# Car Maintenance Yourself



## BikingBob (May 29, 2018)

I am a part time driver and I wanted to start a thread and see if any other drivers do maintenance themselves. Previously there was a thread about maintenance costs, but I went back to page 10 and didn't see anything related to doing this stuff at home. I feel more comfortable doing most of this stuff myself as I get quality parts and I would like to think the attention to detail on my own vehicle is more than that of an employee at the local garages. Brakes, oil changes, filters, some mechanical parts.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

BikingBob said:


> I am a part time driver and I wanted to start a thread and see if any other drivers do maintenance themselves. Previously there was a thread about maintenance costs, but I went back to page 10 and didn't see anything related to doing this stuff at home. I feel more comfortable doing most of this stuff myself as I get quality parts and I would like to think the attention to detail on my own vehicle is more than that of an employee at the local garages. Brakes, oil changes, filters, some mechanical parts.


I am very capable of performing most of my.mechanical needs myself.
Yet with my Uber car, Everything is done at a dealer by Certified Mechanics.
Including oil changes.
Where Every 3 months
I recieve a signed checklist of a thorough mechanical inspection of the vehicle by certified mechanics using inspected original equipment.

Since i haul people for hire.
I leave no Doubt as to the soundness of my vehicle.
I keep all records.

My brake thickness, tire tread all proven to be well within Safe operating tolerances and recorded by an independant party.


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## Iann (Oct 17, 2017)

I do my own work. 
Have a fairly stocked garage with any tool imaginable except a lift. 
A lift is on my list. 

Have a 2010 VW Tiguan with the 2.0t tsi engine.
Going to be replacing to oil pump this week once the part comes in. 
Getting low oil pressure. Wish is it was just the sensor but after testing it is not. 
After doing a oil pressure test it points out my pump is bad.
Already pulled the pan. Luckily nothing in the oil. Ran the oil through a few coffee filter to check for particles. Oil was black but didn't see anything. 
This should be fun as I'm more experienced with the older 1960's VW's as I have a few.


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## Snowblind (Apr 14, 2017)

> Have a 2010 VW Tiguan with the 2.0t tsi engine


Watch your Timing Chain...just saying.

Anyways,
I do most of the small Stuff myself, got 2 Mercedes SUVs.
Air filters
Cabin Filters
OilFilters and Oil Changes
Ad-Blue
Full Detail, etc.
Some electrical Work. Don't do Transmissions or Brakes on them.
Too messy to flush a ****** at Home, lol.


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## henrygates (Mar 29, 2018)

Yes I do all of my own maintenance. So far the only work I've had done at a mechanic is recharging my AC after changing the condenser. You really need the equipment to pull a proper vacuum and refill.


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## NorCalPhil (Aug 19, 2016)

tohunt4me said:


> I am very capable of performing most of my.mechanical needs myself.
> Yet with my Uber car, Everything is done at a dealer by Certified Mechanics.
> Including oil changes.
> Where Every 3 months
> ...


Interesting... hadn't considered this angle. I typically do all my own work, but there may be some wisdom in your approach. Going to consider it. Thanks for posting


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## Snowblind (Apr 14, 2017)

Iann , please PM me your VIN# of that Tiguan.
Some of the Tiguans had serious Issues with the Timing Chain. I got someone who may be able to help if your Car is affected.


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

Iann said:


> Oil was black but didn't see anything.


That's never good, unless it's a diesel.


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## Broken Spoke (Mar 26, 2018)

I do 90% of my own work.

I was planning on having my work out the brakes on my Lesabre as I’m behind on some other repairs around the house.

Well my suburban had other ideas. Starter burned up last week.

I did the brakes at home and paid work to change starter.


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## Soulless_senpai (Mar 10, 2018)

I change my own oil and I can change break pads. I went to jiffy lube for a vehicle inspection and the lube tech guy tried to up sell me for an oil change,hahha. I told him I can do my own and then he said I had to change my tires... wtf?


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## BikingBob (May 29, 2018)

Iann said:


> I do my own work.
> Have a fairly stocked garage with any tool imaginable except a lift.
> A lift is on my list.
> 
> ...


