Who does their own stuff

If you can that is..

I got "a taking to" the other day from the mechanic I*use saying why bother and that nobody does it now and that he wouldn't be arsed crawling under them or doing whatever in the street or drive.

He made my think he's right as I'm getting pi55ed of with it plus I'm the only one the area that does stuff and find it bloody embarrassing. I spoke to a mate about it and he said well good for him if he's always had a garage ect towork in, some of don't and never had that luxury or the money to always pay amechanic to do stuff.

The guy I use is bloody good and straight talking which I like but felt put down but kind of agree with him but at the same agree with my mate*too.

Thought I'd throw it out to*see what you lot think..

I guess you lot must be very confident and not give a toss

I do most of my own work but my AC has developed a leak and I have decided that this is one area that I should leave to the pros. I don't do tire changing and alignment because I don't have the equipment and I probably wouldn't try something as complicated as an engine or head rebuild but I would probably change a head myself.

I do 99.9% of all the work, only thing I wont do is usually is rebuilding a transmission (depends on the car) and machine work I don't have the tools for.
Otherwise I just buy the tools I need for the job, I jmhave just about every tool though.
I can't stand others work and i cant stand to pay for stuff i can do myself.

I did most stuff on my '98 Jetta TDI but did minimal; changed oil every 20K instead of 10K miles, fuel filter at 40K instead of 20K miles, 1st coolant change at 180K miles and 7 years, NEVER changed brake fluid. After all, manufacturer's recommendation is only that. Vehicle is not going to explode if you exceed it, if you just use some common sense.

Said Jetta TDI is now approaching 22 years old, has around 275K miles, all major components (except A/C compressor which died at 180K miles and 7 years old) are STILL factory original. My son now uses it as daily driver.

It has been the best investment I ever had in a new vehicle.

Mongler98 said:

I do 99.9% of all the work, only thing I wont do is usually is rebuilding a transmission (depends on the car) and machine work I don't have the tools for.
Otherwise I just buy the tools I need for the job, I jmhave just about every tool though.
I can't stand others work and i cant stand to pay for stuff i can do myself.

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I hate other people touching my car.

had the transmission out and got sick, car was stuck on the lift and my buddy had his croney stick it back together enough to get it off the lift. That's when I found he had clutched it for some reason...too bad the slave cylinder was out of the transmission.

I like paying less, using better parts and seeing what needs attention, not getting a list of what they want to replace.

And yes, before I retired, I had access to a 2 post lift...not I lay on the ground to do my under car work.

I put the engine and transmission in the beetle with a yellow ratchet strap because I don't have a cherry picker, it worked...

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stucbr said:

plus I'm the only one the area that does stuff and find it bloody embarrassing.

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your shame is of your own making

I can't afford to pay others to do what I can, neither do I trust many.
Tires and alignment is the most common to pay others for.
I did pay my local guy to do the timing belt when I was to busy. He's the only one I trust though.
I swapped a TDI into a 1.8t in the driveway. A bit of cardboard and it's not too bad. I had to make a crane to pick the engine and set it in the new body.
Others are just jealous they don't have a clue what to do!

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The homemade crane was awesome

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Only reason I do tires at Costco is i always get like 30k out of them, vs the 45k warranty they offer. Saves a lot of money

The MkIV's are now approaching vintage status and reliable mechanics that do good work
on them will get harder to find. It will be up to the owners to keep them on the road, IMO.

I think my neighbors find it quite impressive when I have my engine all in pieces and then the next day the car is put back together and running perfectly. Nothing to be embarrassed about.

I’m a journeyman industrial mechanic so nothing about working on a little car is particularly intimidating. The ugly, dirty repair jobs I’ve done in horrific conditions make working on a TDI almost fun. Imagine being dressed from head to toe in protective gear and breathing through a respirator because hazardous chemicals are raining on your head while you struggle to chip a crust of toxic $hit off of a pump that you have to take apart. If you drop a tool it immediately begins to dissolve. I’m not even exaggerating. Fixing a car in a driveway is practically paradise.

I work in IT now, instead of as a mechanic, but I could go back. Sometimes it’s kind of enjoyable, especially when the job is done.

Just keep telling yourself “Pain is weakness leaving the body.”

I'll echo most of the others here, and say i don't like other people touching my car. Doing the work myself gets me much more familiar with my vehicle, and i just don't trust other people. Until my time is worth more than a shop rate, or my car is much to complicated to work on, I'll keep doing it myself.

