patrick.net

dispatch service, probably similar to all others. 15% fee

I replaced a starter once by myself (and a YouTube vid) some cars are easier to work on than others. ymmv

I looked it up and it's not a hard thing to do, but I didn't feel confident about getting the right part and getting it installed right, so it felt worth the money to have them do it.

You guys pay other people to fix your car???

Several guys around here have an independent "mobile mechanic" business where they drive a van around that has all the equipment they need to do auto repair work.

Booger says

You guys pay other people to fix your car???

You get them to pay you for the fun of working on your car? Tom Sawyer would be proud!

If you want to work on your car, don’t own a C8 Corvette. I recommend a 1972 Triumph Spitfire. I pulled the engine myself in the driveway.

Patrick says

Not to mention I'd have to get the car towed to a garage, find my way back, etc.

Push-start (I have an inclined driveway I can roll down) and have your bicycle in the trunk/hatch. I haven't had to push-start (yet) but I do indeed commute back and forth to my mechanic using a bicycle.

I tried that website on my 2008 Porsche Cayman S and discovered a full brake replacement was slightly more than my regular Porsche-only mechanic. Also doesn't come with a complementary up-on-a-lift full inspection of the suspension and other components. The moral to the story is probably that you need to find a 3rd party mechanic after the warranty runs out. Dealer prices, however, are 50 to 100% more.

Nobody wrenches on my shit except me! The only exceptions are mounting/balancing of tires and bodywork. I fucking hate bodywork.

They're offering new users $25 in credit and me $25 in credit if anyone takes it up:

When you invite your friends to try Wrench, we'll give them a $25 credit. We'll also give YOU a $25 credit after their service is completed. Great deal, right?

Copy/paste this invite link and share!

https://yourmechanic.com/referral/XYXW2W

Booger says

You guys pay other people to fix your car???

Time is money. If you can make more doing other things or relaxing it's 100% worth it.

WookieMan says

Booger says

You guys pay other people to fix your car???

Time is money. If you can make more doing other things or relaxing it's 100% worth it.

Not if you like doing it yourself. Can't live for just money my friend.

I do (most) all of the work on my Miata, motorcycle, and sailboat. I get a lot of satisfaction from being able to fix things. I was a mechanic when I was a young man. I started on automatic pinsetters at the local bowling alley, worked on VW bugs, and then nuclear submarines at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. I got tired of the DOD's (Dept. Of Defense) waste and corruption so I quit the shipyard and went back to college.

I have a trusted local mechanic work on my Honda minivan and my wife's Subaru. If you find a good mechanic (or barber) that you trust, take care of them. Good mechanics generally don't advertise. Word of mouth gets them more work than they can handle.

Fortwaye says

WookieMan says

Booger says

You guys pay other people to fix your car???

Time is money. If you can make more doing other things or relaxing it's 100% worth it.

Not if you like doing it yourself. Can't live for just money my friend.

Yes you can. If I work 1 hour at $150/hr and a mechanic works for $100/hr who is coming out on top? I made $50/hr doing nothing besides dropping the car off. Time is money dude. It's a win win situation on an hourly basis. If you wrenched on the car you lost $150 and still had to work on the car.

Nobody makes whatever they make per hour every hour of the week. So if I wrench on weekend I'm not losing money - I'm making money. And if a mechanic charges $100 per hour I'd need to earn $130-140 before taxes to pay him.

Besides,
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." --RH

Fortwaye says

WookieMan says

Booger says

You guys pay other people to fix your car???

Time is money. If you can make more doing other things or relaxing it's 100% worth it.

Not if you like doing it yourself. Can't live for just money my friend.

I hate working on newer cars. I've been working on my son's 20yo car not to save money but to teach my son since there was no auto shop at his HS. There is a sever lack of knowledge using basic hand tools with young adults now.

RWSGFY says

Nobody makes whatever they make per hour every hour of the week. So if I wrench on weekend I'm not losing money - I'm making money. And if a mechanic charges $100 per hour I'd need to earn $130-140 before taxes to pay him.

Disagree. We make about $45/hr 365 and 24/7. We can pay the mechanic while sleeping. Only actually work maybe 6-10 hours per day 5 days a week between the two of us. I'm not working on a car in my free time.

