How many of you guys actually do work on your own car?

[sticksdaman]

i feel like a waffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffles after reading thiis ..kuz ive had my motor replaced and suspension installed at a shop ....but that was only kuz i didnt have time to do it and i needed the car asap as for the susp work i dint have a a spring compressor

[Court M3]

Before that year (which was when I bought my first E30), I had mostly just done very basic car maintenance-change oil, plugs, filters, etc.
Buy a Bentley manual, read how-to articles online-whatever you can do to familiarize yourself with the proper procedures and gotchas that each job has.

Those are about the only things, I've done on my car, but now that I have a garage, I plan to do a lot more starting with brakes this summer.

[Digitalwave]

I had my car aligned last year. Thats the only time its been in a shop.

[eurostyl e30]

I was in a hurry for work and really needed an oil change so I took my car to the quick lube place up the street. I only did it that once though. All the other work on my car has been done by myself and sometimes with the help of friends.

So? I get my oil changed at a shop most of the time. I work 45-50 hours a week and the last thing I want to do on my spare time is change my fucking oil. I supply my own filters and it comes out to like 14 dollars. That's practically as much as the oil.

I don't really feel like I need to justify this shit. Quick lubes rule.

[benDASHDASH]

I used to work on my car... then I got something more reliable.

[fretburnr]

i've done exterior engine work (replaced hoses/belts/basic maintenance parts,ignition parts, etc), done valve adjustments, done brakes, done suspension (new CAs/CABs/sprins/dampers/strut mounts/the works), replaced seats and various interior bits, lots of electronics work.

on my previous car (mk3 supra turbo) i replaced the head gasket and all top-end gaskets, as well as tbelt and waterpump and etc etc etc. pretty much the only things i haven't done are diassemble a head or rebuild a bottom end.

i pay for alignments, and i pay for oil changes sometimes ... its not always worth it to me to get dirty for something that costs $20. but i still find it enjoyable from time to time.

[Justin B]

Ive done all the work on my car so far aside from getting my head rebuilt when I blew the timing belt right after I bought the car (arrh). I plan to continue to do it all except internal motor work.

[bimmers4life]

i do everything at home that i can. The stuff i leave up to a shop are allignments, tire changes and oil (i get a huge discount at my old place of work!)

Working on your car is a love hate thing at times. Its a pain in the ass at times but at the end of the day you know you did a good job and if it fucks up its on you!

[Sean]

I managed to CHANGE my engine mounts WHILE in college - which means I had no access to a garage or a hoist. So what'd I do? I asked my friend to use his garage, and we used a FLOOR JACK to change my mounts. haha...good times indeed.

I change my oil in the parking lot, and changed tires, and maintained little things here and there - in college.

At home, I have access to a lot, but when I need any special tools, I just buy them. Frankly, mostly everything can be done with intuition. Spring compressors are CHEAP (like $40) so that's a sorry excuse.

The cost for tools will outweigh paying someone to do the work in the long run. That, and you get more use out of tools.

The only things I have had people do thus far include: alignment, tire balancing, and engine boring and machine work.

Other than that, I don't trust anyone BUT myself. Hell, I had a hard time letting my car go in for an alignment. I like to know everything going down with my car - which is why I'm the only one that will touch the mechanics of it.

Including oil! Changing oil takes maybe an hour - it's not that hard - and I would never trust some quick lube place. That, and with a fully rebuilt engine, I'm making sure I run full Mobil 1 after breakin! lol

That's my $.02 anyway ;)

[FredK]

Yeah, oil changes barely take any time. Probably takes around half an hour to 40 minutes, and that's including cleaning up. I guess having ramps saves a few minutes of jacking the car up and setting it on jackstands.

[Brew]

I never work on my car.

[Hick]

What do you mean? My mechanic tells me my car needs nothing, so i dont have to work on it

[bwanac]

Im really confused how changing the oil is taking y'all 40 minutes, hell even 30.

Am I not changing my oil properly or something?

[Borat]

car has been in shop for alignments (do my own tires) and alarm. Alarm was for insurance approval.

No, I lie, once a tire shop did a puncture for me.

not bad for 3 years and 50000km

[Eric Giles]

Im really confused how changing the oil is taking y'all 40 minutes, hell even 30.

Am I not changing my oil properly or something?

Good question-the actual process of getting the car on ramps, removing the drain plug, changing the filter, and adding new oil doesn't take that long. However, the process of letting all of the oil drain does take a while to do properly. I let it drain until there is absolutely nothing coming out of the drain hole before I put the plug back in.