Doublebase

I saw a couple of threads recently on what people are paying for basic services, etc, and I began to think...what did I save by doing these things myself? Now if you make $300,000 plus a year...$150 dollars an hour or so....then yeah, who cares? But let's say you're more in line with the average income, whatever is considered "average" nowadays...$100,000...$120,000...80,000? I don't know? Then it might be interesting to see what you've saved being a DIYer. For me this is what I've saved over the last year.

An oil change-- I figure a dealer will charge you $100.
Mobil 1 at Walmart and a $6 dollar Toyota filter will run you $50 total.
Five oil changes for me-- $300 in savings

Transmission fluid change-- Dealer price $200
Four quarts of WS transmission fluid was $28
One drain and fill-- $172 in savings

Spark plugs and air filters change-- I'm not sure what a dealer would charge for this...I'm going to say $500 with the filter change and air flow sensor cleaning.
Spark plugs $80
Air filters $24 for two
Air flow sensor cleaner $8
$388 in savings

Control arms-- Dealer prices vary, but $4000 seems "reasonable"
Aftermarket control arms $600
$3,400 in total savings

Wheel bearing-- I've seen dealer prices as high as $1,000 dollars for this, I'll realistically price it at $800
OE Koyo wheel bearing $$225
$575 in total savings

Coolant drain and fill-- Dealers will run specials on this to get you in the door for $150
Toyota Super long life coolant x2 $48
$102 in total savings

That's all I've got after a year and 30,000 miles of driving, for a total savings of $4,937.

Time wasted? Five hours for the control arms and wheel bearing...two hours for the oil changes...one hour for the spark plugs, air cleaners, etc...tranny service one hour...coolant one hour...

10 hours of my time, that's $488.70 an hour. Certainly worth it for myself, and it was actually kind of fun...got to "know" the car a little bit.

Littleguy

Let's see, I spent $115 with shipping for my control arm bushings but now I spent around $525 for brake parts. I figure I'll get to a descent figure just because of the control arm cost, lol.

superdenso

What about the dealer's estimate on that brake job? You should save plenty of cash on that one.

Doublebase

Let me guess, rock auto? I was set to order my control arms from them but then the shipping charges were totaled and I said, well there goes my savings. So I ended up getting everything on Amazon...free shipping. eBay also had free shipping on 90% of the stuff I looked at.

Littleguy

I got the brake parts from Tire Rack and the control arm bushings from 1aauto, I've never been a big Rock Auto fan even though a few of my buddies like them.

roadfrog

Yeah...that's why I'm always scratching my head when I hear of "Rock Auto" or similar vendors being recommended. I buy 99% of my stuff on Ebay and have done so for all my cars for the last 15 years or so. Seldom is shipping extra, and I've never been screwed with anything I've purchased.

As for how much I've saved DIY'ing, its ridiculously substantial. When I replaced my water pump, I saved at least 600 dollars. When I replaced my rad (I broke it by accident...not the cars fault), I saved another 5-600 dollars. Replacing my spark plugs saved me at least 300.

The only DIY I refuse to do is the transmission fluid and the brake fluid flush. My dealer only charges 150 for the trans and 79 for the brakes.For those prices, they can have it. Just not worth the mess and time. Those services would only save me a few bucks. I did do the rear diff fluid myself because it's dirt simple and only takes 10 minutes or so to do.

Dr. Jekyll

iTrader: (1)

I got my ceramic brake pads from Rock Auto and they were the cheapest place to source them from. Shipping was also very reasonable as well.

Doublebase

When I gathered all my parts in the parts bin on Rock Auto there were quite a few parts in there, so maybe that's why the shipping was so high on my order. I ended up buying everything on Amazon, it was free shipping...and I've used eBay quite a few times as well.

Doublebase

Yeah I haven't had any problems with eBay either, I find that when vendors are held accountable, like on eBay and Amazon they tend to back their warranties and products. I had a situation where I had a wheel bearing fail - bought it on Amazon - thought they'd never back the warranty, but they shipped me a new one in two days. I was shocked.

I have a few accounts locally, but it's hard to beat the online stuff.

Dr. Jekyll

iTrader: (1)

Oh yeah I'm a big fan of Amazon too. Just so happened the Rock Auto deal worked out better. I'm more hesitant to use eBay however and living in Hawaii the sellers rarely offer a reasonable shipping option.

roadfrog

Ahhh yes...and Alaska. Often same for Canada, but fortunately for me, I can cross the border in a matter of 15 minutes or so and pick up my stuff at a shipper receiver in Sumas WA and they only charge me 3 bucks to do so.

Dr. Jekyll

iTrader: (1)

That's great you can do that. Depending on the currency exchange you can choose where and how much to save too. Does Canada have something like an Amazon? I like them because even though I'm in Hawaii they've managed to secure a pretty damn good rate where they can use 2 day UPS just to send me a $20 box of paper towels! I thought that was crazy. And this month's subscriptions came in not 1 but 3 boxes!

roadfrog

Yes, we have Amazon Canada and Ebay Canada, but their prices are higher than if I purchase out of the States...even with the exchange rate. Plus, buying in the US usually saves me sales taxes. That, and I gas up my car while Im in the US...buy cheap milk and eggs, etc. It saves me a ton of money.

CRowe14

Hmm...let me see..I have:
-Repaired the notorious leaky water pump, fluid flush, lower rad hose and belt
-Brakes: Rotors and pads all around
-Rear Diff fluid change
-Low-Beam swap out

I should stop there, this car has been an nightmare to own!

roadfrog

WHHHAAAT!!????/ No replacement of the battery in your remote!!?? Clearly you've had better reliability than the rest of us......