This is where people get stuck. They worry about costs on stuff. Maybe if you produce more you can make more and not worry about doing it yourself? Novel idea.

WookieMan says

We make about $45/hr 365 and 24/7. We can pay the mechanic while sleeping.

WookieMan says

If I work 1 hour at $150/hr and a mechanic works for $100/hr who is coming out on top?

How many WookieMen are writing in this thread?

WookieMan says

RWSGFY says

Nobody makes whatever they make per hour every hour of the week. So if I wrench on weekend I'm not losing money - I'm making money. And if a mechanic charges $100 per hour I'd need to earn $130-140 before taxes to pay him.

Disagree. We make about $45/hr 365 and 24/7. We can pay the mechanic while sleeping.

I know no mechanic who charges $45 per hour. Maybe in Tijuana. Maybe.

RWSGFY says

WookieMan says

RWSGFY says

Nobody makes whatever they make per hour every hour of the week. So if I wrench on weekend I'm not losing money - I'm making money. And if a mechanic charges $100 per hour I'd need to earn $130-140 before taxes to pay him.

Disagree. We make about $45/hr 365 and 24/7. We can pay the mechanic while sleeping.

I know no mechanic who charges $45 per hour. Maybe in Tijuana. Maybe.

I'm talking what we make whether working or sleeping 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. That's the money coming in. I'd rather sleep or play a round of golf instead of wrenching on a car to save $100-200. Time is money. Not sure what is hard to get here.

Some of us like working on mechanical things. It's satisfying.

When I bought my Kawasaki brand new it had unlimited mileage guarantee for the first three years. The catch was the dealer had to do the maintenance; $300 for an oil change, $500 for a valve adjust. As soon as it was out of warrantee I started doing it on my own. The bike ran better.

Nobody cares about your vehicle as much as you do. There are a lot of incompetent mechanics out there. I'm glad I can tell when some "professional" is trying to rip me off.

Onvacation says

Some of us like working on mechanical things. It's satisfying.

When I bought my Kawasaki brand new it had unlimited mileage guarantee for the first three years. The catch was the dealer had to do the maintenance; $300 for an oil change, $500 for a valve adjust. As soon as it was out of warrantee I started doing it on my own. The bike ran better.

Nobody cares about your vehicle as much as you do. There are a lot of incompetent mechanics out there. I'm glad I can tell when some "professional" is trying to rip me off.

^^^^
This.

If you know how to do it yourself, you're better able to judge the quality of the work you pay to have done. You don't have to do the work yourself all the time, but you should do it enough so that you yourself are competent at the job. This carries through dealing with techs - they know the quality you expect, and you'll be able to tell if they don't deliver.

Onvacation says

Nobody cares about your vehicle as much as you do. There are a lot of incompetent mechanics out there. I'm glad I can tell when some "professional" is trying to rip me off.

I'll do one job good and make money. My 2nd job is to know when people are ripping me off. Not a hard feat. I'd rather have more free time. If you all can't understand that, then whatever. Not sure what else to say. You don't value your time or it's not valuable.

i get you. myself particularly, i just like doing other things. you play golf, i fix cars, raise livestock, grow vegetables. simply different thing give joy. it’s not work if you like it. golf for me would be like work, not something i enjoy.

tldr: we all like different things.

If money just comes in w/o work while you sleep, how does "time is money" apply? You literally said it doesn't matter what you do as it just comes in regardless, so by wrenching on your car you won't lose any money, but gain the $150-200 per hour on top of these $45.

Wrench on a Porsche or Ferrari and it goes up from there. Can be esily $400+.

Now, the golf thing is where "time is money" does apply negatively: you have to pay to do it, so this is the time you lose money.

So if wrenching on a car and getting $150 to supplement $45 is a bad thing, how is golfing and losing $10-15 bucks per hour is good?

You guys must be small or have a lift. Even my full sized SUV at 6'3" I'm not getting under that thing. The equipment I'd have to buy for one off projects also defeats the purpose. The time to get it. Every project is different. So you're blowing $200-300 in time and equipment/supplies no problem.

