oil change
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2022
Posts: 1,092
Likes: 24
From: PA
This is gonna sound pretty bad but......I do all my own maintenance, up to the electronic BS which above my skill level. I figure I can always do better than a HS drop out. (Sorry , I know many techs are far above that disturbing slight). I buy the proper tools and manuals for the job at hand and even though the initial cost may be high, my reward is the tools at the end of the job. True, I have f'd up a project or two. That's the price of learning. My wife knows that when the cuss words start flowing in the barn/shop to keep clear. I learn much more about the machine by handling its guts than just reading about it, but that's me. Don't hesitate to dive in and get your hands dirty...grease under your finger nails is sexy after all! (Hope my wife doesn't see this)
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2022
Posts: 910
Likes: 430
From: MN
This is gonna sound pretty bad but......I do all my own maintenance, up to the electronic BS which above my skill level. I figure I can always do better than a HS drop out. (Sorry , I know many techs are far above that disturbing slight). I buy the proper tools and manuals for the job at hand and even though the initial cost may be high, my reward is the tools at the end of the job. True, I have f'd up a project or two. That's the price of learning. My wife knows that when the cuss words start flowing in the barn/shop to keep clear. I learn much more about the machine by handling its guts than just reading about it, but that's me. Don't hesitate to dive in and get your hands dirty...grease under your finger nails is sexy after all! (Hope my wife doesn't see this)
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 3,918
Likes: 1,253
From: Northeast
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 28,475
Likes: 3,291
From: Hartford WI
I feel the same way. For what the shops are charging, I can afford to buy many tools and make some mistakes. Also, I've got the luxury to make sure something is done right, and if not, to do it over again (and again etc). Tech's under the gun can't do that, they're only profitable if they can beat the book time, and if they're not profitable they're going to button it up send it out the door without concern for the details.
Dealerships don't put master tech's on lube-tech tasks, and that's evident when I discovered how overtightened my filter was.
It only took a couple dealership / shop screwups before I lost confidence in them.
Dealerships don't put master tech's on lube-tech tasks, and that's evident when I discovered how overtightened my filter was.
It only took a couple dealership / shop screwups before I lost confidence in them.
For under $30 (non synthetic), what exactly do you expect? That is not their money maker and if they don't lose their shirt over it, they are lucky.
I minimized the screw ups simply by knowing my tech and using him over and over. You turn the keys over and it's luck of the draw. A few are great, many are good and some are just plain sucky.
