I'm either getting old, or growing up

One or the other.

But today, for the first time in many a decade, I decided to give a car to someone else and pay them to fix it.

The 02 volvo V70XC has a leak in the fuel pump, and it's a horrible job to do. Especially without a lift. So I bit the bullet and gave it to another to do. Yes, I know the cut and slice technique, not willing to do it. Between throwing sparks everywhere on leaking gasoline, and the way it weakens the car, not happening on this car.

So maybe I'm getting old, not wanting to do this job. Or maybe I'm getting smarter, letting someone else with a lift and experience do it instead. I dunno, either way, I'm relieved and embarassed that I'm not doing it.

Even decided to let him fix the turbo oil leak. I've done that job before, and it's not fun in the driveway either. He said $90-100 and he'll take care of it. I said do it.

Yep, I'm getting there too. I've promised myself I wouldn't try to do every last thing on our Mazda5 like I do with the MR2 and Integra. I figure two outta three ain't bad.

Outside of summer to winter tire changes I don't touch my DD. It has a warranty for a reason.

My tool time is saved for the fun cars.

I've done it once. I felt like I was cheating on myself. Not sure what that means, but I don't plan on doing that again. My lift is being delivered tomorrow so things will be easier.

I'm getting old.

I'm busy. A lot. While it's important to find time to do nothing, or do fun things, the reality is that time I free up by farming out some repairs is time I get back to do things that are a better use of my time.

I still have misgivings, and I still do some things that I quite possibly should farm out. But the list of "to-dos" is long, and I've got plenty to keep me occupied.

I suspect the same is true for most of us. I'm glad that I'm in a position now to be able to farm some stuff out. Enjoy whatever else you get to do instead, whether it's fun, relaxing, or just different tasks...

It's not just about getting old but being cheap too. Paying someone else to do a job that you could (probably) do better and a for a lot less money............that just hurts.

I am almost there, just not quite.

i use shops all the time...there is nothing at all wrong with it....my time is important to me if its a ugly, time consuming job i will pay someone and be very happy about it.....there is nothing to be ashamed of

It's a normal reaction. I have two vehicles that I'll rip apart any time , and two that either go to the dealer or a specialty shop. I find I tend to take "the good car" to others for repairs and the older play toys I'll fix myself. As I get older I'm more inclined to take stuff to others. That garage floor is cold for 4 or 5 months of the year.

A local garage had a flat rate for U-Joint changes... The best 36 dollars I ever spent. I mangled the U joints on two trucks and let them do it. I do believe they charge by the hr now.

I did the same thing on a fuel pump on a B2. The fuel tank shroud had to be cut off.

I don't mind to be lazy every now and then. That garage cringes when they see me come though because they know I do a lot of auto work and only bring them the absolute E36 M3 jobs.

ransom wrote: I'm busy. A lot. While it's important to find time to do nothing, or do fun things, the reality is that time I free up by farming out some repairs is time I get back to do things that are a better use of my time. I still have misgivings, and I still do some things that I quite possibly *should* farm out. But the list of "to-dos" is long, and I've got plenty to keep me occupied. I suspect the same is true for most of us. I'm glad that I'm in a position now to be able to farm some stuff out. Enjoy whatever else you get to do instead, whether it's fun, relaxing, or just different tasks...

This. Add to that the fact that until a year or so ago, the only mechanical skills I had was changing oil, and it makes it that much more of a challenge for me. I'm trying very hard to learn how to wrench on cars, but one of my biggest challenges is time. Free time is at a premium, and I try to spend a lot of it with my kids. So I try to do some things myself, but a lot winds up at a mechanic. That doesn't stop me from trying to learn and do as much as I can, but I don't feel bad about farming stuff out.

I took SWMBO's Fit to the dealer while we were gone on spring break to get an alignment, the new TPMS sensors mated to the system, and a valve adjustment. I'm not equipped for the first two, and haven't really had time for the last one.

We got it back and discovered they had pulled loose the washer fluid line. No biggie, that's not something most people use daily(except my wife), and most shops wouldn't check that unless asked. But then my wife heard a noise and felt vibration... all-4 wheels had loose lug nuts!

And this is why I learned to do things myself...

I may be getting old too, but I'm never growing up. The DD goes to the mechanic except for basic work like oil changes. I wrench on the FX16 myself. I don't need the stress of having to get a car back together to make it to work the next day.