Also had a friend die wrenching on a car. Engineer so not some dip shit hill billy. There's no point in working on your own car. You still have to pay for parts which you're paying sales taxes on. Mechanics can get parts wholesale and lower labor costs.

If you like doing it fine, but you're not saving money is all I'm saying unless you're poor as shit. Even then you're probably not doing it as well as someone that does it 8 hours a day 5 days a week and was trained. It just breaks again and you eventually send it to a real mechanic. If you're an actual mechanic then work on you own car, but outside of that it's a waste of time and money. Not really an argument. Someone can do it better than you.

WookieMan says

My 2nd job is to know when people are ripping me off.

I think that's pretty hard with mechanics. Maybe they take some part from your car to sell and replace it with a lower-quality or more used part.

RWSGFY says

So if wrenching on a car and getting $150 to supplement $45 is a bad thing, how is golfing and losing $10-15 bucks per hour is good?

WookieMan says

send it to a real mechanic.

You're missing the point. We like working on stuff. Fixing things is satisfying.

I have a nice shop and a huge tool collection. I can put my car on stands and use a creeper to work underneath.

Wife and I have an agreement that we have to get permission to spend over a thousand dollars. I tried to justify A hydraulic lift saying, "It would pay for itself in a couple hundred oil changes." She wasn't going for it. If I really wanted to spend several grand on a lift she would let me.
And I am a "real mechanic". I just chose to make a living with computers and people.

Sometimes I question if I would have been happier had I not quit wrenching and gone back to college to study math and comp sci. I could have my own shop and be making a lot of money. But then I would probably be looking at my greasy hands and wish I had gone to college.

Onvacation says

You're missing the point. We like working on stuff. Fixing things is satisfying.

On the weekends I guess. You can like it, but if you're high income, you're losing money is all I'm saying.

I like sex, but if that's all I did I'd be broke. Sex is free at least. Different hobbies for different folks. Wrench on a car and your balance sheet will 100% be negative compared to income. Liking something and trying to justify losing money are different things.

I know you sail. You are losing money and you can't convince me otherwise. It doesn't bother me. My point on this topic has been losing money. Golf is cheap and relaxing. I can do it but changing brakes on a car just isn't worth the time. Changing oil. Nope.

Not a huge gambler, but I've made money golfing with buddies. $200-300 here and there doing something that's a hobby. Cars you just sink more money into them. I'm witnessing a buddy doing it for his kid right now with a 80's truck. He's $15k deep and couldn't sell it for that. That's not including the $6k he bought it for.

I'm a value guy. I spent $2,500 on a zero turn mower to get my lawn done in 15 minutes. I have no problem spending $2k for new suspension on my car at 240k miles because I had pros take care of my car. I saved money in the long run and time. It's simply not worth my time income wise and time away from my kids.

Eric Holder says

I fucking hate bodywork.

I wet sanded my finger prints off in college. It was painful taking notes with the nerves exposed and little red dots of blood everywhere.

My immediate next-door neighbor is a retired railroad executive who has recently stripped and rebuilt a 1963 Renault Caravelle, a 2 seat Ford Thunderbird, and a vintage Toyota pickup, even adding A/C. He is far from poor, he just has skills he like to use.

My dad and brothers and one BIL have teamed up on various cars to bleed brakes, replace brake rotors and pads, change spark plugs, fix a blower motor, replace headlights, and so on. We visit and have a beer while working on the car.

Sometimes working on the car is definitely economical. For example, changing the engine air filter and the cabin air filter on a Pathfinder takes 5 minutes and $15 for the Fram filters. It would cost over $100 to have it done at the dealer. Also, replacing an idle air control valve takes only 5 minutes in a Sentra since it is readily accessible under the hood at the firewall and is held on by 2 screws. Part cost was $127. Dealer would charge about $400 for that job.

WookieMan says

I spent $2,500 on a zero turn mower to get my lawn done in 15 minutes.

If your "time is money" Why don't you pay someone to do your yard work? Fifteen minutes at $150 per hour would be $37.50 of your time.

WookieMan says

He's $15k deep and couldn't sell it for that. That's not including the $6k he bought it for.

Sounds like my sailboat.

