Car Problems

Contributor: jmex83 jmex83
This somewhat stems from the poll about electronics...

How many of you deal with car issues on your own and how many of you take it to a professional?

Normally, I am the kind of guy that will sit for hours upon hours until I have cracked the issue myself and my wife is tired of waiting for it to be fixed. lol.

If by this time I can't figure it out (which is rarely) then I will cave in and take it to a friend/family member.

I hate paying for shop fees! Anyone else??
03/06/2012
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Contributor: SeductivelyCute SeductivelyCute
I hardly ever take it to a shop unless its something major or like a tire needed mounted. Someone in my family or someone they know is gonna know how to fix it.
03/06/2012
Contributor: El-Jaro El-Jaro
I'm an NPR fan, so I listen to Car Talk. Their site has a lot of good tips on there.

I learned a lot when I was researching issues with my 2002 Malibu.
03/06/2012
Contributor: Ansley Ansley
I have changed my brakes, installed a new clutch after removing the old one and solved simple electrical issues and my husband can do just about anything under the hood when it comes to vehicles, so mechanics are our last resort.
03/06/2012
Contributor: P'Gell P'Gell
My husband is very handy around the house, but we found out by trial and error he simply is NOT good with cars. It even takes him half a day to change the oil. Jiffy Lube can do it in 15 minutes and it doesn't even cost much more than his buying all the stuff retail.

He broke more stuff "fixing" it and we ended up paying more than we would have if he hadn't touched it in the first place. And, his diagnoses were always WRONG. Once, I knew my car needed a new starter, but no, he insisted it was something else, so he bought all this crap, and it didn't help. I took it to our mechanic: it was the starter. After dozens of these happening (ending in destroying the lifters and the engine on a minivan because he broke something while insisting on changing the oil and the car was destroyed I finally, I said NO MORE! We have a good mechanic we trust, we've been with this family of mechanics for more than 15 years and anything other than a minor fuse change goes there.

I'd rather pay a professional outright than sit around for days or weeks while my car is out of commission and "a guy I know" or my husband makes the problem worse. Some people are good at this stuff, but my husband is like Kryptonite to cars.
03/06/2012
Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
My husband is a mechanic, so no shop fees and he does it all correctly.
03/06/2012
Contributor: unfulfilled unfulfilled
To the shop we go or to my uncle who's a mechanic but he hurt himself so I don't feel like bothering him. HOPEFULLY, now that we have new cars that won't happen for a long time.
03/06/2012
Contributor: P'Gell P'Gell
Quote:
Originally posted by Jul!a
My husband is a mechanic, so no shop fees and he does it all correctly.
That's really convenient! I wish mine had the knack for it.

My Man is really handy around the house, so I guess I'm lucky in that way. However, I always lobby to call someone for anything more than minor plumbing problems. My Man once wanted to take the 80 foot well pipe out of the front yard by himself. Luckily, a good well man talked him out of it. If he had dropped the pipe into the 80 foot hole, it would have costed thousands of dollars to dig up the entire front yard.
03/06/2012
Contributor: js250 js250
We do the work on my truck (1971 Chevy), together or separate, but with his truck and its computerized crap we usually take it to the shop. Unless it is a simple, basic fix.
03/06/2012
Contributor: petname petname
Unfortunately, I always have to take mine to a shop. I've thought that it would be useful to learn more about it, but alas, I have no one available to teach me.
03/07/2012
Contributor: Rossie Rossie
We take our cars to a reliable mechanic.
03/07/2012
Contributor: darthkitt3n darthkitt3n
I prefer to take mine to a dealer to work on. I'd like the work done on my car to show up on the Carfax report for future buyers, so they know I did take good care of it. Small things like radio or speaker replacements, I will either do it myself or take it to a smaller shop.
03/07/2012