I am in the same boat but with a diesel wagon. For me it's a $125 oil change to do it myself. I'll get MANN, Motul, and all of the filters. Even certified VW shoppes will use lesser oil and parts. I have a mechanic that I have used for 20 years and he laughs at me but my last diesel had 372,231 miles on it when someone ran a stop sign and totaled it. For my truck and family cars (gasoline engines) we use his garage.



tohunt4me said:


> I am very capable of performing most of my.mechanical needs myself.
> Yet with my Uber car, Everything is done at a dealer by Certified Mechanics.
> Including oil changes.
> Where Every 3 months
> ...


That's the answer I was looking to find here. I was curious if it behooves me to get all of this done and certified. Again, I am a super commuter and with whatever car I get I own I drive it into the ground. So I have always done my own maintenance and haven't been left sitting with the exception of a clutch going out; which was over 165,000 miles on it and I actually had the appointment scheduled for that Friday and it failed on a Wednesday after showing signs on Sunday.

But does anyone find that it makes a difference other than cost?


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## RideshareGentrification (Apr 10, 2018)

I do almost all my own maintenance and repairs. Just makes sense to save money when possible


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## 1974toyota (Jan 5, 2018)

BikingBob said:


> I am a part time driver and I wanted to start a thread and see if any other drivers do maintenance themselves. Previously there was a thread about maintenance costs, but I went back to page 10 and didn't see anything related to doing this stuff at home. I feel more comfortable doing most of this stuff myself as I get quality parts and I would like to think the attention to detail on my own vehicle is more than that of an employee at the local garages. Brakes, oil changes, filters, some mechanical parts.


I got my Quality Brake pads for $28 from auto zone, My 36$ Westlake Chinese tires from walmart, i got a good deal on 5qts of used motor oil, that i reused after straining it through cheese cloth, yep can't beat doing your own Maint work to save $$$,JMO
PS lately i've been getting flat tires? having trouble stopping the car,& The engine just started to knock? any ideas?jmo



Iann said:


> I do my own work.
> Have a fairly stocked garage with any tool imaginable except a lift.
> A lift is on my list.
> 
> ...


1960's VW's? Whoaaaaaaaaaaa, like in the air cooled people's car? Karmann Ghia? or the VW Bus?, Question, how many miles have you got on car,that it need an oil pump? JMO


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## Iann (Oct 17, 2017)

1974toyota said:


> I got my Quality Brake pads for $28 from auto zone, My 36$ Westlake Chinese tires from walmart, i got a good deal on 5qts of used motor oil, that i reused after straining it through cheese cloth, yep can't beat doing your own Maint work to save $$$,JMO
> PS lately i've been getting flat tires? having trouble stopping the car,& The engine just started to knock? any ideas?jmo
> 
> 1960's VW's? Whoaaaaaaaaaaa, like in the air cooled people's car? Karmann Ghia? or the VW Bus?, Question, how many miles have you got on car,that it need an oil pump? JMO


Yes the Aircooled Beetles are what I'm mainly into. 
Would love a VW Bus the They're priced out of my range.

The 2010 Tiguan has around 132k that needs the oil pump.
Really isn't too hard of a job.


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## BikingBob (May 29, 2018)

1974toyota said:


> I got my Quality Brake pads for $28 from auto zone, My 36$ Westlake Chinese tires from walmart, i got a good deal on 5qts of used motor oil, that i reused after straining it through cheese cloth, yep can't beat doing your own Maint work to save $$$,JMO
> PS lately i've been getting flat tires? having trouble stopping the car,& The engine just started to knock? any ideas?jmo


Haha I get your point you're making. But again, I am not skimping on items here.

OEM DEF from VW
Hawk Pads
Motul Oil
MANN Filters
OEM DSG Transmission Fluid


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## 1974toyota (Jan 5, 2018)

BikingBob said:


> Haha I get your point you're making. But again, I am not skimping on items here.
> 
> OEM DEF from VW
> Hawk Pads
> ...


Good Luck


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## Snowblind (Apr 14, 2017)

> Haha I get your point you're making. But again, I am not skimping on items here.
> OEM DEF from VW


You can get Blue DEF from Walmart much cheaper.
It's all the same stuff.


