Does anyone feel really good about tackling a new fix on the car? Something you thought was hard and never did before? First brake job or similar? I think its fulfilling.
Feeling satisfaction from DIY
- Thread starter hardcore302
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For sure. I’ve rebuilt a couple of motors, which I found difficult but I was then both satisfied and surprised when they actually worked.
Pretty much any minor DIY job on any vehicle is nice to complete. Brakes, oil changes, cv boot changes, etc..
Pretty much any minor DIY job on any vehicle is nice to complete. Brakes, oil changes, cv boot changes, etc..
Of course! That’s one of the main reasons why I like doing my own work whenever possible. In my logbook, I also keep track of an estimated amount saved by DIYing a task. I tally it up annually and occasionally over longer periods. It’s impressive how much you end up saving; which just adds to the satisfaction rate. 
'Doing it myself' was always my first choice for many jobs and projects from a young age. Early on, there were more mistakes made, but learning from them made them less and less. Now, as older, I'm more selective as the body will rebel and yet there is still the satisfaction and large $ saved over 50+ years.
Oh yes I certainly do. Not with every repair but with some of the more complicated repairs that I may not have done often.
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Absolutely. Not just vehicles, either. I can't imagine being a homeowner without DIY for basic carpentry, plumbing, electrical, and landscape issues. Well, actually I can. I've been to those houses with sticking doors, squeaky hinges, dripping faucets, two-prong outlets, and overgrown bushes. To say nothing of the car having no washer fluid lol. I love to DIY almost everything.
I'm well past that.
Now I just find it annoying but do it anyway due to convenience and cost.
NOT if I am fixing factory/design stupidity. Or really some other half posterior butcher job. Most of the time if I am doing a modification or routine maintenance.
It depends also - sometimes when you are retired, it feels good over the top to build something, add a circuit. Other times, wish I was doing something else, so I do!
Some things like this big fence project - I could do myself. But cedar is like 80% of the cost so just makes sense if someone else does it. I just don't want to dedicate a MONTH PLUS to building a 400+ foot fence (not all cedar) and I can afford it. So watching other people work to your specifications is also quite fulfilling.
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I find DIY very satisfying, whether it's a small, complicated job or time involved.
YouTube is your friend.
Automotive, home maintenance and landscaping.
You can tell a lot about a neighbor's skills by looking in their garage.
It's a good indication of what their basement looks like and how their house is maintained.
YouTube is your friend.
Automotive, home maintenance and landscaping.
You can tell a lot about a neighbor's skills by looking in their garage.
It's a good indication of what their basement looks like and how their house is maintained.
I just built a custom interior barn door set up since there was nothing out there commercially that would fit my doorway (1880 built house). It makes me happy every time I look at it , lol, but it turned out really well. I’m always working on this old house and it’s a pain but My wife and I leave a little impression of ourselves in it every time we fix or renovate something. I also service most of our family’s equipment including 7 cars/trucks, a couple tractors, 2 motorcycles, 2 boats, a four wheeler and various smaller pieces of equipment. This also gives me a sense of accomplishment because it saves my family and I a ton of cash and I have done a good enough job to get a couple cars to near 300k miles (before being wrecked) so I must be doing something right.
I too am way beyond that, it was/is still sort of my profession and it sucks repairing old rusted crap and resurrecting the dead. I do enjoy working on antique Euro cars English in particular, doing body and metal work and doing nice paint jobs on car that are worth it, not the sh.. boxes made today.
I enjoy DIY on both vehicles and projects around the house. The best thing is you understand how things work and it's easier to troubleshoot (and cheaper) than the folks that pick up a phone and call someone. Plus you won't be cutting corners like others may.
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Absolutely! My wife's GM SUV had the water pump fail at about 85k. I was upset....1) The 2008-2010 has a special warranty covering the known defect, ours is a 2011 2) we had an extended warranty that expired 8 mos. prior. So I set about to DIY, watched about 5 YouTubes. One was the excellent one--a normal "dad" who showed how to do it, in detail. One tip was you don't have to loosen motor mounts, I promise you, you can take it out, it will fit. Another tip on amazon? Please use RTV even though the factory doesn't require it--you don't want to do this job twice as I did.
I did everyone one better and didn't remove the fender liner. But there was 1/6 bolts I could only feel, not see.
How I made myself feel better? Well, with the extended warranty there was a $100 deductible--so that would have costed $106. It cost me $140 including coolant and the OE pump with the 6 torque to yield bolts and a Bando serpentine belt. My time plus $34 was worth the satisfaction. The dealer gets about $750.
p.s. the BMW ABS/DSC hydro job was over the top. that's $4,200 at the dealer and at the time, with tools and software, around $450 DIY.
Absolutely, gives me a bigger endorphin high than running when the job is done. Used to like to schedule the jobs in the afternoon while listening to El Rushbo on the radio. His commentary got me over and around lots of cussing 'n fussing at parts that didn't fit or were rusted on and wouldn't come off or just because of my ineptitude.
AutoMechanic
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I’m not really a DIY as I do this for my career but it’s always nice fixing stuff successfully anyway and knowing I’m doing a service to someone that can’t do it. I do work on my own car at home though because you aren’t supposed to be alone after hours at my shop in case something happens and plus it lets the tools I have at home be used too haha. And I do a lot to my dads semi truck too which I guess you could consider DIY since I’ve done some big jobs I didn’t see myself doing on that thing. But overall it feels good to do repairs for others and myself. I hate repairing anything without an engine like plumbing or whatever but I do because I don’t want to look bad calling someone lol. Unless it’s something impossible to do DIY like when we needed a new water line installed and you have to dig up several hundred feet long of ground and have it really deep I couldn’t do that otherwise I would have.
Absolutely I feel some accomplishment in doing a near perfect job when I do oil/filter changes.
Yes, when I did the spark plugs, timing belt and water pump on the Pilot. Took me two days, bruised my arms from bending the A/C lines back and forth, and I was filthy, but when it was all done it was a good feeling since I'd never done a TB before and I'd heard horror stories of doing it on a Honda J35. Was a little nervous turning the key when it was all back together, but it started right up with no surprises.
