Who services their own car ?

[nissanman312]

Right so now supercharged I'm servicing twice as often and have access to a ramp

I did gearbox. diff.supercharger oil. engine oil myself a while back and as far as fluid change is concerned oils etc I'm more than capable

 

So im basicly paying labour just to get a stamp in the book

 

Don't get me wrong anything that involves delving into the engine I know to leave well alone. But i take satisfaction from doing it myself but also get a good feeling that when you work on your own car you know exactly what's been done! and what's been put where

 

I don't plan on selling annnnny time. soon so not overly worried about stamps in the book if I know it's been serviced .I'm thinking of keeping a log of all that is done and at what millage and obviously things that the pros need to do have done by them

 

What's the forums thoughts would you not but a car if the person who owned it had done the regular maintenance on the car ?

[jumping350]

I do my own and keep receipts for everything then the new owner (there wont be one ) can see its all there and accounted for so I would say just do that

Edited August 5, 2015 by jumping350

[firemansim]

+1 on above

[350zedd]

Quite happy to buy from someone who did their own servicing, providing they had all the receipts for the parts used.

Would never trust a monkey doing the work at a main stealer,even though it has a stamp.

Worthless in my book...I've been there before!

[Durk]

Agreeing with what's been said... engine oil and the like is pretty basic and if you keep the receipts of the stuff you bought I can't see anybody having a problem! I'd rather buy from somebody that did it themselves and kept all the receipts for the quality stuff they had purchased over somebody that just took it down the local mechanics and you've got no idea what its been run on, what was changed and when

Edited August 5, 2015 by Durk

[ChrisB]

I do my own work - mostly - unless big specialist kit is required.

 

I keep receipts and a detailed spreadsheet log, as well as loads of info related to everything I've touched for upgrades, etc. Got a billion stickers too

 

I've really only ever swapped for parts, crashed or recycled previous cars but would be perfectly happy to buy from a self service enthusiast if knowledge is demonstrated at interview

 

Not much help sorry

 

Oh yeah - I forgot - I keep a build thread on here and photographic evidence. Got an update soon in the pipeline about eTuning

Edited August 5, 2015 by ChrisB

[Mack]

I do my own servicing as well and changing the odd part, I always keep receipts and take a few photos of whats been done.

[Miller350z]

my car has 11 stamps in the book. i bought it in may and im going to do the next service myself. as has already been said, I'll keep all receipts and then at least i know and anyone looking at it what it jas had done

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

 

[nissanman312]

thanks guy all good to see

obviously anything out of my ability i would use mitz or litchfeild who fitted the charger! but general oil changes etc seems mad to not do it myself of course unless you dont enjoy it

[NWZ]

Been thinking the same, especially seeing that the 2 year Nissan cared4 that I took out WAFT as I have to take back to buying dealer (120 miles away) for any warranty work.

 

Plus my new (well 1930's Bungalow), has a pit in the garage as the previous owner tinkered with MG's.

 

So, are the oil changes easy enough especially as I have a pit now?

[nissanman312]

Been thinking the same, especially seeing that the 2 year Nissan cared4 that I took out WAFT as I have to take back to buying dealer (120 miles away) for any warranty work.

 

Plus my new (well 1930's Bungalow), has a pit in the garage as the previous owner tinkered with MG's.

 

So, are the oil changes easy enough especially as I have a pit now?

 

Awesome do it

[Keyser]

I do my own servicing and other basic work on the car

 

Wish I had a ramp or a pit or even a garage again

[Jetpilot]

I do my own servicing and other basic work on the car

 

Wish I had a ramp or a pit or even a garage again

 

Will the garage not have a pit, was only thinking this the other day actually?

[choptop]

Stamps in the service book are only really important on a new car within the warranty period. Outside of that. Personally I would do the servicingy yourself, keep the receipts for parts used and have the satisfaction of doing it yourself and used the money saved on a weekend away with your other half

[NeilMH]

I lost interest in doing my own after my last Caterham (which was easy anyway). Have gone to independent specialists for Elise. 350Z and now Jag. I have to be honest that, as much as I am impressed by people who do all their own work, when it comes to buying one I would prefer a car that had a good specialist/independent/dealer history - assuming we are talking about spending a few thousand pounds. This may be irrational but it's what I've done so far. I like to make quick purchase decisions - I get bored easily.

 

I don't have a garage anymore - but that's probably not an excuse

Edited August 6, 2015 by NeilMH

[nissanman312]

Stamps in the service book are only really important on a new car within the warranty period. Outside of that. Personally I would do the servicingy yourself, keep the receipts for parts used and have the satisfaction of doing it yourself and used the money saved on a weekend away with your other half

 

Or new mods

[ukstang]

Over here in Austria they are pretty paranoid whether or not a car has had all of its service history done at the dealership and has the corresponding dealer stamps. Yes, as somebody earlier mentioned, if its under guarantee then quite, let them do it but thereafter what's the point if you know what you are doing and can back up your work with receipts and a log etc.