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## RideshareGentrification (Apr 10, 2018)

BikingBob said:


> Haha I get your point you're making. But again, I am not skimping on items here.
> 
> OEM DEF from VW
> Hawk Pads
> ...


Better yet do a Def delete and get better mpg to boot

I know for a fact when i do it myself it's being done right with quality parts most these place buy the cheapest parts they can find or oem parts that were weak designs so they keep failing (not saying oem parts suck but some do


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## Snowblind (Apr 14, 2017)

> Better yet do a Def delete and get better mpg to boot


The Def-delete cost about $2K on my Vehicle, and it is illegal in my State. So how long would I have to drive to get the 2-3 Mpg better efficiency back in my pocket? I'm already getting 25 mpg around Town?


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## RideshareGentrification (Apr 10, 2018)

Snowblind said:


> The Def-delete cost about $2K on my Vehicle, and it is illegal in my State. So how long would I have to drive to get the 2-3 Mpg better efficiency back in my pocket? I'm already getting 25 mpg around Town?


The def delete should only cost about $800 (which included an egr delete and tune) on an ML350 it's even less on the TDi engines . I priced them out when I was going to buy a GL350 . The GL350 with the Def egr delete are seeing well over 35 mpg if you're doing this full time that's about 5000 miles a month you'll be saving over $150 a month in fuel so not very long but you'll also see a jump of about 150 tq and 75 hp to a car that's kind of underpowered that's huge

We've already had this conversation before you're against it and I'm for it . So need to talk about it with each other anymore lol


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## Snowblind (Apr 14, 2017)




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## BikingBob (May 29, 2018)

RideshareGentrification said:


> I know for a fact when i do it myself it's being done right with quality parts most these place buy the cheapest parts they can find or oem parts that were weak designs so they keep failing (not saying oem parts suck but some do


I couldn't agree more. Probably 10 years ago I took my twin turbo Audi to a 'certified' mechanic and they used shit oil that was worse than Valvoline and not even the correct oil for my car. After that it left a bad taste in my mouth. But according to another poster in this thread I can't possibly be a better mechanic than one who went to a vocational school for 2 years. I guess both of my engineering degrees and years of owning cars are worth nothing.



Snowblind said:


> You can get Blue DEF from Walmart much cheaper.
> It's all the same stuff.


Yeah, I want to figure out a way to do it better. In the past I've cut the OEM DEF top off and poured DEF in once the tip locked into place and opened the reserve. But I had to trim the wick down so nothing would pool at the nozzle and neck area. Any tips or do you siphon DEF with a hose?


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## Snowblind (Apr 14, 2017)

BikingBob

Did you look at my Thread:

https://uberpeople.net/threads/save-money-why-not-fill-def-yourself.205551/#post-3069340

That Canister is from Walmart.


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## Eesoso (Jan 16, 2017)

It is almost a necessity to be mechanically familiar what with all the miles one may put in. At the very least, one must be able to perform regular maintenance and typical repairs and also accurately diagnose major issues BEFORE going for service. Rideshare driving is a sure loser otherwise. Professional labor is just too damn expensive and really a waste except in the most serious cases.


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## BikingBob (May 29, 2018)

Snowblind said:


> BikingBob
> 
> Did you look at my Thread:
> 
> ...


Good morning, I didn't see it. My apologies, thanks for passing it along!


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## JamieConway88 (Jun 28, 2018)

BikingBob said:


> I am a part time driver and I wanted to start a thread and see if any other drivers do maintenance themselves. Previously there was a thread about maintenance costs, but I went back to page 10 and didn't see anything related to doing this stuff at home on utube or car magazines. I feel more comfortable doing most of this stuff myself as I get quality parts and I would like to think the attention to detail on my own vehicle is more than that of an employee at the local garages. Brakes, oil changes, filters, some mechanical parts.


With simple cases like changing oil, fluid, replace mirrors, I prefer to do these works at home rather than going to a auto repair shop. As there are many guides to do maintenance works at home, I can easily do this without any difference. But if my car has complex issues like white smoke from exhaust, I will bring it to a repair workshop instead of doing DIY method at home.


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