Can you repair any aspect of your car?

United States
August 15, 2009 6:50pm CST
I was thinking about this as hubby said he could do the oil change on his truck because of how it's situated. I remember when I was a kid there were tons of auto parts stores around as in the 80's & earlier you were still able to work on your car yourself. Now days everything is computerized or connected to a computer within your vehicle and most can't afford the updated equipment over the basic set of wrenches & screwdrivers you needed way back then. As much as I know how to do being a girl & growing up w/o a dad is adding windshield fluid and changing wiper blades. *LOL* Hubby knows a bit more than I but not enough that he could do a major repair.... And I know the big repairs make him nervious. Whenever something big goes wrong he wants to trade in his vehicle wich has put us into even more debt *sigh*
8 responses
@versio9 (329)
• Philippines
16 Aug 09
the only few things i can do with my car is change tires apply some new paint job. otherwise, i'd take them to a mechanic for oil change, tune up, wheel alignment and electrical fixes and many more.
• United States
16 Aug 09
I"m not even sure how to change a tire. I've never done it before, watched others though...
@versio9 (329)
• Philippines
16 Aug 09
i'd advice that you learn how to change a tire. because getting stuck alone somewhere with just a flat tire and no one to help is not a good thing to happen. the effort is well worth it and it is a no-brainer. thanks for posting!
@ElicBxn (63643)
• United States
16 Aug 09
I used to be able to change a tire on the cars, but not so much on the van. Heck, the first time I ever looked under the hood of the van was when I wrecked it! I once had a car that seemed to go thru a LOT of headlights and actually changed one once!
• United States
16 Aug 09
WTG I haven't had to change one yet! I don't look under the hood unless I need to refil my washer fluid *lol* otherwise hubby looks under when the kids have left my lights on in the van & killed my battery.
1 person likes this
@ElicBxn (63643)
• United States
16 Aug 09
only did it that one time, and only on that car, almost had to take the front off to figure it out!
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
16 Aug 09
I used to be able to but these new cars with the computers and stuff are beyond me. I changed the valve covers on my '65 Oldsmobile and it was a horrible job but I did it, hooray for me! I could fix nearly anything on that and my '70 VW Bug but not on these new cars. Start saving a few bucks a week if you can towards car repairs. Trading in a faulty car isn't very smart, you're just deeper in debt, but sometimes it pays to fix it. I know it's hard to save money these days, though. And with so many perfectly good older "clunkers" getting crushed and destroyed forever, there won't be many decent cars out there for people who can't afford a new one.
• China
16 Aug 09
i can't now at least since i have yet to have my own car still. but i think if we put some mind into and after we gathered some more experience day by day then most of the aspects can be reqpaired by ouselves and only several aspects need high technique and professional tools can't be repaired by ourself.
@mermaidivy (15394)
• United States
16 Aug 09
My partner can fix all the problems of his car, I always think he is a nenius that how he can know what is going on by just listening the noise the car creates! I am impressed by that always. I think he learnt a lot when he was making his car loud and fast, he gets very familiar with the car stucture and things I think.
@Archie0 (5652)
16 Aug 09
Well i dont think i can, yet now i just can check wheather my vehicle has enough petrol and water in it.But i really dont know if i can even repair anything, i am weak enough that i wont ever be able to lift my car to change the tyres.:)
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
16 Aug 09
I'm not even certain I can't change a wiper, but hubby does okay with our vehicles. He's changed the brakes on a few of our cars, but once he got a caliper stuck on his cavalier and had to bring the car to the garage with a locked wheel... he gave up on attempting to do the brakes himself. I guess he's just nervous that something will go wrong again. I honestly think he can do just about any of it on his own, but he won't usually try the more complicated things. Thankfully he has good connections so we get a lot of our work done real cheap. Good thing too since both our cars are a bit older, but they're paid for so not putting us any further into debt!!
@ucue2008 (924)
• Malaysia
16 Aug 09
Me, zero. My father has been telling it a few times as he worried that I drive a long journey, but I don't even bother to remember it, as usually my father or my brother will take care the car much more better than me. Even washing the car, my father will do it, even though its my car. I want to wash it, but my father do not trust me. But I do know the importance to know a basic aspect about the car.