DIY car maintenance?

Re: DIY car maintenance?

DH handles the car maintenance. He does fluids, brakes, rotates tires, etc... It costs about the same for him to do the oil as it does to take it to the dealer, but he trusts no one after Costco once stripped the bolts on his wheels.

He also has a doo-dad for his pda that tells him what the problem is when the check engine light comes on so he can fix some of the more complicated problems, unless it has to do with the electrical system.

[Stella]

Re: DIY car maintenance?

Dude, Jiffy Lube? Ugh, yuck!

Haven't you guys seen this??? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiCAJ8ULnaI



I take my car to the Mercedes dealership for everything except topping off fluids and changing wiper blades. I get my 16 y/o brother to detail my car for free.

[diggitydot]

Re: DIY car maintenance?

We're so incredibly cheap. DH does all of our car work whether it's maintenance or total overhauls. He's frighteningly handy. He can McGyver damn near anything. (Actually, I teasingly call him "McGruber"...thank you SNL!)

Our last vehicle was a total dog. DH ended up rebuilding the transmission, replacing the heads twice, rebuilt the engine, constantly having to mess with the A/C....all within 2 years. And he hated it because the car was engineered to get as much crap into the tiniest space possible, instead of for ease of getting to stuff for regular maintenance. Total pain in the butt.

With our next vehicle, we purchased a larger one (the kids were getting too big for a car) and one that was engineered to be able to get to things under the hood much easier. So far, we've been pretty happy. DH has only had to do regular maintenance stuff, which once included dropping the gas tank out to replace the fuel filters.

So glad his brother is a mechanic. Even when DH gets stuck, he makes a quick call to BIL and voila! Happy vehicle again.

[Vanquisher]

Re: DIY car maintenance?

We're so incredibly cheap. DH does all of our car work whether it's maintenance or total overhauls. He's frighteningly handy. He can McGyver damn near anything. (Actually, I teasingly call him "McGruber"...thank you SNL!)

Our last vehicle was a total dog. DH ended up rebuilding the transmission, replacing the heads twice, rebuilt the engine, constantly having to mess with the A/C....all within 2 years. And he hated it because the car was engineered to get as much crap into the tiniest space possible, instead of for ease of getting to stuff for regular maintenance. Total pain in the butt.

With our next vehicle, we purchased a larger one (the kids were getting too big for a car) and one that was engineered to be able to get to things under the hood much easier. So far, we've been pretty happy. DH has only had to do regular maintenance stuff, which once included dropping the gas tank out to replace the fuel filters.

So glad his brother is a mechanic. Even when DH gets stuck, he makes a quick call to BIL and voila! Happy vehicle again.

Wow, can I borrow him?