Do you work on your own cars?

[NoNameNoNumber]

I do, and always have. Only machine work, tyres/alignment and MOTs get done by the pros but today I think I've finally had enough.

Not a problem changing clutches on a gravel drive... Done more than my fair share.
Today I tackled the OHs diesel Mini Clubman.
£602 for parts
Could've had it fitted all in (parts and labour) for £941inc.

Spent all day today and likely all day tomorrow swearing at it. saved £300 sure, but at the cost of a weekend. Having done petrol Minis before I thought it'd be a breeze. Not even got the gearbox on the floor yet

 

[Donnie Fisher]

I do. A bit like you, its something thats progressed from basic pads and discs through to engine out efforts.

I'm definitely finding that as the cars get more modern, so does the footery-ness of getting it apart and back together again is increasing. They seem to suffer from being designed on computers so that bits can be routed in obscure ways and fitted into small spaces rather than someone thinking about how you would get a part out again to replace it.

 

[agw_01]

Always. Took my first car to a Halfords Autocentre for front brakes and got royally fleeced. Since then I've done everthing bar tyres and MOTs myself, although keeping a friendly relationship with a garage is always handy for pressing in bushes and bearings.

While I'm still young and fairly agile I get great satisfaction from working on my own cars, however frustrating it may be at the time. I'm sure as I get older I'll become less able and have to resort to paying a garage money to overtighten every nut they come into contact with.

 

[JRS]

Only the older stuff. My daily driver Kia gets looked after by a local indy, though I did do a brake pad change recently.

 

[LizardKing]

10 years ago, I most certainly did as much as I could but at the time I had no room, now ive got a garage and drive, ive also got a family and there time comes first these days. kids are expensive in more ways that one!..

on the daily I do servicing stuff and anything that can fit into a day without risk of over running, anything else ands its a job for the garage as frustrating as it is.

 

[geekman]

I used not to, but I’ve found that wherever I live it’s virtually impossible to find an honest mechanic who does quality work, so I’ve started to do more and more stuff myself. So far I’ve changed air suspension shocks, wiper stalks, throttle bodies, various sensors, washer fluid pumps, coolant reservoirs and a few other things.

I don’t even do it to save money, but I find someone screwing something up on my car or overcharging me for work they didn’t do far more frustrating than sitting in the dirt working on something.

 

[Phemo]

My knowledge and experience is basic but I like to do what I can. I’ll do the brake discs and pads on all my cars as well as basic servicing like oil and filter changes. When it comes to clutches and stuff like that, I’d love to be able to but hell no, not on a car I need to drive a lot.

When I’ve got the space I’d like to get hold of a cheap car to faff about with to learn stuff like that. Until then my experience is likely to remain somewhat limited.

 

[loltim]

I used to. These days I would much rather pay someone to do it than get dirty

 

[Rroff]

Only basic stuff - changing battery, topping up various fluids/coolants, changing tyres, some light electrical work, etc. anything like brake discs/pads, etc. I have done for me and usually main dealer :s while not the cheapest I've found 1-2 places that do good quality work and are essentially honest though they might charge a bit of markup at times - too many other places I've found do sub-standard work and will happily try and get you to do work that doesn't need doing - couple of times I've had experiences at smaller garages like "did you know what state your brake pads are in? - absolutely shocking I'm not sure I can legally let you drive away" when they've been brand new recently replaced and still in pristine condition :s (one time I'm 99% sure they purposefully damaged the discs but I could never prove it).

 

[Akagi]

I do everything I can do with the equipment I have. I only go to the garage if I need a bearing pressing in/out, or if I need machine work done, or tyres fitting, wheels balancing, etc.

Brakes, suspension, clutches, bushes, gearboxes, even while engines, will be changed on my driveway. Though I would need to borrow an engine crane for the latter!

Next DIY job is dropping the rear subframe on the BMW and fitting new:

Subframe bushes
Arm bushes
Brake hoses
Brake disk backplates
Handbrake shoes
Disks
Pads
Calipers
Diff
Diff bush
Wheel bearings (will have to take the arms down the road to the garage)

 

[bimbleuk]

I've learnt most of what I do to cars from the internet but having a good relationship with a garage has helped me many times when I didn't have the knowledge or equipment. Eventually I could use my IT related skills and do a labour swap for my services which has definitely saved me over the years.

