My 1986 Honda Civic even had a manual choke (really good for cold starts) and regular carb. My 1991 Civic had electronic fuel ignition (both IIRC had electronic ignition, that was pretty much standard after the 70’s). Still, a friend of mine had a Honda CRX (?) about the same time and regularly replaced CV joints and boots himself. I replaced thermostats myself with a crappy screwdriver and freezing fingers. Headlights? heck, I replaced bulbs and even assemblies, even on my 2000 BMW 323i.
There are some things you can always do yourself. There are some things which, done wrong will cost you a lot more than you could have saved. I suspect it’s not a matter of “when” so much as “how much of your maintenance options have disappeared and how fast?”
Assuming it’s routine maintenance (as opposed to a warranteed repair), one motivation is to save money by not paying someone else to do the labor.
Another is to avoid the hassle of having to take the car to the dealership at a time that may not be convenient for you, and then sit around while they do the work.
Another is that nobody will care about your car as much as you do, so they may not do the work to your standard. A couple of years ago I used a coupon for a cheap oil change at the dealership; the next time I changed the oil myself, I discovered their mechanic had left four bolts and two plastic clips off of the under-engine splash guard, and the oil filter was barely tightened enough to prevent leaking. I don’t ever want them working on my car again if I can help it.
DIY maintenance does not automatically void the warranty, provided it’s done as scheduled by the manufacturer and in accordance with specified procedures (e.g. use the right type of oil, filter, the right torque on drain plug, etc.). It’s also helpful to document the maintenance as best you can, e.g. keep receipts and make a note of the date/mileage when you performed the maintenance. And even if you do DIY maintenance improperly, it doesn’t void the warranty on the entire car; they can’t void the warranty on the sound system just because you were 3000 miles late on the last oil change.
As long as you can provide proof the maintenance was done (receipts for parts, etc), the dealer can’t void your warranty. That’s the law in the US. And if you understand how dealership shops work, you quickly realize they’re rarely the best option for good work.
**How old must a car be to do “all the work yourself” **
You want to work on new cars? How much money do you want to spend? That is the question.
You need a place to work, not under a ‘shade tree’. Some projects may take you days where a shop can do it in hours. A properly lit, warmed and powered place to work. You need more tools than will fit in your average tool box, think a large rolling tool chest like a millwright might use. Lifts, jack stands, lights, saws, hammers, spring compressors, diagnostic tools, lubes, cleaners. For each job you will need to research and buy more tools until you run out of things to buy because you have it all. It’s called a man cave and it is expensive. You basically build your own mechanic’s shop just for you and your car. I have one and other than a car stacker I think I have bought almost all the tools I need. New job, more tools, because some are specific to the job and you might not need that tool again for a long time.
Then sure, you can work on even new cars. Did I mention research? You can spend money throwing parts around if you don’t know what the problem is before you start. And of course you need alternate transportation while you are doing the work.
There are intimidating factors with most newer cars. A person looks under the hood and doesn’t see a traditional engine, you see the engine all covered up with a plastic space age look. But once you remove all that there is still the old cylinders, plugs, coils etc. The actual operation of the engine is simpler and more reliable needing less work. But it is all engineered to use the minimum space and weight. This makes it a knuckle busting bitch to work on some cars, and yes, removing part of the fender to just change a headlight.
Depends upon what your level of ‘do it yourself’ interest is. I would not wish to tally up the cost for my own work on my car. But it is over-maintained and will still be as good as new years from now, unless I hit a deer or elk, then I will just have to buy the same model because so much is invested in this one.
Indeed. I kept records, but not receipts, for the Yaris. By the time the seal leaked, it was well out of warranty. I now drive a '13 Hyundai and am doing all the maintenance myself, but I am keeping receipts and records on it. The guys at the dealership, sales, parts, and financial, made it clear to me that doing my own maintenance was fine, as long as I kept receipts and records. They did warn me to make sure I got the air cleaner lid on right or “it will throw a code that only we can turn off, and we charge sixty bucks for that.”
Yeah that dealership response sounds like BS. Most good code readers can clear all the codes, including ABS codes which used to require the shop to do it. The exception used to be when your ABS module had lost fluid and had air inside, then you needed the shop to cycle the ABS, but there are procedures for that now.
An air lid code, too much air for the MAF sensor?, I think the shop was blowing air up your sensor. So to speak.
Until sort of recently I had a 1987 Mazda 323. Near the end I did the brakes myself … until I couldn’t. It was a mess. There were locking ring/nut things and stuff that had to be pressed, etc. I ended up having a local one man shop do the latter (he’s out of business now, drat).
But I did the rear brakes on a 2001 Corolla recently and it wasn’t too bad. The drums on those just slide on and off. The brake cable was the only “fun” thing. I’ve done the front brakes several times myself on this and on a '98 and it’s pretty basic.
I consider the older 323 to be mostly a DIY maintainable car with some gotchas. The newer (by comparison) Corollas to be less DIY maintainable but with fewer gotchas.
Probably could be. Replacing the filter wasn’t different from any other car I’ve worked on with that kind of setup. I rolled my eyes at the lady when she told me that. She smirked.
I’m no mechanic, but when I was young we had the dealer repair manual for our car. Now it’s on CD, costs more than a thousand dollars, isn’t for public sale, and isn’t properly replicated in third-party repair manuals.
And the official Australian roadworthiness standard says that for headlight aiming they ‘have to be aligned according to manufacturers specification’.
Although on the flip side, now that they’re digital they tend to show up for download in PDF form on the enthusiast forums. I never bought one of those huge expensive factory repair manuals in physical paper form, but have perhaps been known to sneak a peek at a PDF manual on a forum from time to time.
It mostly depends on your skill as an amateur mechanic.
Other than that it’s pretty simply: The only time you take a car to a dealership for repairs is if it’s still under warranty. Otherwise avoid dealership repair departments like the plague. They will overcharge and/or outright rip you off 99% of the time.