I use mechanics, and shops for work repairs and maintenance, and all too often something doesn't get torqued properly, or something that i request to get done doesn't get done. It could just be the local area right now, but I'm not going to risk that on my car.

I'm the only one the area that does stuff and find it bloody embarrassing.

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I don't get it.

I've developed too many joint problems to do anything heavy any more. I hurt everyday, so I do little jobs (typically an hour or less) and am just a very informed consumer otherwise. I have my referral base for reliable, honest, techs, and I use them for the jobs I don't do.

I have some friends who work on their own stuff, but a lot more who don't. And where I live it's highly unlikely to see anyone working on anything. Hell, people around here don't mow their own lawns.

But I enjoy doing the routine maintenance on my cars: filters, fluids, brakes, struts and shocks, tire rotations, and other repairs that aren't too tool intensive or time consuming. But I also have a couple great gurus around who I will happily pay for jobs that are either beyond my skill level or where consequences of doing it wrong are expensive.

I could care less what my neighbors think. Odds are they don't even notice.

Mike_04GolfTDI said:

...

Just keep telling yourself “Pain is weakness leaving the body.”

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I have had so much weakness leaving my body these days, I don't understand how there can be any left.

Cheers,

PH

I like doing my own work so that I know it was done right. And, when something isn't right, there is only myself to blame. I would much prefer having a lift. It would save me loads of time.

Like most DIY-ers, I can't mount or dismount tires or do alignments. I've been thinking of how to balance them myself and have the principles figured out, but I need to build something to allow me to do it. It'll end up taking a lot more time than going to a shop, but I'd just rather do it myself.

Cheers,

PH

"I've been thinking of how to balance them myself"


Some years ago I bought a used tire from shop that specialized in budget
tires. He had a post and a bubble level. It worked, good enough for the

junker I was driving. No spinning involved. Worth researching,,,,

www.amazon.com/Stark-Portable-Balancer-Bubble-Trucks/dp/B006N0GDDO?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-ffnt-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B006N0GDDO


$72.95

Now all you need is the tire changer,,,,,,,,,,,

You can use a scissor Jack and the bumper of a truck to break the bead

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WildChild80 said:

You can use a scissor Jack and the bumper of a truck to break the bead

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or just drive another car up the sidewall of the tire flat on the ground
lots less work that way

[486] said:

or just drive another car up the sidewall of the tire flat on the ground

lots less work that way

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LMFAO...use the truck and not the bumper...love the idea, may actually use that idea

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Still got to get it off and changed

I too dont like someone touching my car unless it really needs to be fixed by a tech. i got a small one car garage that i do all my maintenance like oil changes, brakes, (tire rotation's is not easy to do in my small garage my back is almost up against the wall) lol but slowly and surely it gets done.

I do the work on my own cars because simply put, "I can eff-up my own car for free" instead of paying someone to.

I do all my own work. In my garage when it’s cold or raining. On the concrete pad in my driveway when it’s nice. I’ve come to the conclusion lately that just as I have a running joke about how many hoods are up when I pass an autozone. My neighbors wonder what I’ll be working on when they pass by.

My neighbor on top of the hill has a 99 bug, a couple of weeks ago he came to ask my help. I even had the (used) part he needed. I could care less what they think, I actually think it’s funny, at least they know I’m not sitting in front of the tv wasting time like most of them.

What's embarrassing about being able to fix things? I find that respectable. Having a useful skill like that is always a plus.

I have a lot of car-friends and we work on our own 5hitheaps and help each other.

stucbr said:

Still got to get it off and changed

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which you can do with a couple bars
ain't easy but doable even on 195/65/15s
anything lower profile is going to be a 'two person four prybar much swearing' job though

What are you trying to get off?
Once I had the lugs over torqued. The next shop turned their impacts all the way up and still couldn't break two of them. Thankfully VW Uses hollow head bolts and I could drill into them with a bit. I drilled them off and as soon as the heads were gone the wheel came out. I was then able to unscrew the bolts with my fingers.
Damn tire shop wouldn't admit anything so I never went back again. Now I only use shops that use a torque wrench to torque the wheels! I watch every time too. Lucky for them I don't check the spec on the wrench. I simply ask, 90psi torque please, thank you.

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