I don't know how they do it.

[onlinebiker]

Your mechanic no doubt loves seeing you come in when his boat payment is due..........

Yeah, but you pay for your own boat by doing what you do best, not by trying to deprive your mechanic of his boat.

I got rid of my boat years ago.

Mutinous crew.


....

If you don't know how to work on cars - you are going to get fleeced at some point.

It's simply the way it is ..

[Fireball]

I don't work on my own equipment.  There's no warranty, and an hour of my time is worth more than an hour of a mechanics time.  

Self reliance is a clever synonym for poverty, lol.  I say do what you do best, and let the other guy handle what he does best.  You'll both be better off for it.

I can appreciate that poverty call. It's why I bought used vehicles and fixed them myself. I think that if I hadn't, I would have never been able to buy a house- at least in California. Now that we're wealthy  we have two newer vehicles ('16 and '15 Kias). We take them to the dealer for the service. It's about the same as if I did it, the warranty is kept up and I don't have to dispose of the waste. I still maintain my '70 Chevy truck and '05 Corolla, neither one of which requires all that much service or repair. I'll rebuild the truck engine one of these years. It has almost 230k miles on it and was rebuilt once about 100k miles back. I also do all my home repairs and maintenance, though I will be hiring a trusted roofing contractor. I'm 67 and my days of dragging shingles up on the roof are gone.

[Abaddon_ire]

I don't work on my own equipment.  There's no warranty, and an hour of my time is worth more than an hour of a mechanics time.  

Self reliance is a clever synonym for poverty, lol.  I say do what you do best, and let the other guy handle what he does best.  You'll both be better off for it.

Disagree. I do a lot of my own maintenance simply because I enjoy it. I don't have to, indeed if I have not the time I have no issue dropping my wheels to a garage for whatever. But when I do that, I can spot a rip off a mile away because I am simply familiar with the work involved. Plus some jobs require specialised tools/equipment which I have no inclination to purchase since A: they are expensive and B: are rendered useless next time I change cars.

That said, I have an ODB reader since that is universal. And pays for itself by identifying many cheaply replaced faulty parts like faulty sensors on pretty much any car.

[The Grand Nudger]

Whittling away unproductive hours doing something fun. I'm obviously down with that. Here I am.

Anyhoo...I've never had a bad experience with a mechanic, and I've been driving and operating equipment my entire life. I don't think that getting fleeced is an inevitability, unless by "fleeced" we only mean paying more than you want to pay. I'm sure no one wants to pay me either...but that's not how that works.

Besides, my mechanic has a Skeeter. If he couldn't pay his note I'd have to go out on the SS Minnow.

[Little lunch]

I'm still waiting for my dad to teach me mechanical stuff.
He's dead now.

[Jackalope]

I have to consider what my free time is worth - that makes it really damn easy to hire out shit I would prefer to not do.

For the $20 it takes to get my oil changed, damn right I'm not doing it myself. On the other hand, with what they charge to change air filters and how small of a job it is, you bet I'm doing that myself.

[onlinebiker]

I have had to correct what "mechanics" have hosed up too many times to put trust in their ability.

When I do the job - it gets done right....i am not in a hurry.

I actually use a torque wrench on lugnuts fer crissakes..... For a reason....


....

Proof - my SO drives a car that I have overhauled and serviced, back and forth to work daily - 42 miles one way - in a 23 year old car, with no problems.

Care to try it?

[Athene]

I've heard that recharging a car A/C it is quite easy to do oneself, and inexpensive comparatively. I got mine fixed and recharged at a repair shop, but after 3 1/2 months it's blowing hot air again.

I thought they fixed that leak.

IDK....Could be there's a new one. I definitely don't want to keep charging it every couple months. That's seems like a rather environmentally unfriendly thing to do. 
Anyway, the hot weather appears to be done for now, so that gives me a little time to figure out my next move.

I guess I could charge it myself once, and see what happens. Maybe see if there's some sort of sealant I should run through it first. And check and see if that little gasket/valve thingie the guy showed me is cracked or loose or whatever.

[EgoDeath]

I recently ran into a guy who drives, owns a car and he admitted to the fact that he knows nothing about car maintenance. He doesn't even check the oil and seemed strangely proud of his ignorance.


Really? It seems pretty dumb to me to be totally at the mercy to a mechanic's honesty. 

I do virtually all the work on our cars. (We have 9 running) There is only a few things - like wheel alignment or changing tires off rims - that I don't do. (The necessary equipment is too expensive)

But I do know what those jobs take - and know what they should cost.

To me -going to a mechanic with no knowledge of the internal workings of a vehicle - it is sort of like religion. Trusting somebody (who has a profit motive) to handle part of your life and expecting to not get ripped off.

So, you know how to operate, fix, perform maintenance & repairs on, upgrade and otherwise alter every piece of technology that you use and/or operate in your daily life? If your answer is somehow yes... which there's no way it is... then I mean, okay...?

I know how to do some basic things like change my oil or swap my brakes out... I can change a tire, obviously. Simple stuff. But I don't expect every car owner to be an at-home mechanic. People simply don't have the time.

[onlinebiker]

I recently ran into a guy who drives, owns a car and he admitted to the fact that he knows nothing about car maintenance. He doesn't even check the oil and seemed strangely proud of his ignorance.


Really? It seems pretty dumb to me to be totally at the mercy to a mechanic's honesty. 

I do virtually all the work on our cars. (We have 9 running) There is only a few things - like wheel alignment or changing tires off rims - that I don't do. (The necessary equipment is too expensive)

But I do know what those jobs take - and know what they should cost.

To me -going to a mechanic with no knowledge of the internal workings of a vehicle - it is sort of like religion. Trusting somebody (who has a profit motive) to handle part of your life and expecting to not get ripped off.

So, you know how to operate, fix, perform maintenance & repairs on, upgrade and otherwise alter every piece of technology that you use and/or operate in your daily life? If your answer is somehow yes... which there's no way it is... then I mean, okay...?

I know how to do some basic things like change my oil or swap my brakes out... I can change a tire, obviously. Simple stuff. But I don't expect every car owner to be an at-home mechanic. People simply don't have the time.

The last job I outsourced - was pumping my septic tank.

I draw the DIY line at "sucking shit".