[Jeroen]

I have voted for DIY, which probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise to those who have followed some of my posts.

I just enjoy fiddling with my cars. Old or new, doesn’t make any difference. Yes, I am lucky to have a very nice garage/workshop, but as you can see on my “fiddling with car thread” for 57 years I worked on cars in front of our house. Tools/parts piled into boxes in the shed/loft.

Having easy access to tools and parts is important or it can get very frustrating very quickly. In most of west that is never a problem.

My son Luc is coming over tomorrow with his Golf GTI. He has the week off and I have taken a day off. Bit of father and son time fiddling with his car. We are doing some regular service stuff. And still an electronic gremlin I need to catch!

I just phoned our local auto parts store and yes they have all the brake pads and discs in stock. I suspect we need to replace some. But we just pop over once we have figured out what we need. If they had not had it in stock, they would order it. Which means I might have to wait for a few hours!! Seriously, things are that well organised here. I can get just about any part the same day as long as I get my order in before 13-1400 hours!

Or I order online, which tends to be cheaper and it will delivered, mostly the very next day.

I do like driving. Any time, anywhere, any car. But I do enjoy working on my cars just as much. I do believe there is a difference if you have only one car and that car needs to be reliable. I am fortunate that I never ever have to worry about my car not being ready by the end of the day. I will just continue whenever I feel like it.

As GTO pointed out, mechanics are expensive in the West. It is not unusual for the labour charges to outweigh the part cost by a big margin. Replacing the distribution chain on my Mercedes is a good example. The chain plus a new tensioner costed Euro 100-120 or thereabouts. But it is a 4-6 hours job. At Euro 85 an hour it gets expensive.

So cost of labour might be a factor for some in the west. However, more often car owners in the west genuinely enjoy working on their cars. In the USA there are those that would not consider you a “real man” (whatever that is) if you don’t change your own engine oil. Guys talk in some circles is as much about DIY work on your car as it might be on sports.

It is also something that is completely devoid of social rank/status. You can have a CEO of a multinational enjoying getting his/her hands dirty just as much as the guy working as a civil servant.

It is not just car DIY. The same is true for any DIY. Be it cars, on your home, your garden etc. Apart from the cost advantage, lots of people genuinely love getting their hands dirty.

No offense to anyone, but my impression on India is that, once you know how to switch on a PC, sit behind a desk, most will baulk at the mere thought of getting their hands dirty?

Nobody seems to be interested in doing “blue collar type of jobs” once you have reached your “white collar station in life”.

In many western countries people do all kinds of DIY as hobbies/interest. And people show off their skills. They tend to be very proud of their home decorating skills, how nicely they painted the bedroom ceiling, fixed the lawn mower, ripped out the old- and put in a new kitchen. Etc.

For many years, my professional life is very much about dealing with all kinds of aspects of leading large organisation. Professional speaking I have not held a tool for at least 30-35 years.

I must admit, fixing things with my own two hands always gives my an incredible sense of achievement. Whether it is fixing a problem on a car, the dishwasher, a bicycle, cleaning the gutters, or my latest little DIY home build Steam Engine!

Happy fiddling! Enjoy!

Jeroen

[Aafaq]

Voted for :I'd rather go to the mechanic" for all major repair works.

However I have an inclination towards DIY and love to fiddle with my cars.

[libranof1987]

Barring small tasks such as changing bulbs and non-electrical/mechanical accessories, I'd go to a mechanic each and every time.

I'm simply amazed at how qualified and knowledgable some of our members, Jeroen for instance, are when it comes to DIY. It must come from tremendous patience, reading and studying, and really getting immersed in the process of performing that DIY, and of course, every possible tool and infrastructure to enable that. Lest not forget, oodles of confidence and balls of titanium to identify the problem, fix it, and trust yourself in the fix. I probably have none of that.

That said, I would like to be able to do so. Some day, hopefully.

[Kosfactor]

I do most of the cosmetic replacements as DIY, the remaining things are best left to someone who got trained by the manufacturer of the vehicle and oodles of experience to match.

For now I am very happy with the care my vehicles get at the dealership over the last 6 years, I hope that continues.

There is a Padmini and probably an old Jeep that I need to purchase someday and restore it , I'm collecting tools on the meantime. I have got a few toolkits already, let's see where that goes.

[Thermodynamics]

Voted for Mechanic because of necessity. I live in an apartment without the privilege of space for tools. Given the constraints of very basic tools, I manage limited DIYs such as punctures, oil changes, fuses, relays, lights, stereo, audio systems, battery maintenance etc.,

Would love to have a garage someday

[av8er]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I must admit, fixing things with my own two hands always gives my an incredible sense of achievement. Whether it is fixing a problem on a car, the dishwasher, a bicycle, cleaning the gutters, or my latest little DIY home build Steam Engine!

I love this point and this is exactly why I voted for DIY.

During Covid I serviced our Santro AT and the sound of the engine with the new oil in it just bought a smile and sense of achievement. Took it for a short spin (2km restriction) and the smooth engine and refined sound of the engine after oil change just bought a smile.

I have to agree, we live in an individual house and we have ample car parking space and over the year have collected a lot of tools as well.

[Amrik Singh]

I feel the poll of choice between DIY and Mechanic is a bit unfair. Even if I prefer DIY, i shall have to go to a Mechanic for Engine or Gearbox overhaul. Yet, cleaning Filters or Oil Change may be easily within my reach. Similarly, dent beating and Painting may again not be fully in DIY domain either.

