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[mudflap]

Every monday morning the AA / RAC, the local garage or knowledgeable OOF member is called out by a frustrated DIYer who had got him/herself  into a mess trying to do weekend jobs on their car - the wrong tool or lack of a heating torch has broken something or stripped a thread, or a trip to the local hospital to treat damaged fingers or exposure  :-/

The question is, it worth doing your own repairs these days?  Personally i used to spend many happy hours pulling apart engines in the 70's, it was easy then and i did all my own jobs including sub frame and small engine servicing jobs, all you needed was a set of AF box spanners, a pair of molegrips and a feeler gauge but things are impossibly complicated these days, special pullers, gauges and a torque wrench is needed for almost everything - even the ruddy sump plug   :-?

At 50 pounds an hour plus VAT for me it is worth  getting most jobs done conveniently and cleanly in the comfort of my armchair - guaranteed work, last week i got everything done together and saved quite a bit on hourly rates, though apart from fitting new wiper blades and bulbs, also without proper facilities i leave the big jobs to the pros  8-)

[tunnie]

Every monday morning the AA / RAC, the local garage or knowledgeable OOF member is called out by a frustrated DIYer who had got him/herself  into a mess trying to do weekend jobs on their car - the wrong tool or lack of a heating torch has broken something or stripped a thread, or a trip to the local hospital to treat damaged fingers or exposure  :-/

The question is, it worth doing your own repairs these days?  Personally i used to spend many happy hours pulling apart engines in the 70's, it was easy then and i did all my own jobs including sub frame and small engine servicing jobs, all you needed was a set of AF box spanners, a pair of molegrips and a feeler gauge but things are impossibly complicated these days, a torque wrench is needed for almost everything - even the ruddy sump plug fgs  :-?

At 50 pounds an hour plus VAT for me it is worth  getting most jobs done conveniently and cleanly in the comfort of my armchair - guaranteed work, last week i got everything done together and saved quite a bit on horly rates, though apart from fitting new wiper blades and bulbs i leave the big jobs to the pros  8-)

 

Yes!

1) Satisfaction of doing the job
2) You know its been done right
3) Its always done better

My 2.2 cam cover gasket for instance, took me best part of a 1/2 day to do it, was making a guide at the time, but was taking my time. Garage would bash though that in quick time as possible, taking all kinds of short cuts.

I took my time and did it right, result? 2 years and 40k later, not a sign of any leak.

My car feels and drives better on 138k DIY serviced, than it did at 84k and garage serviced

[tunnie]

not to mention financial savings, oil change costs me £10!

[mudflap]

You are an exception mr. Tunnie  8-)

 

[tunnie]

You are an exception mr. Tunnie  8-)

 

When i first joined the forum, i had to have help doing an oil change!

Previous cars i never even lifted the bonnet in 20k except for windscreen washer fluid, learned everything through here!

Unlike a garage you can post up a noise, picture, video, description of an issue, and instead of a mechanic sucking air through his teeth and saying, ohh that sounds expensive.

You get people telling you exactly what the problem is, and exactly how to fix it for the best price!

[mudflap]

OOF is a great forum for fault diagnosis, one can approach their trusted garage of choice, and showing some knowledge of the "problem" could be less likely to be hoodwinked 

...and my "omegaowners.com" decal proudly displayed in the rear window 8-)

[tunnie]

OOF is a great forum for fault diagnosis, one can approach their trusted garage of choice, and showing some knowledge of the "problem" could be less likely to be hoodwinked 

...and my "omegaowners.com" decal proudly displayed in the rear window 8-)

Well i have a nice big garage to work on with the cars, if weather turns, and fairly well tooled up now, it would be different if i just had on-street parking.

4 pots are nice and easy to work on, but looking at more modern engines, looks even harder to do DIY 

[Chris_H]

It has to be personal preference in my view.  There are those who get a buzz out of fixing it themselves, and there's no question that you can trust yourself as to how well the job's been done.

Manufacturers have for some years now tried to build-in dependence on recognised repairers (take Tech2 for instance) and the governments are likely to support that because it theoretically makes cars safer on the road and preserves a business model that suits officialdom.

As for tools - I could narrow your AF spanners down to 1/2" and 9/16" provided a mole-wrench and hammer were available!  I have rebuilt engines (successfully ) without a torque wrench but that was before aluminium was so prolific; having said that, there are still locations where you can't get such an unwieldy tool and you have to guess.

One strong view I have is that if you do it yourself, you can choose what you fix and when (mostly) and you can throw money at safety items like brakes and stinge on less critical bits.  You also get to see problems that are developing, while you work and can plan those into future forages under the car.  These may well get forgotten, or dealt with unnecessarily soon if relying on garage servicing.

If I found myself with too much surplus income I might well change my tune as I find it harder to swing a hammer above my head while lying on my back getting showered in rust-flakes and grime!

[Lazydocker]

DIY/other owners from here is the only way to go IMO. Especially if you are a little capable

Garage rates would mean that in a lot of cases you'd be spending more than the car is worth for your annual maintenance

[Sixstring]

There is a certain pleasure to be gained from the "I did that, and it's a good job" moment, and although a lot of us do repairs out of money reasons not all of us have the skills or inclination to touch oil and spanners, so have to resort to "main stealers" for our maintenance needs. Personally, a whole day of fettling and cleaning puts a grin on my face, and just makes me respect my car a bit more!

[Kevin Wood]

There's only one way to ensure a job is done properly, IMHO.

Besides, modern cars require much less maintenance than 1970's models and don't require anything more than a Halfords tool kit for 99% of jobs.

Kevin

[Jimbob]

I always hated the bills, and not knowing exactly what was done.

I am another, couldnt do an oil change till I joined oof.

The help I have had from guides on here, and especially Mark DTM's expert tuition has given me the knowledge, and confidence to tackle an awful lot myself.

Spent about £200 on tools etc to get me started, that obviously get added to, but saved that many times over now.  been a good hobby and learnt some useful skills.

[TheBoy]

I would say its down to choice. Some people don't want to play cars, some physically can't.

Personally, I quite like tinkering with odd jobs.  I play with IT as a day job, so often lack the knowledge and/or confidence to do certain jobs - the recent LPG conversion being a great example - but with the advice, and occasionally physical help, from trusted friends I have made on this site, I personally would let a garage anywhere near my car if I could help it.

Last time a garage did any work on my car, when I had a bit of a bump on the bike and could even do a simple service on the car, I trusted the simple jobs (simple service, alignment and handbrake service) to the dealer in Milton Keynes, who tried to get £300 from me, and left the car in a dangerous state. Oh, and didn't even bother to change the oil filter.

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Yes, always!

But I have been doing it for 40 years now!  Saved thousands of pounds and had some great satisfying moments (with my ex as well!!) 8-) 8-)

[Sixstring]

(with my ex, as well.........)

think we'll draw a veil over that, Lizzie, I'm too young to understand!!