I can make composite parts, port a cylinder head and install and tune a complete engine management system so I'm not exactly your typical DIY mechanic. The main reason though has always been to save money as I hate paying someone else to do something I can learn to do myself.

More recently I've tended towards reliability and comfort so buying an EV has been a revelation but I've still put my skills to good use. The upper support bearing on the front suspension of my i3 started to grumble when turning so I put my skills to good use. Identified the part, ordered it from the garage I know as it had to come direct from the manufacturer. Then removed the front suspension strut on my drive and replaced the part with my extensive collection of tools.

Now as to the electronics in an EV that's currently a black art to me but if you've watched Rich Rebuilds previously working on Tesla cars on his drive hmmm well if he can do it why not me

Spoiler: Previous Striker kit car build

 

[Diagro]

Yea I do.
As much as I can if I have the time.
Anything engine related I will.leave to a.garage. as if it blows up.i can blame.them

 

[Django x2]

I'll do some bits still (brakes on the daily, front control arms, drop links, engine mounts, etc) but other stuff like general service or cambelt, it goes off to the local Indy.

 

[Howard]

I take my car to Ford for its yearly oil service and MOT, although since it's approaching 10 years old I'm not sure it's really worth bothering with for much longer. But it's nice to have the full service history and for them to give it a once-over. If it was an older and/or cheaper car I'd just service it myself.

All other work, within the sensible realms of driveway mechanics, I do myself.

 

[Vita]

I work on my own cars, anything that I feel is out of my capability to do I generally give it to my local garage to do.

 

[ZG002]

Only on older cars and stuff I own, my last 3 main cars have been brand new lease cars and under warranty so I've just had no need.

Last thing I did was change a full exhaust system on my sisters Yaris a couple of years ago.

I've taken engines out etc in the past, but tbh always hated doing most of it, was more out of necessity needing to save money back in the day.

 

[bainbridge]

I'll tackle most engine in jobs but anything engine out gets done by a trusted indy.

 

[Lopéz]

Pretty much, yep. Tyre changes and MOTs excepted, I don't often pay for work to be done.

Since I started driving in 1997 I think the work I've paid for has been:

1 set of brake pads in a Rover 213 when I had a binding caliper I couldn't free off
1 pile of welding on a Vauxhall Nova because I didn't have a welder and couldn't weld
1 pair of brake pipes made for a Sierra 1.8 because I didn't have a flaring tool
1 engine swap on a Sierra 2.0 (£50 ) because I didn't have access to the hoist etc I usually borrowed

I'm actually going to take the Escort to an auto electrician next week as it has a weird ignition relay fault I can't track down, that'll be the first car I've taken to a garage in over 10 years.

 

[Dup]

When I first spent £99 on my Halfords Advanced set, trolley jack and stands I had a little buyer's remorse thinking I might not get much use after the little job I wanted to do.

What must be close to 10 years later I've gone wheel bearings and most work on my old MX5 and I've fixed 99% of the wear and tear parts on my Civic in the 6 years I've had it including all new front suspension, brakes etc all with the same tools. Although drop links can do one, always need cutting off... with a tiny saw, ugh.

I'll weigh up any job to do myself before getting a garage involved. In the past I had head gasket failure with my 206 and the locks village garage quoted me something silly like £2k and told me "well you have to think about the position you're in". Well I bought a used similar milage engine for £300, got a quote for £150 for a garage to help fit it and they turned up with their flat bed and collected it from the other garage for me. Both garages now under new ownership but I've been lucky since to find a couple brilliant local places that are straight up if I need any help with stuff and don't try to mug me off. I don't part with money lightly especially when it's for certain trades, trust is a huge part of it and there's no excuse for dodgy rip off merchants with so many people looking to make an honest living.

 

[Draeger]

Nope. Used to do so about 25 years ago when cars were simpler but not now. I don't have the time to spare. Thankfully I earn a very respectable wage and nowadays I just chuck it into the local main dealer to have anything done to it.

My bike though, different story. I know it inside out and do all my own routine servicing and running repairs. Dunno why but I see fixing things on a car a chore but working on a bike is very satisfying and almost therapeutic.