I saved $1,600 in 3 hours yesterday doing car repairs myself! AMA!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you male or female, OP?

Also, are you aware of the problems with low quality car parts from China?

I do my own brakes. I know how to do more, but the tools and time required make it challenging. Being a woman, I lack the upper body strength to loosen and lift some things. It’s frustrating.

OP here

I'm a guy. Sexual dimorphism definitely helps with grip strength, yeah. But if it's any consolation, you could probably run me into the ground. At 6' and 205lbs, I'm plenty strong, but I hate hate hate jogging.


Yeah, ChiCom replacement parts are a crapshoot. Some are fine, some are absolute junk. I try to get well known parts from NAPA or other reputable manufacturers, but even they source from China sometimes. OEM parts are even Chinese sometimes.


That's awesome that you do your own brakes! You're probably the only woman you know who does that I'd bet!

The only woman, yes, but I taught my teen daughter how to do it too. I figured she needed to learn to change a tire before she started driving.

[Anonymous]

PP here again. OEM front brake pads have lasted 60K miles each time. They’re $90, but worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you male or female, OP?

Also, are you aware of the problems with low quality car parts from China?

I do my own brakes. I know how to do more, but the tools and time required make it challenging. Being a woman, I lack the upper body strength to loosen and lift some things. It’s frustrating.

OP here

I'm a guy. Sexual dimorphism definitely helps with grip strength, yeah. But if it's any consolation, you could probably run me into the ground. At 6' and 205lbs, I'm plenty strong, but I hate hate hate jogging.


Yeah, ChiCom replacement parts are a crapshoot. Some are fine, some are absolute junk. I try to get well known parts from NAPA or other reputable manufacturers, but even they source from China sometimes. OEM parts are even Chinese sometimes.


That's awesome that you do your own brakes! You're probably the only woman you know who does that I'd bet!

The only woman, yes, but I taught my teen daughter how to do it too. I figured she needed to learn to change a tire before she started driving.

^^^ Hero-status^^^

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's awesome! Congrats! We do the time & effort vs cost comparison as well. I fell more comfortable with home repair, so do most of that stuff myself. Without having a garage, I don't like working on the cars. Our Toyota is easy to fix, but the Nissan is ridiculous. I fell like they intentionally make everything hard on they car.

Yeah, I WISH I had a garage. I have to work on it the driveway.

Next house is definitely going to have a garage. Not just because it's easier, but I feel like my neighbors are judging me while I'm working. I mean, I COULD afford to pay the $1,800, but I just didn't WANT to.

If I ever get that feeling, I would feel like I am a man that knows how to fix things, and am smart enough to save myself $1800.

I wouldn’t worry at all about my neighbors....judging me.

I would worry more that they would ask me to fix their cars in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you male or female, OP?

Also, are you aware of the problems with low quality car parts from China?

I do my own brakes. I know how to do more, but the tools and time required make it challenging. Being a woman, I lack the upper body strength to loosen and lift some things. It’s frustrating.

OP here

I'm a guy. Sexual dimorphism definitely helps with grip strength, yeah. But if it's any consolation, you could probably run me into the ground. At 6' and 205lbs, I'm plenty strong, but I hate hate hate jogging.


Yeah, ChiCom replacement parts are a crapshoot. Some are fine, some are absolute junk. I try to get well known parts from NAPA or other reputable manufacturers, but even they source from China sometimes. OEM parts are even Chinese sometimes.


That's awesome that you do your own brakes! You're probably the only woman you know who does that I'd bet!

The only woman, yes, but I taught my teen daughter how to do it too. I figured she needed to learn to change a tire before she started driving.

Why??
That’s why The Auto Club (AAA) exists.

So she doesn’t have to get all grimy + greasy.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone replaced the transmission

[Anonymous]

The reason brake jobs are expensive is insurance. Most other work that a shop does on a car, and if they mess up, no one gets hurt, you just get stranded on the side of the road. Not so if they mess up the brakes.

My uncle used to own a shop and refused to do brake jobs -- the increase in his insurance wasn't worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The reason brake jobs are expensive is insurance. Most other work that a shop does on a car, and if they mess up, no one gets hurt, you just get stranded on the side of the road. Not so if they mess up the brakes.

My uncle used to own a shop and refused to do brake jobs -- the increase in his insurance wasn't worth it.

There’s no reasonable failure of brake pads. It’s not like you can put it in sideways, or that they just stop working. Brake lines and fluid are the mechanism of brake failure. You don’t need to open the hydraulic system to do a brake job, so I don’t understand why it would increase insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good job! Yes, car repair is a racket and I'm also sick of the constant up-sell when I'm having work done. However, I personally don't have the guts to do more than just change a light bulb.

Small steps. Lightbulb today, oil next month. Then a serpentine belt. Always learning.

You can do it.

No, not everyone can work on their car. If either my DH or I did anything than our car wouldn't work. Good for you that you can and save money but, just not possible for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's amazing. I know minimal about cars except how to drive them so could never do any repairs myself.

