Quote:
Originally Posted by Vivek.
That's insane. i recently supplied wheels and tires to a tire shop for mount/balance, and told them they'd have to swap the TPMS sensors over from the current set. They didn't charge anything extra for it. Seeing your $800 quote for this makes me a little less miffed that they lost the Audi valve caps on the Q5 recently...
Anyways, looks like I'm the only one so far who didn't vote DIY. I don't go to a shop for everything...but for the majority of problems I just don't want to deal with it anymore. I've swapped engines and subframes and coilovers and driveshafts and just about every major maintenance item when I was in high school and I mostly hated every minute of it. Now, for most things, I'll gladly pay a shop while I enjoy my free time. I'm more than content with knowing how to fix things and choosing not to.
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I was hard-core DIY in high school and first couple of years of college when my dad still owned his farm/feedlot. Replaced the starter on my '76 Chevy Monte Carlo at -15F outside with no shelter, laying on my back and keeping the wrenches inside my coat so they wouldn't freeze to my hands the moment I grabbed them. Probably rebuilt a couple dozen Rochester carburetors, which could be tricky. Then I got busy playing in bands and working and I didn't have the time to work on much except oil changes and maintenance. Then I moved to the city and we sold the farm and I had no place to work on anything.
Flash forward to 2001, when I built my cabin. Somewhere along the line I had realized how much I missed wrenching, and the feeling of accomplishment and connection to the car. Even before the cabin was built, I put up a 32'x72' pole barn with a concrete floor and one end finished and heated and insulated. I've since added a new better floor with a new polyurea coating. And a double pedestal reach-under hoist. And an above-ground fuel tank. There are still things that I'd rather turn over to someone else, but for the most part I'm loving being DIY-capable again.