How many people do their own work

Ever since I have been on this board I have read alot of people that send their cars off to the shop to have it worked on. I was just wondering how many people work on their own cars compared to who has someone else do it for them? I guess I just dont see the point to have someone else wrench on my car for things that will take an afternoon of my time. I understand most people on the legacy side dont have the time to do it so they send it off. With my work schedule which I work 14 hour night shifts I still make time to wrench on the car when parts arrive in the mail. I guess I had my learning experience with my wrx where I did everything myself besides tuning. I just never understood paying someone 75-80 bucks an hour for labor, but on the other hand if you dont have the tools or space to do it I guess your stuck paying someone to do it for you.

I do most of my work as well, because when I was younger I didn't have the extra money for a shop to do it. Self taught by trial and error was my way of learning.

IBThisthreadneedsapoll

There are shops that work on cars???

Ya and the shop fees are outrageous

Ill give you one guess as to what I do.

Poll added

i do it myself...and i do others as well

I perform almost all my own installs.

I do all my own work... and most of the work on my friends cars, too!

 

Springs, struts, uppipe, downpipe, turbo, intercooler, plugs, gauges, brakes, stereo, etc.....

I've done my own oil changes, spark plugs changes, compression check, brake pad change.

 

Will attempt coolant and brake fluid flush/change and I may have to do own turbo replacement soon.

Of the very few things I've allowed the dealership to do, half have ended in complete disasters. While I'm no prodigy behind a wrench, I'd much rather know that I screwed it up myself than I paid someone else to screw it up. So far, I've done all my upgrades myself. Mechanics are for the mistakes I can't fix myself.

I've done my own oil changes for the past fifteen years. I don't trust the dealerships or quick lube places. I've taught a few friends how to as well. It's a little rewarding being able to do your own work.

I do my own.

I do the work myself or with the help of other fellow LGT.com'ers.

I have done everything myself from the fmic , clutch , stereo system. I can only talk the wife into buying the parts so I have to do the installs:icon_mrgr

i do my own, if i need tools, i go to my bros. house since he was an ase mechanic and has all the tools, air compressor and portable lift.

^^^

 

Ditto:)

Do my own work. About the only thing I won't tackle is gears, or something really heavy, like say the 6mt specB tranny swap I'm dreaming of:)

I refuse to have any shop or dealership turn a wrench on my car. If I really screw something up (which hasn't happened yet) my pops is on speed dial.

There are shops that work on cars???

I've heard rumors of shops located in Naperville and Bartlett, but the owner's are a little rough around the edges.

Can't vote in your poll.

 

We had three antique cars growing up that I helped with - my dad was an aircraft mechanic in WWII and so it wasn't much of a challenge to work on flathead V8's. I've done everything up to and including brake jobs, axle replacements, valve jobs (including V8's) , clutch replacements, and transmission replacements. This is not to mention changing power packs on M60 tanks and M113 APC's.

 

So I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty, but 1. I live in the city on a hill, 2. professionals do a better job most of the time, 3. 5 of our 6 vehicles are still on warranty, and 4. I can make more at work than I could working on the car.

 

About the only things we do on our own are the winter tire swapover; lights, wipers, and other exterior consumables; and cleaning.

 

The Army has recreation centers on most posts with fully equipped shops and mechanics on staff to advise. When I was at Ft. Benning I bought a 1964 beetle wit ha 1600 cc bus engine and fixed a dent and repainted part of the body; replaced the floor pan where the battery had rotted it away; and converted the electrical system to 12 volt. There were some real hackers there, and some absolutely perfect work.

 

In the Cav in Germany, one of our helicopter mechanics bought a Porsche 928. He liked to work on it because it was so simple.....

think you will find around the country a few tight LGT communities. I know the preferred way to do it in Chicagoland is to have "install meets". There are things one does by himself and a few things that really need a shoop but usually the preffered way is to get your buddies to lend you a hand and in turn you help them with their project.

 

I scratch your back you scratch my back type of relationship gets most LGT projects done, I would imagine.

There should be more options in this poll. I'll do a lot of work, fluids and maintenance mostly, but I'm saving the subybucks for jobs like spark plugs (which I could probably do, but it's a pain) and timing belt replacement. Hey, this funny money has to be good for something.

think you will find around the country a few tight LGT communities. I know the preferred way to do it in Chicagoland is to have "install meets".

I scratch your back you scratch my back type of relationship gets most LGT projects done, I would imagine.

 

I only wish I had a few tight LGT buddies around me to have install meets. It seems I'm the only Central Valley dude on this site, all the others are either in the Bay Area, Sac town, or LA. Sounds like fun to have though.