What do you do when your car need repair, do-it-yourself or hire out?

HIRE OUT, there is NO OTHER WAY!

I will attempt to fix almost anything.
I also have tools that defy gravity . ;)

Depends on my mood.

My motto is, Anything worth doing is worth paying someone else to do. ;-)

I WISH I could do it myself but I know I can’t so I hire out.

Go to a mechanic and have my car-savvy BIL on speed-dial in case they suggest something that sounds remotely suspicious. I’ve even handed the phone over to the mechanic so that the two of them can chat. I got taken once for being the mechanically-impaired person that I am, and once was enough.

I don’t own a car but if I did I would definitely hire out. Cars are too expensive for me to risk breaking it with my own incompetence.

I like to keep mechanics in business. I barely know anything about fixing a car.

I’m actually pretty good with cars, so I fix it myself. I’ve learned the basics from books and hands-on experience, but hope to take a class in autoshop at my university this year to learn the harder things. If they offer it.

It depends on the job, but unlike many guys who attempt to fix their vehicles, I actually know how to do it. Maybe it’s the fact that my parents were VW mechanics when I was a baby, maybe it’s just natural aptitude, but I find the whole auto repair thing to be pretty easy. I mean, the four-cycle engine is pretty simple if you don’t allow yourself to be intimidated by the number of parts in it; simple “suck, squish, bang, blow”! And that is the most complicated part of the car, aside from the transmission. (Actually, manual transmissions aren’t bad, but “slushboxes” are something best left alone unless you are a masochist, even if you know how to do them. Easier and cheaper to replace than to repair.)

Thus far, I have replaced shocks, mufflers, alternators, distributors, and the occasional head gasket, along with a lot of brake jobs and radios. Of course, I also know my limits so there are certain jobs I will not even attempt. Just about anything involving a transmission is off-limits to me, and I am not about to dismantle an entire dashboard to replace heater core. And sometimes I give things a pass merely for lack of tools; you won’t see me replacing a half-shaft any time soon.

@jerv suck squish, bang, blow! Like that. hee hee

@Frenchfry You never heard that one before?

@jerv No I haven’t . Hmmm Not many conversations I guess I have come up that would fit into. LOL

@Frenchfry Here you go.

@jerv That’s awesome. Learn some thing today,
Thanks Jerv