I don't want to be like countries in South America where you can have a tire shop/ garage, etc., next to a single family home.
Percentage of people that do their own vehicle maintenance at home.
- Thread starter 64bawagon
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JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
I would guess at less than 10%.
Not so sure. I think that history shows us that the poor as a group don't do a great job maintaining their cars, including extended OCI's and dents that never, ever get repaired. I also think you'll find a fair number of folks who could pay others for maintenance, but enjoy and appreciate the activity and its benefits.
That's me. I do basic maintenance on my cars not out of financial necessity, but for the enjoyment/satisfaction. For any work that's more involved than oil changes, air & cabin filters, bulbs and batteries, I pay the pros.
I think that the proportion of those doing their own work has declined and continues to do so.
Why anyone would spend double or triple dollars and time on an oil change in which an unknown oil and a jobber level filter are used is beyond me. It isn't even entirely a matter of money or time, but of knowing that you did the job properly with supplies of your choice.
Brakes are typically dead easy and you can save both money and time doing them yourself.
A clutch? Not technically hard, just a lot of labor and nobody drives those anymore anyway.
Plugs? Once again, with a few exceptions where you're guaranteed to break something, dead easy.
Tools needed for DIY work? Not very many.
People these days have convinced themselves that they're too busy and too affluent to DIY much of anything, even though they're no busier than people of earlier times and often less so. The same is true of their perceived affluence.
I guess times and perceptions do change.
Why anyone would spend double or triple dollars and time on an oil change in which an unknown oil and a jobber level filter are used is beyond me. It isn't even entirely a matter of money or time, but of knowing that you did the job properly with supplies of your choice.
Brakes are typically dead easy and you can save both money and time doing them yourself.
A clutch? Not technically hard, just a lot of labor and nobody drives those anymore anyway.
Plugs? Once again, with a few exceptions where you're guaranteed to break something, dead easy.
Tools needed for DIY work? Not very many.
People these days have convinced themselves that they're too busy and too affluent to DIY much of anything, even though they're no busier than people of earlier times and often less so. The same is true of their perceived affluence.
I guess times and perceptions do change.
Self-sufficiency is a lost art.
I used to do most of it. Oil changes, tire rotations, brakes, trans fluid, coolant, spark plugs, etc. My work load has gotten to be too much to do most of it unfortunately. I just traded my last ICE vehicle. I'll still mess with brakes and the stuff I can actually get to on our current cars, but that won't be much.
If a father isin't turning a wrench, with his son somewhere in the picture at some point, the son isin't going to be doing it as an adult.
If you're in your 20's and you've had a wrench in your hands working on your first car in your teens and you know you're going to keep doing it, you're going to **** well make sure where ever you hang your hat you're going to be able to do it. When I was looking for my first house, comparing the dimensions of the garages was my primary focus.
If you're in your 20's and you've had a wrench in your hands working on your first car in your teens and you know you're going to keep doing it, you're going to **** well make sure where ever you hang your hat you're going to be able to do it. When I was looking for my first house, comparing the dimensions of the garages was my primary focus.
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I'm the only one in my block who does any kind of auto or diy projects. I can do whatever walmart can do+ more Tire rotation, oil change, wipers, batteries, etc. And some basic upgrades like running boards. Neighbors all hire landscapers or contractors for everything probably go to the dealer for maintenance and car washes. I got my new car in july and washed it every 2 weeks and may have inspired my neighbor across the street to wash it himself too, first time I ever seen his lazy ass do anything
For those that only use the dealer, I really honestly wonder how many are actually paying for the more involved services. I think beyond oil changes, there's likely a lot of differed maintenance. That's what got me into really doing my own maintenance. I like when everything works like new even when it's old and that was too expensive to pay a dealer in my younger years.
My dad doesn't do his own car work, and never did.
Percentage of people that do their own vehicle maintenance at home.
Presumably people who live in a house are way more likely to work on their own vehicles, especially if they have a garage. I still did everything myself when I lived in an apartment, but I would have never attempted some of the multi-day stuff I do now.
Oh yes! There's nothing better than the smell of a good fuel diluted oil. Or the tantalizing feel of oil running up your arm as you're unscrewing the oil filter. Lets not forget losing your oil pan gasket in the oil catch and having to fish for it because you don't have a spare.
