To DIY or Not To DIY, that is the question

How much are you willing to spend with a shop (indy or dealer) before you will DIY a project For the poll , select the maximum amount you will normally spend instead of DIY

$25? $50? $100? Dream on if you think you can get any service or repair at a dealer or indy for those amounts. Well, maybe 'fill my washer fluid". But to answer the question, I will pretty much do all service work that I think I can do competently and have the tools and equipment to complete, regardless of cost.

I agree, if your pain point is $25 then you are doing it all yourself. It's not simply money either. Do I know how to do it? Is it something I can do in a space I have access to? Do I have the tools? Do I have time? Do I want to do it? The less interested (for whatever reason) I am, the more I'll pay.

I'd rather sit in the dealer's customer lounge and read a book. I love driving my car. I even wash it myself...and I check the tires and oil and make sure it is serviced to the maximum. At the same time, I respect and admire all those who have the skill to DYI. But I have no interest in removing the air cleaner to get to the serpentine belt, I have no interest in putting the car on jackstands and pulling apart the brakes, I have no interest in schlepping old engine oil to some recycle dump, I have no interest in tearing off door panels to change window regulators or taking out the seats to fiddle with something under them...blah blah blah. At the same time I respect and admire all those that have the skills and do those things. On the otherhand if I had an old VW Bug...1964 or so...and I didn't care if it took me a month to diddle with something because I was driving my 911 every day...then I might DYI...on the VW.

I freakin hate sitting in the dealers customer lounge, even the nice ones. And while Porsche dealers are better than most other brands, i've just seen so much mediocre or poor quality work done by typical dealerships that I simply don't trust that it will be done as well (let alone better) than I would do it myself. Pretty much the only reason I like having the Porsche dealer occasionally service a car is they sometimes give you cool loaners. JI, do you call an electrician when you need a light switch replaced?

50% of the time I'll call an electrician. On the other hand I do change my own lightbulbs. When I had Alfas and used indy shops I would spend a lot of time watching how the jobs were done. I enjoy having the information (why I also enjoy Wheeler Dealers)...but my 911 is my daily driver, and I don't have the time or space to work on it...or even store the needed tools. I did enjoy jetting the carbs on my race cars and I always did my own tech inspections...but that's about it.

Well, I guess I can understand... That's how I feel about some jobs like hanging/finishing sheetrock. I can do it, but I suck at it and it's no fun at all, so i'll pay somebody else to do it. But honestly the 996 is the easiest and most rewarding car I've ever worked on. Not that I'm doing any JR-level engine rebuilds or anything...

I used to tackle brakes and oil myself Now I don't even do that. Not enough time between family time and business For me time =money so I drop it off at porsche dealer and they give me a panamera cayenne loaner and I don't skip a beat... Ok I do change wipers...

DIY not DYI. Do It Yourself

DIY for someone = DYI (do you in) for someone else

Quotes source post: 11992255

+911

Ill DIY as much as possible, I like doing it Good to really get to know the car. I hate dealers, service advisors rarely know anything useful and it all costs too much.

I DIY everything on my cars, on the other hand on my wife's car, I do anything except timimg belt changes. Her car has an interference engine.. Not going to risk that on her daily. But I value engineer the dealer service. Got an $1800 timing belt service down to $957 by taking out some items I could do myself.

Quotes source post: 11992151

^This^...

If I think I can do a job myself then I at least attempt it. I can always back track on the job and have it done by Porsche if I get stuck. Price does not enter into my calculation. If I do it, then I am certain the job was well done. Not so when someone else does it for me. I mean, I do not have the facility to drop an engine or gearbox. Stuff I consider to be 'out of my league', I will take to the garage no matter what cost. So I cannot complete your survey. I have had my car 4 years, done almost 30,000 miles and had it in the garage one time for a job I could not handle. I do all preventative maintenance myself. My car is in 'tip top' condition.

For me it is the other way around. The low cost stuff is usually the stuff I can do; the big number things are the things I want the expertise of a shop.

My threshold is $0. I like working on my car. There is so much repair knowledge available on the internet that makes me capable of fixing most problems.

I will DIY just about anything. The words " I got this" are said frequently.

DIY everything I can, I enjoy working on vehicles (Cars and Motorcycles) nearly as much as driving them! I sit all day in front of a laptop and in meetings viewing endless PPT pitches, in my spare time I find working on cars relaxing. I dont do it necessarily to same money as the home/work life balance is worth more that a few hours of dealer labor. Some guys golf, some watch football, I prefer to work on my cars & bikes, simple as that.

