I gotta work on the Benz and I don't want to.

Sometimes being able to fixify your cars is a blessing and a curse. I'm glad I can mod my own cars and I'm glad I don't have to send them to anyone to fix them.....but I also would like to be able to send them to someone else when I just don't want to.
The Benz has developed a nasty habit that only copious amounts of money and time will rectify and I hate to work on a car all day in this cold, damp weather.
So, that's it, I'll stop whining now and remember that I can't afford to pay someone to do the work I have to do to keep old cars on the road.

This sounds very familiar . . . I had the same conversation with me last week

Yeah... same boat. Before the wife was out of work, I was able to take the cars to the shop if I wanted to... that was the peak of opulence, hahaha.

Just imagine its an episode of Wheeler Dealers and you are Ed!

The e30 needs an oil change real bad and I'm too cheap to pay someone, and I'm not inspired to do it myself. A clean 55*f garage and a lift and a 20 ton press would be more than enough inspiration to finish everything I need to do on that car.

Of course, that all costs about 400 times more than an oil change

I think i last changed the oil in the MX6 in.... July? Luckily it leaks enough that it still looks clean.

But really, there's nothing i hate more than working on cars. Maybe the stomach flu from both ends.

I wish it was just an oil change. I need to do a head gasket, timing chain, EGR delete and swap to a mechanical wastegate.......

When I was DD'ing a 220D, and I would have ONE DAY OFF A BERKELEYING MONTH, that ONE DAY would be spent putting whatever fell off the 220D back on or fabricating a new piece and putting it on, depending on where the piece fell off. It got real old.

Taiden wrote: The e30 needs an oil change real bad and I'm too cheap to pay someone, and I'm not inspired to do it myself.

With those coupons that you see in the paper, it usually comes out to about the price of oil + ~$5.00. They often will even rotate your tires for you (just remember to check the dipstick and torque on the wheels before you leave). Often worth the price of admission.

yea... I have been busy working on the saab and neglecting the Ti.. I forget the last time I changed her oil

To be fair, it also needs the oil pan gasket changed... which is the primary reason why I haven't jacked the car up yet. I know I'll have to tear into it while I'm in there.

Your project should not be your DD. Your DD should be reliable enough that paying someone to work on is acceptable. Your project should be awesome enough that you want to work on it.

PHeller wrote: Your project should not be your DD. Your DD should be reliable enough that paying someone to work on is acceptable. Your project should be awesome enough that you want to work on it.

Holy HELL do i ever have that E36 M3 backwards.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: I think i last changed the oil in the MX6 in.... July? Luckily it leaks enough that it still looks clean.

Haha! That's the rationale I'm using to prolong the oil change on my beater Saab. It's sort of like a total-loss system.

I will get it changed next week, though. At a shop. I daren't risk losing any more of my security deposit by soiling the garage floor worse than I already have.

PHeller wrote: Your project should not be your DD. Your DD should be reliable enough that paying someone to work on is acceptable. Your project should be awesome enough that you want to work on it.

Mind.
Blown.

PHeller wrote: Your project should not be your DD. Your DD should be reliable enough that paying someone to work on is acceptable. Your project should be awesome enough that you want to work on it.

....going to check that other thread to see what PHeller does for a living
Honestly thoug, I've had about 40 cars in my life, all used to very used. The only one that ever left me stranded was ironically the newest in terms of years and miles! I've had either good luck or good skill in buying used cars. The Merc, this is just maintenance in my book. I don't have a problem with needing to do a head gasket and timing chain at 290K. The EGR delete and wastegate swap is to improve the breed.

I dunno...I believe in a cheap and easy daily driver. Something that is easy enough to fix that I could do it myself or cheap enough to fix that I could pay someone else to do it.

I find it funny when people who have mechanical skill and a decent salary say "I HAD to pay someone to work on my BMW last week, man is that car expensive!" To which I reply...ok...get a cheaper car or something you can fix yourself.

I'm poor, so I don't have a project car. I've got a project bike. It's currently getting a rewire.

It's weird. Some days I feel like you do now. Other days, I'm totally fired up about fixing the car. Strange.

It's the weather.

When I worked in the auto service industry changing tires and oil I hated the winter. Everything is cold and wet.

I guess it beats having to check your garage for venomous snaked or deadly spiders everytime you want to wrench...

I miss the days of a reliable and cheap Subaru wagon and a motorcycle. Best of both worlds. Why did I feel the need to deviate?

Taiden wrote: I miss the days of a reliable and cheap Subaru wagon and a motorcycle. Best of both worlds. Why did I feel the need to deviate?

The right parietal cortex.

MG Bryan wrote:

Taiden wrote: I miss the days of a reliable and cheap Subaru wagon and a motorcycle. Best of both worlds. Why did I feel the need to deviate?

The right parietal cortex.

I wanted a subaru that went VROOM instead of purrrr

In my case, it's a trust thing. In 277k miles, nobody has wrenched on my DD TDi except me. It'll be a cold day in hell before I break that record. I do admit I'm not looking forward to removing the nuts holding the downpipe to the turbo after all those miles and years.

I've found having a back-up driver makes working on the main car less taxing. It not as stressful when you don't have to worry about how you're getting to work the next day.

In reply to Ian, I was never one of those guys that got all bent outta shape and didn't want anyone to work on my car.....till someone else did. Had to take it to the dealer for a warranty engine replacement. It looked like 6 oily hookers were wrestling in there, there were grease smudges on the headliner!!! The anti-freeze was re-used (there were 2 gallons charged to the R.O.) and I had to take it back twice to get the work done correctly. Now, I'll just do my own crap.

Been driving the Outback lately (yes the one I have for sale) to try to get it out and about so people can see it. A guy cut me off and when I braked something felt funny. I blew a hole in one of the steel hardlines at the back.

They only go down under the rear seat, above the gas tank and across the top of the rear diff and I have to replace it so I can get the car sold. Yup - I am real motivated to go lay on a cold garage floor with snow and ice melting off the car to do that.