The older and busier I get the more I farm out. Nothing to be ashamed of.

Chris

Fox I have started to feel the same way and have started letting some jobs go "out". I rebuilt the engine in my 86 Nissan truck several years ago. I read the Haynes manual and factory manual thoroughly and really understood a lot. A few weeks ago when I had to redo the timing chain and it was like Greek. The crank angle sensor doesn't seem to line up properly when done by the book, but it runs much better than before. I can't set the timing below 10 BTDC so I guess its still one tooth off. Reading how to do diagnostics now just makes me mad.

I wish my time was worth something. That way I could pay someone to do it all.

DeadSkunk wrote: It's a normal reaction. I have two vehicles that I'll rip apart any time , and two that either go to the dealer or a specialty shop. I find I tend to take "the good car" to others for repairs and the older play toys I'll fix myself. As I get older I'm more inclined to take stuff to others. That garage floor is cold for 4 or 5 months of the year.

That's a pretty good summary of the way I feel, too.

I'll happily wrench on my Porsche, but the most mechanically inclined I get on the Mazda3 is changing the headlamp bulbs and wiper blades...

I'm actually getting ready to farm out a weird noise in the front end of my wife's Oddity. The real easy stuff -- brakes, struts, oil changes, door rollers, etc -- I don't mind doing, but when you get into weird noises that could involve needing to press bearings in and out or remove steering racks, I'd rather spend my time working on fun things.

The other half's 850 wagon did this to me a few months ago. I simply can't work on that car... It broke me. Beyond changing the oil, she'll have to pay somebody to fix it from now on.

Even the classic Mini I just bought... I had the inspection shop repair a number of the issues they found. While I'm sure I could have done the work myself, it has taken me over two weeks just to scrape together a few minutes here and there to work on the rear brakes and hubs.

After 10 years, I'm even considering having a shop replace the clutch and exhaust on my TDi... a car nobody other than me has turned a wrench on since I bought it new. I have to admit that one reason I'd like to replace that car is because it would be an excuse to pay the dealer/shop to fix it when need be.

Yes, I like saving money... but sadly wrenching on cars is becoming not fun any more...

My time is worth considerably more to me. I'd much rather pay someone to do a job that I have neither the time nor the inclination to do so I can do something else that I'd much rather do.

I generally do work on my own car but right now I have more time then money. Down the line that will probably change and more jobs will be done by shops.

I work on my own but the wife's cars go to the shop unless there are extenuating circumstances. If I have to explain, you wont understand or have never been married.

Things like oil changes, belts, tire rotations, wipers, lights, air filters, plugs, fuel filter, are the only thing I do anymore on my daily, they're simple jobs that take minutes, that if I have to drive/schedule/wait for someone else to do actually cost me time and money.

I've finally decided even a brake job isn't worth my personal time on my DD. As Andre pointed out, you only have so many hours for toys, and since I have two I'd rather save my wrenching hours for them. Sure there is a certain amount of trade-off, but I schedule car work at a shop down the street from work while I'm at work, that way I'm not loosing any personal time.

I pay to have things done that I don't want screwed up, or that are so heinous that I value my sanity more. For example, the heater core on my '95 Passat. I gladly forked over the $300 for that one. Or the steering rack on my old '90 Lincoln. Let someone else worry about cross-threading the rack and bleeding it, I'll write the check to avoid the aggravation.

My wife's car goes to the dealer for all services, my rule. I don't have time to work on her car and mine, she doesn't have time to wait for me to get around to working on her car, so to the dealer it goes.

Hey Foxtrapper, I had a recall on my fuel pump on my 2001 V70 T5 and VOLVO paid the bill and fixed it. Call the, and check first if its under a factory recall.

http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=27801

I've been lambasted for taking my car in for an oil change. But it costs me $30 max (for most cars) to get the oil changed, and it takes me an hour to do it by myself. I value my free time away from work about 3x what I value my time at work. So my free time is worth way more than $30 an hour to me. I'll take it in and support the local economy.

I've learned my lesson with the brakes on my girlfriends car--her car is going to the shop for everything from now on. I can get along perfectly fine without a car; she can't. She can't drive a stickshift, so she can't drive my car. Her car goes to the shop to get fixed.

I suppose it is also worth noting that you need to have a shop you trust though.

EDIT: Also, I don't have a garage (yet) and I don't have a lift (and won't for years), and I have only a basic set of tools.