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Me and my buddy down the road (DWS964) like to say "Hold my beer"....

Quotes source post: 11992546

I think the exact same way. I almost always will attempt to do my own work but if it exceeds my comfort level then I take it to my dealer. So far the big two for me were putting the vacuum lines back in place after I replaced the AOS and also replacing my clutch and installing the IMS bearing fix for me. Aside from those, oh and my alignments, I do my own work if I have the time. Which didn't happen the last service interval because of moving and family time so the dealer even did my last oil change! Yeah I know the easiest job you can do but in that case time was more valuable to me than money.

Unless it's time consuming at a time when I can't spare any for the car, or requires special tools that mirror the cost of someone else doing the work, I prefer to do it myself.

Quotes source post: 11992151

My indy charges me $25 for oil change. That's with my oil and filter. Some things like electronics I can do myself, but mechanical stuff that needs a lift or is safety issue like brakes I take to indy.

I'll do anything I can. Items I generally do not attempt: * Jobs that requires tools I do not have, especially if the tools are prohibitively expensive and are not something I can use often enough to justify the purchase. * Jobs that, if done wrong, would result in damage or really expensive remediation by my indie. I always do my own brakes - I've seen too many mistakes from bored/distracted/hung-over techs over the years to trust brakes to someone I don't know. Maybe that's paranoia, but my wife and I spend way too much time mountain driving for me to feel comfortable with brakes someone else did. When I took possession of my Corvette, I noticed an odd clicking coming from the front left wheel...when I pulled the wheel to inspect, I found that the brake retaining bolt was missing its cotter pin and had backed out enough to click against the wheel spokes while driving. If that bolt had backed all the way out or had been sheared off by the wheel...well, maybe nothing would have happened, but I don't like thinking about it.

Quotes source post: 11992735

This +996 + 911 It's a hobby. If I don't have a no cost warranty in effect at a dealer, the only person who works on my cars is me. I've justified special tool purchases based on the labor costs I would incur having a shop do the work. Exception: unless it is exterior paint work. In that case I remove parts, clean and do some basic sanding prep - then off to the body shop. Having tools, a decent space to work and no pressure to get "back on the road" quickly makes this pleasurable. I just made a project out of getting a decent space.

I find it very satisfying when I DIY. Its more of a stress releif no matter what the job is. Like 5CHN3LL said the only time i wont try to tackle something is i i dont have the tool and it doesnt make sense to buy it just for that one time job. Plus nothing beats a smile on my face when i cut open the oil filter and find NOTHING.

I will DIY everything I can. Some things would require special tools, machine work or might be beyond my skill set. I am not afraid to ask for/pay for help when necessary, but enjoy doing what I can. All said though, I have 25000 sq ft of shop with lifts and pretty good assortment of tools where I keep all my collector cars. So I have other stuff to drive, the space and equipment to do most of what I need. Thankfully, gone are the days of pulling engines out in my yard, laying in the gravel or on the driveway to work. Not sure how I survived all that!

I used to do quite a lot of work on my own cars. I found it to be theraputic to a certain extent and certainly very satisfying. My decision on what to repair in my own garage was based on my limitations, either skill or tools as opposed to cost. At this point in my life, I don't have the time for much DIY work. It's much easier to drop my car off at the mechanic and get a loaner car. My 997 has a CPO warranty, so the dealership will come to my house and pick up the car, leaving a loaner for me to drive while the repairs are completed. I find this much more appealing than repairing the car myself. I'd rather spend my car time driving or washing/polishing the car.

Quotes source post: 11993184

When I did my own brakes, I found someone had previously cross threaded a retaining bolt to the caliper. A previous owner or indy or Porsche, who knows. I managed to correct the blunder and thought,,,, 'what an effing idiot'.. That type of work only makes me more intent on doing any DIY work on my car. In other words. "So called Mechanics? I've **** um"...

For me it is all about the effort and time involved versus the effort and/or time I want to spend on it. Money is only moderately a factor for me on this. Most often when I send a car to the shop it is that I simply don't have the time. Or, I've done that job before and it was a complete PITA and I'll pay good money to avoid having to do it!

Quotes source post: 11994019

Yeap. I need to change the oil in the P!g. No garage + cold weather + starting a new job + local VW dealer only wanting $125 (vs P dealer wanting $400!) = VW dealer gets to do it this time even though I enjoy the DIY.

i replaced a door handle micro switch this past weekend and that went ok. didnt solve my problem though. so a new regulator is on order as of today. the dealer wanted 300+tax to install it (plus cost of part). if it were 100 i would have had them do it. but 300 for that job...im doing it next weekend. i enjoy taking replacing items when the car is in winter hibernation. i hate doing repairs in the summer when id rather be driving. had to replace my water pump this summer and didnt like that whole process too much.

