fix, which means the benefits are even greater today, people don't work on their cars nearly as much as in the past. Even though I fall into the high six figure plus income bracket I still to this day fix my own vehicles. Between my wife and I we have over 500k miles on our vehicles. Between car payments, interest, paying inflated part prices from the mechanic shop (sometimes as much as 100%), labor, increase cost of insurance and registration etc.... I have easily put over 100k dollars in our pocket compared to owning two brand new cars of the same kind we own over the last 10 years. Now for people who can afford it, big deal, an extra 5-10k a year might not be all the much to you, but for those with lots of debt, like school debt or trying to save up for a house, it could be a big deal and that is all the OP is saying.
Start out with oil and filters, bulbs and battery, then other fluids, move to brakes and plugs, water pumps and alternators next and before you know it you are changing out your own timing belt, reading codes, doing your ac work and realizing fixing cars isn't that hard.
Also, by then, if you need more income to pay off debt or save for a house, using these skills is a great way to make a little side money.
I hear a lot of people complain about not being able to pay off school debt or own a house. My wife and I have cpa/accounting back grounds so have gone over family finances when asked for help and every person that has said that to me could be spending less and making more money if they really wanted to and fixing your own car is just one good way to help with that situation and that is all the OP is saying.
Also a great way to spend time with your kids. My daughter loves it and is learning a good skill.
Reading this and thinking of what I've been doing in the last couple of years, I think doing your own minor brake work is probably the most cost-effective and time-effective DIY procedure.
I agree with this 100%. My nephew went and got pads and rotors front and rear and it cost him $750. We could of done it in a few hours for less than $250 and that is without a doubt using much higher quality parts than the shop used. Not to mention he would of saved $500 in 3-4 hours, say $125 an hour. I doubt he made that kind of money with his "extra time" while someone else was doing it.
Plus when we got into it, it wouldn't surprise me at all if he didn't even need rotors and we could of done the job for less than $100. With the way mechanics are paid, rates given and where labor times are today, most have to bend the rules some to make any money.
Last edited by High Altitude; 01-25-2016 at 08:06 AM..
I agree with this 100%. My nephew went and got pads and rotors front and rear and it cost him $750. We could of done it in a few hours for less than $250 and that is with out a doubt using much higher quality parts than the shop used. Not to mention he would of saved $500 in 3-4 hours, say $125 an hour. I doubt he made that kind of money with his "extra time" while someone else was doing it.
Plus when we got into it, it wouldn't surprise me at all if he didn't even need rotors and we could of done the job for less than $100. With the way mechanics are paid, rates given and where labor times are today, most have to bend the rules some to make any money.
Well, it's long been true that the brake jobs were handed to the rookie mechanics in the shop, so it certainly ought to be something the average DIYer can pick up. And basic pad-changing/rotor changing has actually gotten easier than it was decades ago. Putting on a new rotor is nearly a "hey, what the heck, we're already here" fix, once you've got the old pads off.
I don't get why you care. I never get why other people can be so critical of how other people spend money. Focus on you and don't worry about what others spend their money on.
We have 3 cars, they all go to the dealership, wouldn't do it any differently. My husband could do basic maintenance but he'd rather spend his time doing something enjoyable.
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