Cars you like working on

This morning my wife fired up her FJ Cruiser and one of the headlights was out. Yay! I love having things to do on her truck. Every thing seems well thought out, well engineered and well screwed together. On top of that, it's easy to take things apart without things breaking. It's like they designed it to be serviced or something. The headlights were easy to reach and easy to change. I didn't have to look up how to do it in a service manual, it was simple and intuitive. I know, just lights, but the same job took me an hour and an adjustable wrench and two bloody fingers on my Silverado last summer. It was miserable, just like everything else on that truck. Are there any other cars that you guys like to work on?

My Sciroccos were always very straightforward to work on, a few of my mods got rid of the more on obnoxious quirky areas and made it even easier.

My NC Miata hasn't required much wrenching yet, but a big bonus when I was model shopping was that everything was "right where it was supposed to be"

So far every NA miata I've worked on has been enjoyable. With a little though, and a few Google taps, I have everything I need.

I like my BMW 2002 pretty well, and the Ranchero's not been bad so far. When I first got my 2002 after owning a Chevy, a Ford, and a VW, I was blown away by how well the pieces fit. It was like moving from a Monogram model to a Hasegawa.

The WRX's happiest moment of needing work was when I realized how bad it was to get at the turn signals, and then realized I had to take it in for an oil change anyhow. Best of all, it wasn't burnt out, it was a defect in the wiring, so covered under warranty.

I would pretty much dread having to do much on that car unless it was the sort of thing for which you'd plan to half-disassemble it for access.

I really like wrenching on rear engine fiats. Maybe 6 bolts larger than 17mm on the whole car. Removing the engine without a hoist? just yank it out, it only weighs 125lbs. Wiring? Not even a relay in sight, just a few switches. Plus parts are affordable and easy to find.

Any VW/Audi built from the '00-era and up (I find them really easy to work on esp. the B5 and A4 chassis cars, except for the longitudinal 1.8t downpipe which always sucks, no exception), classic Saturns, anything with the Honda 3.5 engine (especially in VUEs - no power steering pump!) and anything with a 3100/3400.

1st gen crx/3g civics. Aside from "under dash" stuff, there's nothing on that car I can't pull apart or put back together in my sleep.

Mazda 626 Turbo, 1988; everything was easy to get to for the most part, everything (but the 5th gear syncro, ha ha!) was very well built, it was just easy to get fixed and over with. I could change the oil without jacking it up at all with an open oil drain pan and reaching down from the top to spin off the oil filter.

If they sold the wagon version of that car here, and not just the rare hatchback, I'd be looking for another one.

Edit: Since people are measuring stuff they really don't like working on, my Mustang which I expected to be easy really isn't (engine bay is crowded) but somehow my VFR seems to be the worst. Next bike comes to me sans big plastic panel bodywork.

Knurled wrote: Any VW/Audi built from the '00-era and up (I find them really easy to work on esp. the B5 and A4 chassis cars, except for the longitudinal 1.8t downpipe which always sucks, no exception), classic Saturns, anything with the Honda 3.5 engine (especially in VUEs - no power steering pump!) and anything with a 3100/3400.

Really? My wife had a '00 Audi TT that was a miserable bastard. The only thing worse is my sister's '00 Beetle.

In reply to ransom:

I hate working on my forester xt also. It might completely turn me off of flat engines.

1976 Chevrolet K5 Blazer. Blew a driveshaft u-joint at 55mph, pulled to the side, took apart the other end with a single box end wrench, threw shaft in back and drove home in 4 lock.

Suzuki Samurai might be the easiest ever IMO. Swapped alternators from one to another in ten minutes with a 13mm wrench.

I had to do the center section gasket on my 87 4Runner. Absolute bliss. Why? Not because it was well thought out, or easy (it was), but the truck is rust free. Rust free. Those used to be bullE36 M3 words to me living in Illinois.

4th Gen Civic (88-91). Behind porn, it was the second most popular thing on the internet when I had mine. It's like having a Lego set, everything pops together and everything is interchangeable. Too bad Honda lost their way...

Oh, and Jeep CJ's. Want to mount some extra lights? You need a drill and a Crescent wrench. Same tools apply to gauges, bumpers, accessories, stereos, speakers, lift kits, etc etc etc

My 79 RX-7 by far is the easiest, and most fun car to wrench on. Any fist gen Rx-7 for that matter is pretty easy, and you can pretty much take anything apart with the following wrenches/sockets: 10,12,14,17, and maybe a random 22mm on the suspension. Maybe an 18mm here and there, but the 10,12,14, and 17mm are your friends.