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That is a ridiculously good deal... I think the local dealer gets over $200 for an oil change, obviously including the oil and filter. I don't particularly like changing oil, but it's pretty damn easy on a 996. And again, less of a problem at a Porsche dealership, but oil changes are usually given to the lowest guy on the totem pole or the new guy who was just hired. Not really the guy I want working on my cars...

Quotes source post: 11992255

John I resemble that statement, lol. I had a 66 bug I used to fiddle around with while my 911 would get the pampered treatment at the shop. Cheers

This and a few other small things I will tackle.

Yes, I get a lot of attention when I show up at the craft shop. I kind of straddle the line between DIY and sending my car to an Indy. AOS = Indy, oil change, radiator cleaning, serpentine belt =DIY. Most recently my Indy did my water pump. I probably could have did it, but I think my Indy doing the job, plus finding, fixing and doing some other preventive maintenance while he was in there was worth it. I have been fortunate enough to be retired military, on most military installations will you find an auto craft shop that has an engine room, paint booth, lifts, most tools and only charge $6.00 an hour. Plus they have certified techs working on paying customers cars and I have access to their computers for reference etc. It's also great to have a friend that's a Porsche tech that will meet you at the craft shop and help out for a few beers, plus youtube and google (pelican, rennlist forums) are very resourceful. And lastly, I find it satisfying and its fun to have many soldiers lurking around asking " Did you buy your Porsche in Germany?" lol.

DIY Can you imagine a happier place than this?

Quotes source post: 11994772

I think you're going to need a couple more quarts of oil

I would agree with most folks in the sense that there's some context. I enjoy working on the car, but I'm keenly aware of the limits of my knowledge - everything that I know about Porsche I've learned in the last 6 months. For me, it might be more about time than money directly - anything more than 2-3 hours is more than I can fit into an already absurdly busy life. Maybe that will change as I get older....oh, wait....too late R

If you have a dedicated space to work in, especially if it is an all year round spot plus access to tools the sky is the limit

When I was a kid, I used to do everything myself; nowadays I have better things to do! At work I, amongst other things, manage a very large R&M department which could take care of a lot of things for me but I now prefer others to be accountable for my personal issues.

"I've made peace with myself somewhere between my ambitions and my limitations" - Captain Fisby, from "Teahouse of the August Moon" I do what I can because I find that working on the car is very satisfying and helps me understand it better. I had never done a brake job before but I did the pads and rotors and changed the brake fluid on my 996. I did the plugs and tubes and swapped out the exhaust for Fister D's. I've cleaned the radiators. Installed the spin-on oil filter adapter and I always do the oil changes. I plan on doing the water pump this summer and will replace a door latch. I'll have my indy change the Tip transmission fluid as that is more complicated than you might think. I do read everything I can and check for YouTube videos before I decide to take on any DIY's.

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I wish you were my neighbor!

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I already have a great neighbor, SneakyPete.

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Back atcha! What I want to know is why do our dogs want lay under our cars? Stu does the same thing.

Quotes source post: 11992546

+1 hurdi I enjoy doing simple jobs - it's more than just about saving money - most complex I've done is water pump and alternator removal - but if I need a lift or special tools - I'm happy to go to a good indie

I am an all time DIY -- I enjoy it, I get to buy tools, i get to know the car, trust that i know what exactly i did to the car, cost, so many other reasons. btw - I just completed a top-end rebuild and i figure I saved $5k-$10K! Of course it did take me a long time, but then again I enjoyed every minute of it.

No one is going to be more caring and conscientious in looking after your car than you. I can't tell you how many times I've picked up a car from service (dealer or independent shop) with fasteners loose or broken, fluids spilled or a new scratch in the paint. I even once found several tools scattered around the engine compartment (I returned them). In fairness there are a lot of great, professional techs out there but they're working by the clock. I'd much rather put my own eyes and hands on the car unless it's beyond my capability or time.

Maybe for $25 a dealer would check the air in 1 tire? Dumbest poll ever. The 996 is now a DIY car. You would have to be pretty odd or ignorant to bring your 12 to 15 year old 996 to a dealer and say "fix it". Sorry JI. I just replaced/upgraded my entire split system central air/heat by myself just because I cant stand paying people to do something I can do. Saved me about $5000. Im not an AC guy and Im below average intelligence (obviously). You would be amazed at what your capable of if you try.