DIY car maintenance?

[houseelf]

Do you maintain your own car? I do not, but I religiously take it to Jiffy Lube and the like, who "promises to check all fluids". You can imagine my surprise when my van's overheating light came on because there was absolutely NO COOLANT whatsoever. This ticked me off. I'm starting to think that if you want something done right, I'd better do it myself. Besides, sometimes I'm paying $30 and up for this service.

Anyone...Anyone?

Kelly

[Vanquisher]

Re: DIY car maintenance?



Ummm, no.

I need to get the electrical fixed in our van. I'm afraid. Yeah, those places never check everything they say they will. Anyone found a good and reliable chain?

Re: DIY car maintenance?

Dear God no. I found (via word of mouth) a very trustworthy mechanic. I have had so many hideous experiences at those Jiffy Lube-type places.

[alison]

Re: DIY car maintenance?

Midas is the same way. Sorry, Kelly.
We have a hole in the wall place we like in Chicago, but that's a bit far for you to drive.

Re: DIY car maintenance?

More power to ya! DH and I are both clueless when it comes to car problems, so we always take it somewhere. I just got my car fixed by a guy that runs his own shop (father in law likes to use him). He charged me half of what Firestone said it was going to cost.

[Sheherezade]

Re: DIY car maintenance?

DH is pretty handy with cars. The only time we have used the Midas type places, we've been on vacation or in a rush. They've screwed up a few times - but DH has always been able to catch it early. I'm very lucky as far as auto repair goes!! Of course, the need to buy very expensive automobiles -- with names like Porsche, Maserati and Lotus -- also seems to go along with the "handy under the hood" bit. So far, I've held him off, but I do think we'll be getting a very expensive "toy" in the future that will offset any savings we've had from his auto experience to far.

[DCJenn]

Re: DIY car maintenance?

We suck it up and go to the dealers for the most part.

Of course, Audi doesn't charge (yet) but Toyota surely does.

Jenn

PS- I pay people to wash my car, who am I kidding...

[houseelf]

Re: DIY car maintenance?

Just to make sure that the guilty are named so that others can be advised: JiffyLube

I'm fired up enough to make a federal case to their customer service department tomorrow. :fight:

In Basketball Announcer's Voice: "Let's Get Ready to Rumble!!! (you all ready for this?)"

Kelly

[migirl]

Re: DIY car maintenance?

I can do very basic stuff (topping off fluids, changing wiper blades, changing headlight/taillight bulbs ... that sort of thing). For anything beyond that, we've found a surprisingly good Firestone garage that does great work for us.

[SuzySunshine]

Re: DIY car maintenance?

We take ours to the dealerships because they're both still under warranty. To be honest we probably will when they're not too just b/c neither of us are car savvy.

[Vishenka69]

Re: DIY car maintenance?

We used to have a great mechanic in Brooklyn (a friend's dad that we've known for years). Now we need someone good in the new place. Neither one of us knows how to do anything other than pump and I prefer to fill up in Jersey where all stations are Full Service. I almost went to a chain for an oil change today but then read this thread and made an appt for a local place. Hopefully I'll make it till Thursday without the light going on.

[planet]

Re: DIY car maintenance?

Well, back in the day there was my brother available to fix anything.

We found a place we trust...noentheless, having just lost my car last week due to a blown head gasket, I guess sometimes there's nothing that can be done.

So I guess by DIY you mean take it to the garage yourself? Or do you mean do your own work? I bug dh from time to time to fill fluids. I don't care much who does it, but if I tell him to he does, so why not?

Do you go to the same Jiffy Lube each time?

[houseelf]

Re: DIY car maintenance?

Do you go to the same Jiffy Lube each time?

no.

Kelly

Re: DIY car maintenance?

I think the JiffyLube, Grease Monkey, etc should be avoided. From personal experience. I think they recommend things you don't always need -- is that really your air filter they show you? And they screw stuff up. I had a transmission fluid problem because of them.

Dealerships are usually more expensive than an independent mechanic. When our cars aren't under warranty, I ask around for an independent mechanic that focuses on a certain brand of car. THat has worked well for us. When we moved, I asked our Denver Volvo guy for a Portland guy and he called a Portland parts distributor and asked who they would use personally. It worked! I do other basic stuff myself, like what migirl mentioned. For anything else, I take the cars in.

I'm sorry, Kelly. That is so frustrating.

[mommax3]

Re: DIY car maintenance?

DH are both clueless and have gotten crappy service at more places than you can count. We have gone the dealer route, but hate paying out the nose for it. We were lucky enough here to get a great recommendation from our realtor for an independent garage and they have treated us very well......very important to us since we have a '94 with 185K miles on it and a 2000 with 170K miles on it.

Sally