And those are just the nuances of Joy from an oil change.
And then there is the serpentine belts, and water pump replacements, all the joys of home mechanics there's nothing more cathartic than spending a weekend and getting to know your ride.
Somebody mentioned newer cars are harder to work on, yeah they have all that plastic fiddly crap with those clips that have to be taken out. And yes some of them are designed on an engineering table and then once put into the car frame parts are almost impossible to extract from the engine.
I still do my basic maintenance. And enjoy the cathartic experience.
Most people I know Farm out everything car related, home related and some of them even call out for food delivery because they don't want to cook. And then I have to hear them complain about the subpar quality or service that they get!
And the world keeps turning
And those are just the nuances of Joy from an oil change.
And then there is the serpentine belts, and water pump replacements, all the joys of home mechanics there's nothing more cathartic than spending a weekend and getting to know your ride.
Somebody mentioned newer cars are harder to work on, yeah they have all that plastic fiddly crap with those clips that have to be taken out. And yes some of them are designed on an engineering table and then once put into the car frame parts are almost impossible to extract from the engine.
I still do my basic maintenance. And enjoy the cathartic experience.
Most people I know Farm out everything car related, home related and some of them even call out for food delivery because they don't want to cook. And then I have to hear them complain about the subpar quality or service that they get!
And the world keeps turning
I’m the only one on my street who does auto DIY. At least from what I can tell anyway.
I think most people just aren’t interested and/or don’t have the time. In the grand scheme of things an oil change really isn’t that much money. What’s the national average on mileage every year ~15,000 miles? That’s only 2 or 3 oil changes annually which is ~$300. Most people will piss that away in less than a month on just Impulsive shopping alone. I think people just don’t care to hassle with it.
I think most people just aren’t interested and/or don’t have the time. In the grand scheme of things an oil change really isn’t that much money. What’s the national average on mileage every year ~15,000 miles? That’s only 2 or 3 oil changes annually which is ~$300. Most people will piss that away in less than a month on just Impulsive shopping alone. I think people just don’t care to hassle with it.
And they'll simultaneously complain about how expensive everything is.
Oh I was that guy doing it in apartment parking lots at 19-24 years of age. Even did full suspension in my 2004 GTO. Swapped my new wheel and tires on. Trans service, coolant, oil changes, all kinds of wiring and mods. They all were one day jobs at least. I wouldn't have rebuilt a transmission or engine in the parking lot, but I thought about getting a garage there to get more in depth. That wasn't allow either though. Apparently my love of maintenance and modifying went well beyond my love of keeping my apartment contract. Luckily it never got me kicked out, just a couple of letters.
Probably not my brightest moments, but I'm thankful for the experience.
I just did stuff when the apartment complex office was closed. If I wanted to do stuff when it was open, I found an empty parking lot someplace else.
Add another, their residence may ban any form of vehicle maintenance.
I might add I may need to get a different manual tire mounter because even Walmart is getting ideotic when it comes to mounting 2 tires at a time or in the case you bought on sale with the intent to mount later in the year when the tires are actually worn. (Keep receipts for less of a fight)
The last mom and pop that would just mount a tire you bring in $12 and 10min later you leave went under around here.
The only way now is to remove the rim(s) from the car and bring them in with the treads and expect to be raped on the price.
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I was thinking that first of all, very few, to answer the question. There’s nobody at work that I can have a conversation with about fixing cars. Very few have a vehicle out of warranty.
Progress is changing things. I now have been exposed to AGVs, and the system that controls them.
Yesterday my son and I got to see behind the scenes at an ice rink. We saw a Blackstone Fireball skate sharpening machine. I googled it and it’s $18k. One of its selling points is you don’t need to keep training associates on how to sharpen skates.
So progress on purpose is eliminating the need for humans to know how to do things. But, what if it’s their livelihood?
Progress is changing things. I now have been exposed to AGVs, and the system that controls them.
Yesterday my son and I got to see behind the scenes at an ice rink. We saw a Blackstone Fireball skate sharpening machine. I googled it and it’s $18k. One of its selling points is you don’t need to keep training associates on how to sharpen skates.
So progress on purpose is eliminating the need for humans to know how to do things. But, what if it’s their livelihood?