In my opinion, Mechanic part should have been in two sections - Major Works only and All Works.

[utkarshshukla92]

For me, it depends on machine to machine, Like for my RX's I want to know every bit of it. Repair, restore, and maintain it myself self but I am a noob. I wish to reach such a point where I can solve any problem related to Rx but multiple things have more priority in life.

There are times when a DIY video helps and there are times when you have to take it to an expert. There are a few bhpians whom I bug daily on how to fix things on my RX and they have been extremely helpful.

For my Apache, I can do basic services like oil change, chain cleaning and lubing, etc.

[GT Racer]

I have voted for "DIY"
The Only reason is the mishandling of my pride & joy by the so called technicians & mechanics. PD&T is the last thing Companies in India give importance to. what I want is mere professionalism. Driving vehicles rash in the name of testing, a few stains here & there grease on gear lever & handbrakes. Sometimes a few geniuses also spray some slippery polish on the pedals too.
I get my cars serviced till 2-3 years in the service centre after that switch to my trusted mechanics whom I have to ponder around & supervise else they start doing the same stuff. All the mechanical issues are taken care by these folks.

I am a mechanical engineer & have interned with a few bigger OEM's during my training & worked in R&D. I have learnt to ignore a few things but not to expect outmost perfection & not afraid to get my hands dirty either.
Since the last two years my job role have been strictly desk based to supervise, from 9-5 pm I am playing with prototype parts made up of every material you can imagine.
DIY stuff be it anything I am up for it unless I don't have the tools required for that job at my home. I have a proper 2 car garage up until last year had only 1 car in it.
Once I started my job DIY stuff is totally shut as time is a big constraint but still I find time to do some smaller stuff the mere feeling to improve your ride in anyway & doing it yourself is addiction on the same time the more time to enjoy your ride is important. So, I try to find a balance because in college days things were different.
One time, My friend's city with mere 20k kilometers on the odo got a failed Clutch master cylinder(he got it preowned). This one is connected to the clutch pedal & his car got stuck in his apartment building. I got it removed & installed a new one, took 2 whole days to find the master cylinder in the market it was 2 years back I had plenty of time in my final year. We got frustrated as Honda service centre & my FNG both were saying they will take our car by driving which I was against of, as the clutch pedal had no pressure the car had to be towed only. Honda dealer gave us an estimate of 20k for a clutch replacement too. He had driven his car for 2 years & for 45k kilometer with no clutch replacement till now.

I have came across people from Hyundai, Maruti, Honda, interned in my 2nd year with a Skoda service centre too. I didn't saw any professionalism on the technical side.Master mechanics are good & work with outmost care I have seen it but the supervisor or the guy at the front desk make or break them.
Most of them will tell something to the customer, do something, charge for something else, if the customer is not ignorant then they will surely do everything fine & check them atleast once. I don't care about customer lounge or their fancy coffees what I care is that they don't report back to you when your car is serviced, what has been done properly most of the time we have to inquire or constantly ask them have you done this or that.

[Eddy]

A simple equation for me here:

No skill + No inclination + No time = Prefer a mechanic.

[kamilharis]

Voted for Mechanic.

Other than the detailing stuff, I won't experiment too much on my car. The maximum I would do is an Air Filter / Cabin Filter change.

[DRIV3R]

Voted DIY, and I would prefer that whenever possible. (Perhaps the option in the poll should be renamed to just DIY rather than DIY videos)

DIY as someone said needs basic interest to get down and dirty with their car. It also helps to get things done your way. For e.g., whenever the mechanic does an oil change, the entire old oil is not allowed to drip, both from the sump and also the oil filter housing. Also, the new oil filter is never primed with fresh oil before it is being fit in. I don’t want to get started on some improper car jacking techniques which is another pain point.

With DIY, sometimes you may do a wrong step or two. But it will serve as a permanent learning experience.

The investment on tools also pay back over time.

So far, I have done the following for our cars. (Punto 90 MJD/Linea T Jet/Ciaz AT 1.4 P)

• Oil and Oil filter change
• Air filter change
• Cabin filter change
• Headlamps/foglamps/tail lamps/wiper/grille/bulbs changes
• Paint touch-ups
• Fluid top-ups
• Headlamp focussing
• Some troubleshooting and fixing for A.S.S induced issues like coolant line bleeding for the Ciaz when a coolant change was done, etc.

It is fun and a great experience with mental satisfaction though am often asked questions like why can’t you just get it done and the likes.

For major work like suspension overhaul, gearbox oil change, etc., I would still goto a workshop/mechanic.

[kraken]

Voted: I’d rather go to the Mechanic.

Reason is simple. Running a business equals a little or almost no time free. As the Mrs puts it, ' Everyone works 9 to 5 you work 5 to 9 ' .
Jokes apart I every Sunday I find time to give my cars a lil TLC they deserve. I have a small inclination to simple DIYs. Something major and time consuming is just impossible for me.

[Rajat347]

DIY works to some extent for me like changing car's tyres, headlight bulbs and thats it.
For other things DIY won't work because of lack of time and tools.

I can change my car's tyre but for a puncture repair will definitely go to near by mechanic.

[anandhsub]

Mechanic.

Zero skill when it comes to repairing the car, even for a simple filter/ oil change. Even for car cleaning I prefer going to a professional setup. The only thing I like doing myself is cleaning the windshield. I like it to be extremely clear since I do a lot of night driving.