I bet you get a lot of satisfaction from using your $2500 lawnmower to cut your grass.

Can you admit that doing a good job is satisfying even if you could pay someone else to do it?

WookieMan says

I spent $2,500 on a zero turn mower to get my lawn done in 15 minutes.

Interesting. I completely hire out all lawn work on my .87 acre lot. Every week or so, a truck with a flatbed trailer comes out and two fellows (White and Black, no illegals) with stand-up mowers cut the grass and afterwards they edge, trim and blow. At the right time of year, they spread compost, seed, lay mulch, and fertilize. My time is too valuable to waste doing yardwork, but I did personally put a new battery in my wife's Odyssey last week.

There is no simple answer.
It all depends on combination of available time, budget, skill and interest etc.

For example, any one can change air filters. I wasn’t super sure about the settings them back properly based on my skills. But I still stick to changing batteries from Costco on time to my regular vehicles.

At the same time, I just accepted a hard to refuse offer to change batteries for life for $250 as part of purchasing a new car which saves money and time.

I do yard work weekends whenever possible that should replace physical exercise for a day irrespective of whether I like it or not. In this case, I don’t feel like wasting too much time!

Onvacation says

Sounds like my sailboat.

I'm told the happiest days of boat ownership are the day you buy, and the day you sell.

I'd love one, but it looks like renting wins in the boat department.

AmericanKulak says

I'd love one, but it looks like renting wins in the boat department.

I'd definitely be better off financially if I rented. I'd also get a bigger variety of better boats. I pay at least $7 or $8 thousand a year on my boat. I could get a lot of rentals for that price.

But I wouldn't have 'Pride of ownership". I couldn't take a cruise whenever I wanted to. I wouldn't have a place to hang out and get away from the family. And most importantly, it's cheaper than divorce. Whenever my wife and I need some time apart, the boat is always there.

Sounds like my sailboat.

I'd love one, but it looks like renting wins in the boat department.
Notwithstanding pride of ownership, making up your own rules, customization, etc, there are plenty of advantages to joining a sailing club like https://www.clubnautique.net/ (that's where I am; let me know if you're interested!).

• Boats like these that sit in salt water continuously have an amazing amount of maintenance due to the salty environment and sun. A rental club, with more use per year, means fixed deterioration costs amortized more effectively.
• All the boats in the fleet are tax deduction havens for the few owners that have the right tax situation to take maximum advantage of the tax code.
• A dedicated and skillful maintenance crew maintains the boats more efficiently than you can (see other thread about hiring a car mechanic verses wrenching yourself). One of the specific benefits of Club Natique is that the boats are quite new and the maintenance and repair regimen is top notch. From experience, a broken roller furling reported one evening was repaired at 5 AM the next morning and ready for the next rental that day. You would be waiting a week for the part unless you happen to stock $20k of various spare parts for your boat. That furling part is common to a majority of the 40+ sailboats and so is stocked and ready to go.
• The club acts as a social hub for meeting and sailing with other like-minded people. 4 sailors on a brand-new $600k boat rented for $800 on a weekday is only $200 per person. You simply can't touch that on your own unless you are sailing 100 days a year.. Plus, at the end of the day you just turn in the keys.
• Choose different boats for different purposes. 2 or 3 people going out within in the bay: 30 to 35 foot. 4 or more heading to the Farallons with 30 knot winds and 8 foot waves: make mine an offshore of 45 feet or more.

WookieMan says

If I work 1 hour at $150/hr and a mechanic works for $100/hr who is coming out on top? I made $50/hr doing nothing besides dropping the car off. Time is money dude. It's a win win situation on an hourly basis. If you wrenched on the car you lost $150 and still had to work on the car.

That comparison could be more in the favor of hiring an expert if you figure the mechanic takes only 30 minutes to do what takes you an hour. So you're really talking about $150 for your time verses only $50 for the mechanic's time. On the other hand, you must not live in the Bay Area! Mechanic is probably $200/hr. Dealer is $400/hr. Still, between faster work and not needing specialized tools, probably better off paying someone unless your work doesn't pay very well. This is really just the extension of people moving off the farms in the late 19th to early 20th century to get more productive factory jobs.