4 ms·
You've also got to have a place to do it and a modest collection of tools. If you live in dense urban housing you probably aren't up for swapping a transmissio
by evilduck 3y ago
You've also got to have a place to do it and a modest collection of tools.
If you live in dense urban housing you probably aren't up for swapping a transmission for your very first time on the curb of a busy street or doing much multi-day work in your narrow numbered parking spot unless you can borrow a friend's garage to have a place to spread out a little bit. You aren't rolling a toolbox down from your 4th floor apartment, and there's usually a relative void of auto parts and hardware stores inside the city. There just aren't many shade tree mechanics in places where shade trees are rare.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 3y agoNowadays you can pay a mobile mechanic to come work on your car for a very reasonable rate in most urban areas. I find doing this is usually at least 75% cheaper than the dealerships and much more convenient. I still do minor repairs and things like battery swaps myself and keep an OBD reader in the car for preliminary investigation and research before I call the mechanic. But otherwise I probably average less than $1k USD per year on vehicle maintenance and repairs, tires oil included. Obviously this excludes things like transmission swaps but those are ideally once in a decade occurrences with proper care and maintenance otherwise