I am finally coming down from some serious rage to post this. People should learn to do their own maintenance and mechanical work... My wife and I recently bought an 06 Civic and we were told it had new brake pads installed when we bought it. However, the brake squeaked horribly. I figured cheap pads, or they just we're braking in as they we're brand new so we let it slide a bit. This morning I decided to take the brakes apart and see what was going on... They totally botched the install. One of the pad brackets was missing on the drivers side, one was mangled and rubbing on the rotor, and one of the pad shims was missing. WTF! After getting the rotor inspected and some new brake hardware, I got it all fixed up, and everything is perfect now. Not a sound. The joy was temporary though, I got a call from my sister who was having leaking engine oil out of her Cavalier. Turns out during the last oil change they cross threaded her drain plug and it was leaking. AARGRGR! I know most everyone here does their own maintenance and even their own upgrades, but for those of you who don't, please, learn! Go to one of Turbo_Turtle's weekend lessons or have Scuba do your maintenance, but watch and learn. I have had some bad luck with mechanics and body shops, more than most probably. Which adds to my jaded-ness, but seriously people; take the time to get to know your car, how it works, and you will have more fun with your car, more money in your wallet, and knowledge that is priceless! /Rant I feel much better now...
thumbs up. A major part of enjoying your car is knowing it's inner workings, if you take it to the shop every time there's a problem then you'll never learn
There is no way my wife and I could afford to have nice-ish cars if I was scared to maintain them. If I hit a snag, help is only a call/text/pm/search away
this is why I do work myself. Some things I take it to the professionals... but not to a place where they want Numbers......
I hear ya. Just yesterday took my dads brakes apart to find a healthy amount of pad remaining, much more than he was told. Did the same to my friends brakes last year when he was told his pads had 0% life left, riiiiigghhhhttt. I've learned a ton from the hands on approach and have the folks here and how-to's to thank. After watching a friend take a motor/tranny out I realized that if it has a bolt you can take it apart and put it back together. Getting the bolt off is the hardest part.
Good point, and everyone should know how to do the basics themselves. Me, I work on my project cars, but leave basic maintenance of our daily drivers to the dealer. Not enough time in the day to deal with everything in the end. But what I know keeps me from being screwed over by the dealer. And I do double check their work. Over the years I've had dealers and mechanics leave oil caps off, tighten oil caps so tight they required a breaker bar to reopen, leave crush washers off of oil plugs which promptly came loose and started leaking, wheels not torqued down (three times) tires mounted backwards (either the wrong rotation or asymmetric tires mounted backwards), that's just off the top of my head. Borton Volvo was the flat out worst, as they never actually got anything right. God I'm glad that car is gone. But some people just aren't cut out to do their own car work too. I have a friend who is a very intelligent, capable person. He went to change the oil on his car once, and drained the transaxle, then added new oil to the engine, leaving the car with twice as much oil in the crankcase and none in the transmission. Flushed with (what he thought was) success, he then proceeded to do the same to his wife's car (same model). They ended up buying one new transmission, the engines survived, but who knows how much damage could have been caused? Oh, a few years later he got up the nerve to try again. Did the exact same thing.... But at least realized it immediately and got it taken care of before any damage could occur. As i said, some people just aren't cut out to do their own maintenance.
Finding people you can trust is key too. For anything wheel/tire/suspension/steering related, I have complete faith in Jeff "The Alignment Guy" Forss. I'd trust Scuba Steve also, but I've been working with Jeff longer than I've known Dave. For Subaru maintenance work, I'd go to David Wray automotive. I hear great things about other places, but can't vouch for them personally. Places I will never take a car again: Borton dealerships, Kline dealerships, EP Goodyear (or probably any Goodyear, Firestone, Meinekie, Car-X, Tires Plus or any other big chain shop unless I knew the specific tech that was going to be working on my car).
couldn't agree more, prior to me owning my subaru i had very little hands on experience. i used to be that guy, call shop to add on my performance stuff. Now realizing how much money i dropped on stuff that i could have easily repaired for half the cost. Now i have completed, 2 auto trans swaps, 1 5 speed swap, and now a turbo swap onto my car. Its just like you said, a few bolts and things come apart, nothing is as complicated as you make it in your head.
That certanly wasn't helping with my rage. Vector, I definitely agree some people should not touch anything under the hood of a car. You can seriously injure/kill yourself or others if you mess up something like brakes. But at the same time, to PaulasaurusREX's point, nothing is as complicated as you make it. I know swapping a transmission is out of the question for most people, but just about anything listed in the Owner's manual should be do-able. I agree finding a good shop is important. Some things, like a transmission repair, or suspension work is not feasible for most people from a skill or time perspective. A good shop is very important. I was just raging about the simple maintenance of an oil change and brake pad replacement being botched my someone who was being paid for their "skills"...
Speaking of this, I need to replace the front struts on my 2002 RS (Had the rears done at a shop this winter when they started clunking). I was wondering if anyone might be willing to give me a hand (I have no space at my apartment, but would like to learn how it is done), I would be willing to pay a bit...
Doing your own maintenance is so zen! Learn how it's done properly or have a knowledgeable set of hands nearby before you try. I also can provide service on cars for anyone who needs the work done. Teaching classes is always a pleasure too! Feel free to PM me for any assistance. ~Dan
