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I’m comfortable doing mechanical work and when my Honda Fit said I had to remove a shitload of parts just to replace a spark plug I said fuck it and traded it i

by jorts 2y ago

I’m comfortable doing mechanical work and when my Honda Fit said I had to remove a shitload of parts just to replace a spark plug I said fuck it and traded it in.

3D30497420 2y ago
My brother had to have something (AC fan?) replaced and it involved removing the entire dash. I've seen photos of this and it looks like the car exploded.
- phatskat 2y ago
  Some fan in my (late 90s) Taurus wagon was buried behind a bunch of stuff in the engine area and while we didn’t have to take out the whole block, it was still pretty dense and a lot had to move and come out to replace it. And that’s still relatively “simple” compared to today’s cars. In comparison my 80’s Bronco II, I bought it from my neighbor for $300 and my dad told me I’d fix whatever broke myself if I could. Gave me a service manual that had schematics and layouts of just about every part of that car that was serviceable, and the book wasn’t even that thick considering what it detailed. I was able to pin out some repurposed Christmas lights for the dash in a pinch, and we tore down and rebuilt some component from under the hood ourselves though I don’t recall exactly what now.
MisterTea 2y ago
Friend has a Fiat 500 which had to have the engine removed to access the AC compressor to change it. Cost her $3000. Mostly labor.
uriah 2y ago
I've had a knee-jerk reaction to that job too. But realistically optimizing spark plug changes isn't really important like the old days where you needed to change them every 10k miles or less. It's maybe 2-3 times in the entire life of the car. Removing the wipers and windshield cowl is generally easy, just takes some extra time. Dealers/mechanics charge for time, not difficulty. So that simple 2hr job can easily be 500-600+. Still something that could be a rewarding Saturday morning project for someone who likes doing DIY type stuff.

by jorts 2y ago

I’m comfortable doing mechanical work and when my Honda Fit said I had to remove a shitload of parts just to replace a spark plug I said fuck it and traded it in.

3D30497420 2y ago

My brother had to have something (AC fan?) replaced and it involved removing the entire dash. I've seen photos of this and it looks like the car exploded.

phatskat 2y ago
Some fan in my (late 90s) Taurus wagon was buried behind a bunch of stuff in the engine area and while we didn’t have to take out the whole block, it was still pretty dense and a lot had to move and come out to replace it. And that’s still relatively “simple” compared to today’s cars. In comparison my 80’s Bronco II, I bought it from my neighbor for $300 and my dad told me I’d fix whatever broke myself if I could. Gave me a service manual that had schematics and layouts of just about every part of that car that was serviceable, and the book wasn’t even that thick considering what it detailed. I was able to pin out some repurposed Christmas lights for the dash in a pinch, and we tore down and rebuilt some component from under the hood ourselves though I don’t recall exactly what now.

MisterTea 2y ago

Friend has a Fiat 500 which had to have the engine removed to access the AC compressor to change it. Cost her $3000. Mostly labor.

uriah 2y ago

I've had a knee-jerk reaction to that job too. But realistically optimizing spark plug changes isn't really important like the old days where you needed to change them every 10k miles or less. It's maybe 2-3 times in the entire life of the car. Removing the wipers and windshield cowl is generally easy, just takes some extra time. Dealers/mechanics charge for time, not difficulty. So that simple 2hr job can easily be 500-600+. Still something that could be a rewarding Saturday morning project for someone who likes doing DIY type stuff.