Who works on their own cars?

knightstyle

Like others I always maintained my and my parents cars. Rebuilt Herald engine on the kitchen table etc.
Now I am in my 70s and cars are more complicated I leave most things to the garage.
However last year I fitted a tow bar and rear spring assisters to our Cmax to tow a caravan as I was shocked at the price the garage wanted, saved over £600 for an afternoons work.

Astrozombies

I have no interest at all in the focus daft won't do anything at all on it other than put fuel etc...in.
The Land Rover however, I rebuilt that myself 18 years ago, every nut and bolt apart job. I have always done any work that was needed on that.

nickcc

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

I remember as a kid my dad always had a big tool box thing in the boot. You'd open it up & then it'd open up again on itself sideways. Kind of hard to describe. Full of stuff. Your comment brings back memories.


Another one. I remember doing our family tree with my dad shortly before he died & i'm pretty sure he was telling me about his brother having one of these Prefects. Name certainly rings a bell & i'm sure that's why. If it tallies then my dad and his brother were born in the 40s where his brother i think died some time in the 60s.

Cantilever tool box, my first tool box way back in 1960. My first car was the Ford 100e Anglia the two door version of the Ford Prefect.

GunJack

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

his brother having one of these Prefects. Name certainly rings a bell & i'm sure that's why..

Are you sure you're not thinking of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy ??? :rotfl:

motorguy

I'm quite fussy about the maintenance of my cars, however i dont do any of it myself, over and above changing bulbs, checking tyres and pressures and fluid top ups.

Everything else, the cars will go to our local mechanic. Any clunks, rattles, warning lights, engines not running right will be addressed proactively.

Fortunate enough to have two good trusted relatively cheap indies within a couple of miles of us.

Main car is still under manufacturers warranty so goes there for warranty work and manufacturer scheduled services.

I'm a self employed IT Contractor so taking time off to do maintenance isnt cost effective, even if i did have the urge - lying under a car in a cold garage holds no appeal to me whatsoever.

droopsnoot

I do most things to mine. I've recently "completed" (as far as these things are ever complete) a full bare-shell rebuild on one of my classics, and done everything except the chrome plating. On my daily driver I've been a bit more reticent but now it's getting on a bit in years, I'm more likely to try to fix it myself than send it in somewhere. It does go in for an annual service / check-over about a month before the MOT is due, as much as anything so that someone else can have a look over it for any issues. It's of an age where a free version of the diagnostic software is available for reading codes to try to narrow down other issues, and there's a very helpful forum where very few problems are new.

qwert_yuiop

The last car I had where I did everything myself was a Sierra. After that, they’ve all had engine management systems that aren’t really as easy to deal with. These days, there are large shields and covers bolted in place, which might as well have “do not touch” written on them. The last three cars I’ve had, I’ve taken these covers off for minor jobs like oil changes and never put them back on again.

alan_d

I have 4 cars in regular use between 8 and 16 years old, and varying between a 4-pot N/A to a supercharged V8, and 2 are AWD. Also a 50+ year-old classic Jaguar stored elsewhere.
There is almost nothing mechanical I won't do, however I don't have the garage/time/patience/skill for bodywork and paint. I really dislike paying someone to do something I could do myself, especially when they (often) do it to a lower standard than I would, as they are against the clock and don't need to live with the results!
Not too concerned with modern car electronics and systems, as armed with a suitable code-reader and some basic electronic knowledge you can diagnose and fix pretty much anything.

AdrianC

Last major job was swapping the rear subframe on the sensible daily. That needs a couple of balljoints and an aux belt next. The Landy has a front wing off at the moment for some footwell welding.

oldagetraveller

I don't do a thing. It just gets taken in for a MOT every year which means no servicing is required.
Levels, tyre pressures/examinations never bother. I rely on those silly warning lights but ignore them anyway.
Never had one bit of trouble in 6 years.:p