My 2000 Protege has been a joy to work on. Replacing the battery, installing a short shifter, a suspension rebuild including front lower control arms, front engine mount (took all of ten minutes and I didn't have to jack up the car), timing belt and water pump, both accessory belts, replacing headlight bulbs, installing clear corners. The trickiest thing was when doing the timing belt the exhaust cam wanted to advance a tooth when I installed the tensioner, but that was easy to spot and fix.

"Designed to be serviced" is always a good thing. I hate when I have to spend time thinking about how they did it on the assembly line. I've even come across a few machines that seem like even the factory couldn't even assemble them in a sensible order.

My 300 I6 F150 was a breeze to work on, even when I was a nearly clueless teenager.

My wife's first car was a W114 chassis Benz. It was definitely designed to be serviced. Other than the crappy twin zenith carbs, it was a pleasure to work on. That is until you needed engine parts, which were mostly dealer only ($$$$$). I'd work on M-Bs from that era all day if someone else was paying for it. My wife wants another one someday, and I might give in, but it will be getting a chevy drivetrain at the first sign of trouble.

I like SAAB c900s, but they're an acquired taste, and I can understand why some people can figure them out.

My BMW experience is all positive so far, but I'm purposely avoiding the V8s.

I think the biggest thing to making working on cars enjoyable is to avoid smog era cars and rusty cars.

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Most people look at me weird when I say this but of all my cars, I like working on my MR2 the most. I have long arms so I can reach everything with ease. There is no power steering system to worry about. Everything is right there and right where I expect everything to be.

My forester is a major PITA. Everything on the forester is in the worse spot possible. Then I had to jack the motor up and disconnect the motor mount to do the spark plugs, I cringed.

Love working on RX7s and Miatas. They are pretty straightforward to work on and it's a pleasure on how well thought out they are.

I like working on nearly anything. I particularly LOVE working on oddball stuff. I can't think of any examples, but I like working on things with unique engineering. Like (random untrue example) if I were working on a 1918 Hupmobile and discovered that they had a remote, vacuum operated fuel reservoir for cold fuel enrichment instead of a traditional choke.

Right now working in small engine repair its kinda fascinating the ways that Briggs and Kohler and Honda have used the same basic engine for the last 40 years but added automatic chokes, or how their governors work differently.

I get bored building 500-hp chevy small blocks, but building an 80-hp outboard or a 100-hp Jensen slant is exciting.

mazdeuce wrote: Really? My wife had a '00 Audi TT that was a miserable bastard. The only thing worse is my sister's '00 Beetle.

It's how the cars are put together. It's all subassemblies that were designed to be thrown on the car by untrained monkeys. With that in mind, it all makes sense.

The TT does have a special brand of suck if you have AWD and automatic, but other than that, bring 'em at me.

I did the brakes on my buddy's G37 sedan a few weekends ago and tipped my hat to Nissan/Infiniti for making it very easy to do.

For non-drivetrain work, I really enjoy the 95-99 Maxima. I have no experience with the engine/trans in them but everything else comes apart with just two sockets (10 & 17mm) and a couple screwdrivers.

I once bought a 96 Maxima SE that needed love. A shop changed out the clutch for me, then the you-pull junkyard yielded: exhaust, driver's door in the correct color, headliner and entire sunroof assembly, two window regulators, and a replacement trunk lid spoiler. Everything was plug and play, including a set of newish Tien lowering springs and GR2 shocks/struts bought from a Maxima forum member on the cheap and installed as assembled units.

SAAB 900 and 99. So wonderful to work on. Logical design, intended to be serviced, fastener standardization, no tool entrapment, etc... Those two models showed their aircraft heritage in the engineering for sure.

There isn't a job on them that I wouldn't tackle, and even my wife is surprised by how quickly I can perform major service items.

One of the few car experiences I've ever had where I genuinely enjoy working on them.

I haven't found that car yet.

None of the 5+ GM cars I've owned.

Old Z cars (70-78) are pretty easy to work on. Everything is 10, 12, 14, 17 mm. 10 minutes for starters and alternators, transmissions are really easy, etc. Plus they're gorgeous cars to boot!