Why ruin your car engine in the first place? Many people only fix what breaks instead of doing regular preventative maintenance. How long does an engine last? 250,000 miles is not unusual. How fast can you kill your engine? Most people do it in 75,000 miles by not servicing it and driving it hard.

TRUE STORY: I repaired a Volvo sedan that stopped running at 45,000 miles. When I opened the oil drain plug what came out was like tar. The owner told me he had never changed the oil. "Never?" I repeated in disbelief. He never had the car serviced, just added oil when it was a quart low.

Do your own "tune ups"
Tune ups, in my experience, are the biggest rip-off you can fall for. Did the spark plug wires really need to be replaced? Was the distributor cap really cracked?

Handing over your car to a dealer or repair shop is a ticket to let someone else dig into your wallet. When they are done you still do not know if they really did the work claimed, or did it properly.

Your excuse that "Cars are all computer controlled and too complicated to work on" is utter nonsense. Today's cars run better longer than in the past when the ignition was a capacitor & set of points, the fuel mixture controlled by a carburetor.

Don't forget that most mechanics are high school drop outs at best. They are not brain surgeon material, not college graduates in computer science or mechanical engineering.

My 40 years experience with mechanics is that few are honest & competent. The majority simply rip-off naive customers. Don't be naive - learn about your car by obtaining the official workshop manual. Take a class at the local community college in auto repairs & tune ups so you can begin the learning process.

Knowledge is power
My Honda manual cost $45 from Honda 18 years ago. But it has saved me thousands of dollars by allowing me to service the vehicle. It is written in English yet you don't have to read any particular language to use it because it is brilliantly illustrated. Every procedure is shown in artist illustrations.

With my manual I have adjusted the valves on the 4 valve per cylinder engine, replaced the timing belt that runs from the crankshaft to the cam shaft, set the ignition timing, replace brake pads, and much more. These were not repairs of a broken system - this was all service to keep the car running in perfect tune.

Clean your engine
Many people object to working on a car because it is so dirty. So do I! In fact I've refused to help people asking me to look at their car because they won't take it to a self spray car wash where you may spray off the filth in the engine compartment, and from the wheels.

Spray clean your engine. Wipe off the plastic parts. Get to know what is under the hood. Never work on a filthy, oily engine.

Nitrile exam gloves
Keep a box of those nitrile exam gloves. Latex ones are too hard to get on, break, etc. Nitrile is the material of choice. Costco has boxes in the pharmacy area. These make it far less yukky to change oil; just pull them off and your hands are clean.

Buy only the tools you need
Never go on a shopping spree to buy a lot of tools at once because you suddenly decided you are going to be a mechanic. Squandering hundreds of dollars is a waste of money when you are trying to save money.

$400 Here is what $400 will buy from Snap-on. Just a 1/4" socket set is all. Not a joke.
$60 Here is what $60 buys at Lowes. A 46-piece 1/4" & 3/8" drive socket set.
$35 Why not start here? You got thirty five dollars, right? Kobalt 24-piece set.

Sears=cheap / Snap-on=insanely expensive
Sears tools sound good with the "lifetime warrantee" but I knew a mechanic who gave me his spares sockets saying "I got tired of standing in line at Sears every time I broke another socket!" He bought expensive brands like Snap-On that are insanely expensive. Only a full time mechanic needs tools that durable, never a home mechanic!

Collect tools only as you need them Never spend a lot of money when you are trying to save money. What I mean is don't go on a shopping spree or buy large sets of tools. One could buy a $400 set of wrenches when all you need to service your car is $40 worth. Tools to change my oil • 17mm, 6 point socket, 3/8" drive, or a 17mm box end wrench (6 points) • A strap type oil filter wrench • A floor jack to lift up the car and 2 heavy duty jack stands to put under the axles. • An oil drain pan. A plastic funnel to fill the oil that prevents spilling it on the engine. • Cardboard to place on the ground where oil is going to drip & spill. Nitrile exam gloves, paper towels to wipe clean the tools & my hands. When you need hand tools look at the sets Costco has, or the discount brands at Lowes (Kobalt) or Home Depot (Husky). They have socket wrenches for cheap. If you need a floor jack shop around at Sears, Costco, Kragen, Lowes, etc. You don't need to pay much more than about $80. Never crawl under a car unless you have good quality jack stands (right) under the axles. Never jack up a car and crawl under unless you have been trained, and know how to do it safely. Having a 4,000 lb car drop on you can be fatal. And think of the bloody mess your family will have to clean up. Safety is essential. Safety is a form of love.