How many of you do your own service and only go to the dealer when you have to?

 

i for one like to do my own service. I hate when they give me grief about changing the oil every 5k. I do a lot of short trips in the winter. so that is mostly why i do 5k changes.

 

I do my own service and only visit the dealer for recalls. If it is something I cannot or do not want to do I will go to a trusted independent rather than the dealer.

 

my dealership is a good one, i have no problem there. but like you, i like to handle it myself if i can.

 

I do my own service unless it turns out to be major engine work or any job requiring the engine/transmission to be taken out of the car.

However I have owned a few different make of cars over the years ranging from German,Swedish, American,and Asian so I have a very vast collection of tools and acquired experience that allows me to repair most issues without much problem.

I always refer to a OEM service manual before I do any work on a car.

The service manuals details everything needed to do the job correctly including tools needed, step-by step instructions, torque specs for the fasteners/bolts, etc.

With that being said, I am good at following written directions and diagrams and have a lot of patience.

If you know that you can not follow the directions(or focus on a) task well enough to assemble boxed furniture correctly(you know who you are) then I would just take the car to a dealer or independent repair shop.

I like the challenge , so I have done very difficult repairs over the years in my garage which left me feeling good to be honest.

Plus I know that the job was done correctly and by the book, which can not be said from some independent shops that repair cars.

 

What service? Other than replacing simple things like wiper blades, air filter and cabin filter, and oil/filter change there isn't too much we need to do along the way. And I'm past the time when I'm crawling under the car to change my oil, I take it to the dealer every 10,000 miles and pay the $75. At the same time they'll check things over and let you know if anything needs attention.

 

I change the engine and cabin filters, battery, rotate the tires, top up my windshield washer, replace wipers for winter/all season, and maybe a hand wash or two during the summer. Does any of these count?:-)

 

hahahahaha ^^^^^^

 

you are right about that ^^ but what about still being under warranty? when i do my oil changes etc. i do log it in on the lexus owners site. so there shouldn't be any discrepancy later on.

 

I love turning wrenches but my body no longer enjoys it. I'd much rather change oil on an aircraft engine than my cars being that it's less physically demanding.

I also no longer crawl through my attic pulling wires.

I still do the easy clean stuff on my cars like air filters, wiper blades etc. I save the dirty stuff for the younger guys. They have to eat too.

 

nicely put into perspective.