I recently sold my XK Jag which till I owned it was always serviced by jaguar, then I started doing it myself, so when I went to sell it I had four people come to look at it and each an everyone wanted to see the service history stamps, which the last two were missing. I showed them receipts and logged what I had done in a separate booklet, none of them were impressed as its so unusual over here. I eventually told the last guy who came to view it that I had worked as a mechanic for 3000 HP Swiss Funny car drag racing team and offered him as a reference, still he claimed that a Jaguar is something completely different. Anyway he bought it in the end, even with his wife moaning that the kids won't fit in the back… good luck with that. So all that being said, my Z has just gone past the 3 year warranty this July and I've decided I will get one more service done at Nissan being as the 60K km is due and thereafter if I decide to keep it till the next is due, then I'll do i t myself again.

Edited August 25, 2015 by ukstang

[GreenLandy]

I think in my 9 years or so of owning vehicles, I have only put one into a garage twice (apart from tyres and MOTs) - once was fitting a proper vegetable oil system to the land rover as the insurance companies insisted it had a "proper" install and the other was the clutch on the 350 as I needed it done quickly.

 

I would only go to a garage with a personal recommendation as quite frankly I don't trust them given the many horror stories you hear about. If I have done it I know what's been done and that it hasn't been bodged. I also find it highly satisfying to fix something and learn more about a car.

 

Although having said that I have no immediate desire to go this far with the 350:

 

[ukstang]

I think in my 9 years or so of owning vehicles, I have only put one into a garage twice (apart from tyres and MOTs) - once was fitting a proper vegetable oil system to the land rover as the insurance companies insisted it had a "proper" install and the other was the clutch on the 350 as I needed it done quickly.

 

I would only go to a garage with a personal recommendation as quite frankly I don't trust them given the many horror stories you hear about. If I have done it I know what's been done and that it hasn't been bodged. I also find it highly satisfying to fix something and learn more about a car.

 

Although having said that I have no immediate desire to go this far with the 350:

 

 

Here here

[coldel]

I do my own servicing and other basic work on the car

 

Wish I had a ramp or a pit or even a garage again

 

I know some chaps over in Emsworth who rent out full ramp/lift services (something like £50 for the day) if you ever need it mate let me know!

[zebedy]

I do all mine my own. Always try first before subbing out. Except for electrics....they baffle me to no end especially that most looms today are duel or tripple purpose (not sure on the correct term here).

[rabbitstew]

I do all my servicing myself and even do my friends & familys cars to save them money. Only time ive ever had a garage service a car was my bmw 123d and that was purely because it was still under warranty. As soon as the warranty ran out I moved to service it myself. I just dont trust garages full stop. Why pay a garage £400 to do a service you can do for £100 of bits yourself. They nearly always get the YTS lad on minimal wage to do it anyway.

 

If you take your time & read up on it you can do most things yourself. Ive had engines out, clutches changed, head gaskets, brakes, exhausts, cam belts, wheel bearings, ive done pretty much everything really. I also have a welder so can weld up rusty cars too.

 

Only thing is, the first time you do the job you may need to buy some new tools, but once you have them thats it. I even went out & bought tyre changing & tyre balancing gear last year so I can do all my motorbike tyre changes myself.

[NWZ]

I also have a local garage who just charges labour if you supply own parts. They did the old change on Mrs RAV4 for £30!

[glrnet]

I also have a local garage who just charges labour if you supply own parts. They did the old change on Mrs RAV4 for £30!

Me too, I supplied new disks and pads front and rear for my van to my local indepenedent and all done for £90.00 cash! Not even worth me putting it up on axle stands for that money.

[bezza1121]

Always done most things myself, fortunately one of my closest friends is a mechanic who is also extremely meticulous and will show and explain 100%, so I can get him to help if I get really stuck or if I'm being lazy. My favourite thing though is the sense of achievement and satisfaction afterwards .

 

But having moved recently and being further away It was my luck today 1st time servicing my Zed I had realised the oil filter was too tight and my chain wrench was only good at rounding the edge on my filter and marigolds but had no success (I even tried to get my GF to remove it hahahaha) otherwise everything was fine and a nice car to work on , so have to go out and buy a decent cup wrench tomorrow to remove the filter (If I can find one small enough) before causing further damage rendering the filter unusable for my 40 mile daily trip which would not be good .

 

It's gonna be the tans and diff fluid week after next, I actually think it will be easier, it's almost as if it was designed to be changed frequently.

 

Has made me realise though long term investment a lot of initial frustration always pays off as no inconvenience of having to book things in etc and knowing all the checks have been done 100%. I also learnt recently that large blocks of wood can be your best friend if underneath the car.