How many people actually work on their own cars

[mopar 3 B]

I have for the last 45 years. The wife has road assistance they are allowed to change flat tires on what she drives and that is it. Otherwise have it towed home.
Just curious.

 

[dla4567]

Ive started taking my newer van to the garage. I open the hood and look at the engine and just don't want to. Its been awhile since I let anybody else work on my cars. I'm finding that the professionals don't know what they are doing. If I could find someone that knew what they were doing and didn't rip me off, I would take more of our newer cars to them. With 9 cars and 2 jobs, I don't have time to keep up with the maintenance.

 

[badmopar67]

My coronet nobody touches!
On everything else I own everything except warranty work and rebuilding automatic transmissions

 

[mmissile]

I do virtually zero work on our newer daily-drivers. The old ones....anything I can do, that doesn't require a professional with correct tools and knowledge.

 

[steve from staten island]

A guy i know has a newer 350 Ford diesel. When i looked at that engine bay i was blown away. I have no idea how anyone could work on that truck

 

[Sonny Black]

Sonny is getting old and a lot of buddies that helped me are old, dead, or moved....I have no use to work on my daily driver....new stuff is for the kids...I have to stand on a box to clean my windshield! on this thing...

and yes, I have AAA

 

[ws23jrt]

My old muscle cars are what I grew up with. I learned how they work and learned how to fix them. Today a big part of having my old cars is working on them. It's an important part of the hobby for me. Not having to rely on them for transport is a big deal and makes fixing them fun as opposed to a chore.

The new cars I have would require me to learn too much new stuff for it to be fun to work on them in any significant way. It's a sort of rational management of my time these days.

In the old days fixing my car myself was my only option.

 

[Dennis H]

Oil changes all Mopars including modern. Minor stuff, otherwise my wallet takes care of it. Valve guide seals done by my friend John a Mopar guy. Recent fuel issues handled by Valaya Racing in San Jose. He did some front end work on the new Charger too.

 

[khryslerkid]

I never could afford to pay someone to work on my vehicle. So I learned at a early age how to do what I needed to do. Even on the newer vehicles, it's not that hard. It might look scary but you have to have the patience and a lot of the time, the right tools. If you don't have the right tool for the job you can most likely rent one from the local parts house.
Different people in my "circle" will develop a problem with their car and ask me to take a look. If it's a head scratcher, I'll turn to the Internet and look up the year, make, and the symptoms. Low and behold there's ten people with the same vehicle, same problem and the solution.
I talk to too many people who are constantly getting ripped off at the dealers. $400.00 for a two dollar part and a ten minute job.
The only time I let someone touch my car is on the yearly inspections and I'm right there watching...

 

[verdelaw]

Never have time to work on my 68.. hence selling it. But when I did work on it, I did enjoy it. Newer cars, I only do the bare minimum. Anything else I just pay for. With a kid and wife to take care of, I don't have the time and it's relatively cheap anyway.

 

[JimKueneman]

I buy a new ones before it is time to work on them… except for my Coronet where I do everything.

 

[GetX'd]

I used to do most of the work on X back in the day - mostly because I didn't have any green stuff. But I also got satisfaction out of fixing my own car. Had friends to help as well.

Fast forward 45 years with the car in storage for 35 of those years - I've forgotten just about everything I used to know. I paid a couple of professionals to restore the car. I'm taking her back to CA in the next couple of weeks and will be responsible for maintaining the car. A little nervous about my lack of skills - don't even have my trusty chiltons manual to help me out.

Any tips from you guys on what is the most comprehensive manual (I like the book) on fixing 68 GTX or the like would be appreciated. T first time it doesn't start I'm going to be scratching my head...

 

[Coyoteduster]

What did I miss? I was outside working on my Coronet ...

 

[scaputo3]

I do all the work on my 69 roadrunner. It's my therapy. Do most of the work on the daily drivers (brakes,suspension, sterering). The complicated stuff goes to the mechanic

 

[mopar 3 B]

I used to do most of the work on X back in the day - mostly because I didn't have any green stuff. But I also got satisfaction out of fixing my own car. Had friends to help as well.

Fast forward 45 years with the car in storage for 35 of those years - I've forgotten just about everything I used to know. I paid a couple of professionals to restore the car. I'm taking her back to CA in the next couple of weeks and will be responsible for maintaining the car. A little nervous about my lack of skills - don't even have my trusty chiltons manual to help me out.

Any tips from you guys on what is the most comprehensive manual (I like the book) on fixing 68 GTX or the like would be appreciated. T first time it doesn't start I'm going to be scratching my head...

Factory service manual if you are doing the work yourself.

 

[GetX'd]

Factory service manual if you are doing the work yourself.

Any idea where I could pick one of those FSM up? Sounds like that's what I'm going to be wanting.

 

[mopar 3 B]

Y

Any idea where I could pick one of those FSM up? Sounds like that's what I'm going to be wanting.

You should be able to download it form this website for free. Maybe not just looked and cannot find anything. eBay maybe!

 

[drobertson]

I work on my car until I can't figure something out, then I get pissed and accidentally break ****. It's happened today... and I can't afford to get help.

 

[GetX'd]

Y

You should be able to download it form this website for free. Maybe not just looked and cannot find anything. eBay maybe!

I just found one on Amazon. Thx for the tip. I'm sure it will help me a great deal.

 

[polywideblock]

used to do all mechanical work myself , but since injuring my back( S1 , L3-L4 , L4 - L5 ) have to pay for someone else to do it . can't bent ,squat or bend like a pretzel anymore so it limits what I can do myself . even driving causes pain and I sometimes get "stuck" in the car and have to roll over and crawl away from car before standing .( the non reclining straight up and down backs on out seats don't help )
some days are better than others, but if I can wash and then drive it without pain I'm good