warriorhunter, after all this time what is the balance between doing all this work in shops and doing it yourself after you factor in:
- spare parts
- buying of hiring the tools for the job
- cost of transportation to pick up parts
- fueling you with beer
well, i don't have hard numbers but i do know i'm ahead by about $2400 bucks since i started this.
PARTS:
i can usually gets parts for half the price that a shop would charge me, in some cases i can get them for a fraction of the price. case in point i had to have them replace those two seals, they charged me $65 for seals that i bought for $15. i wasn't too happy about that, and i had meant to take the seals to the shop and have them use them but i forgot them at home.
TOOLS:
i haven't bought too many tools as i had a lot of them lying around already, but i have bought some. mostly what i have bought are non specialty tools that i can use around the house as well, if i need a really specialized tool i can rent it for free from the local auto parts store.
TRANSPORTATION:
if i buy from the local shop, it is right now the road from my work so i don't really drive more than normal to pick up parts, and honestly most of my bigger purchases are made online because the prices are so much better. lots of time things are prime from amazon or i do pay some shipping from rockauto, but even with that the cost is still lower than the local shops a lot of the times.
BEER:
already at the home, so it wouldn't be fair to factor it in

i don't drink a lot, maybe one a week, sometimes none a week, sometimes three a week. i recently bought a 12 pack and didn't know my wife bought the bulk costco 24 pack, then a friend brought over some for dinner and left quite a few... i look like an alcoholic but i have enough beer to hold me over for several months at least.
if i do break even or lose in any area it would be 'time'. a shop can do a lot of what i do faster, but i think about it and i have to factor in the time/gas to get to the shop, sitting around, and time/gas to get back home. when i think about that i would say i break even on time, and i am learning so i still say i'm ahead when it comes to that aspect of the repairs.