12:46. Most people think that. I say if you can build ikea furniture, you can do many common automotive service items. The tools can be an investment, though.

Well there you go. I hate Ikea furniture and putting it together. Rather make sure my car is safe driving 65 on the beltway than save any money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's awesome! Congrats! We do the time & effort vs cost comparison as well. I fell more comfortable with home repair, so do most of that stuff myself. Without having a garage, I don't like working on the cars. Our Toyota is easy to fix, but the Nissan is ridiculous. I fell like they intentionally make everything hard on they car.

Yeah, I WISH I had a garage. I have to work on it the driveway.

Next house is definitely going to have a garage. Not just because it's easier, but I feel like my neighbors are judging me while I'm working. I mean, I COULD afford to pay the $1,800, but I just didn't WANT to.

If I ever get that feeling, I would feel like I am a man that knows how to fix things, and am smart enough to save myself $1800.

Yes! Me too. I mean I *would* feel that way if anyone in my house did more than check oil levels. DH did replace his side mirror, though,, so that was impressive.

Good work, OP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's amazing. I know minimal about cars except how to drive them so could never do any repairs myself.

12:46. Most people think that. I say if you can build ikea furniture, you can do many common automotive service items. The tools can be an investment, though.

Well there you go. I hate Ikea furniture and putting it together. Rather make sure my car is safe driving 65 on the beltway than save any money.

12:46. If you hate putting together Ikea furniture, this is definitely not the hobby or DIY task for you. It is a lot of the same techniques: Keeping track of a bunch of pieces of hardware (mostly screw and bolts), knowing where they go, and not losing them. Tightening screws properly, but not too tight and stripping them.

That said, a lot of people put together Ikea furniture properly, and gun to their head, I think 99% of people on DCUM could properly put together Ikea furniture if they took their time and cared about making it perfect, even if they didn't enjoy it. Same goes for car maintenance.

But you definitely shouldn't be doing it if you hate it. Jobs I hate are always the first I pay someone else to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason brake jobs are expensive is insurance. Most other work that a shop does on a car, and if they mess up, no one gets hurt, you just get stranded on the side of the road. Not so if they mess up the brakes.

My uncle used to own a shop and refused to do brake jobs -- the increase in his insurance wasn't worth it.

There’s no reasonable failure of brake pads. It’s not like you can put it in sideways, or that they just stop working. Brake lines and fluid are the mechanism of brake failure. You don’t need to open the hydraulic system to do a brake job, so I don’t understand why it would increase insurance.

+1, I don't buy that answer. Brakes are the obvious thing to a layman that a mechanic could mess up, but they are hardly the only thing:

- Ever seen an entire wheel fly off a vehicle at 70mph because someone forgot to tighten the lugs? I have. There are videos of this all over the internet.

- Mess up a steering job and someone could lose the ability to steer at speed. Probably not as bad as brakes, but pretty close.

- Fuel system work. Leaking fuel systems can cause the car to catch on fire. Nuff' said.

- Screwing up suspension work could result in the car losing suspension geometry at speed if something fails. I'm talking about stuff like control arms.

I also agree with the PP that it is kind of hard to catastrophically mess up a brake job. I guess maybe you could put a single pad in backwards for one wheel or something. Not properly tightening lugs, but that's not isolated to brake jobs. Maybe not properly tightening the caliper retaining bolts to the wheel hub, not routing the line correctly so that it rubs and wears through, or not supporting the calipers and letting them hang by the line while doing rotors.

But agree that the hydraulics are 99.99% of the time the failure point on a brake job.

I've had brakes fail on me before (lines burst, it was not on a car that I had ever worked on) and it's no fun. Everyone should know what to do in the event their brakes go out at speed.

I think the practical risks of doing your own wrenching are much more around breaking your car and having to pay big $$$ to fix a mistake than they are around safety. I once stripped the threads on a frame attachment point for my control arm, and had to retap the hole at like 2am. That was no fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone replaced the transmission

12:46 - I have not done transmission work (I own both auto and manual vehicles). I'd be interested in doing one with the help of a pro mechanic in a full shop (with a transmission jack, engine hoist, etc), but wouldn't want to try it by myself, in my garage, without a lift.

I have plenty of friends who have successfully done transmissions, clutches, flywheels, motor mounts, even engine swaps. But I have a demanding full time job and 2 small kids. Maybe later in life.

[Anonymous]

I've been doing my own repairs for years, OP. I taught myself when I was a teenager. I'm a woman, have torn down and rebuilt a motor, replaced axles, bearings, head gaskets, intake gaskets, you name it, I've done it. I also do my own? motorcycle repairs. At the moment, I am teaching myself to repair heat pumps. Last night, I diagnosed the problem in ours, and have? to replace a capacitor. If you are able to read and comprehend, you can do anything. Congratulations on being self-sufficient!