QOTD: Do You Even Wrench, Bro?

by Matthew Guy

Published: May 1st, 2017

Early last week, I brought the Charger into our local dealer to sort out a passel of recalls, not the least of which was a computer reflash to bestow Auto Park capabilities on my ZF-equipped Dodge.

This new programming, it must be noted, not only added the Auto Park feature (which actually works so seamlessly it beggars belief that Dodge engineers didn’t include it from the get-go to save themselves a world of bad PR) but also changed the font in the dashboard EVIC. I now look upon my digital speed readout with a level of disdain formerly reserved for soiled copies of the National Enquirer. Comic Sans would’ve been a better option.

Anyway, the car was also due for an oil change, so I scheduled that service for the same visit. Arriving at the desk, the mental fog cleared long enough to bestow upon me the presence of mind to inquire the cost of a dealer oil change for my Pentastar-equipped Charger.

“Uhhhh … justamomentlemmelook.”

Pokes at computer

“It was around eighty-four dollars last time. Soooo …. about the same again?”

Needless to say, I canceled the oil change, proceeded with the recall work, and broke out my tools when I got home.

When well-out-of-warranty vehicles were the norm, rather than the exception, in my driveway, I did all my own work. Oil changes, brake jobs, the scattered bit of (atrocious) body work – none of it was too difficult. It was only upon graduating to cars which still possessed a shred of manufacturer’s warranty did I start taking them to a garage for routine maintenance. Correct or not, my line of thinking was if I needed engine-related warranty repair at some point and the OEM discovered I did all my own work, they would deny my claim faster than the Chicago Blackhawks exited this year’s NHL playoffs.

At some point, then, I got in a rut. Bad habits developed. Our trusty 2012 Charger has been out of powertrain warranty for 31,000 miles, so there’s no reason I couldn’t have performed the basic maintenance on my own for at least that long. I have garage space, the tools, the know-how, and no excuses. The quote of eighty-four dollars for an oil change simply jarred me back to reality, and it’s not like this dealer washes and vacuums your vehicle during the service as a value-add or anything. Cementing my decision, I was greeted by a surly individual at the service desk (a different person than in the morning) when I went to retrieve my keys that afternoon.

Back at home, I had the Charger’s oil changed in a jiffy. Total cost for name-brand oil and filter bought off the shelf at Canada’s Auto Shop? Less than thirty dollars. Time spent, from first spin of the wrench to final wipe of grease? Less than thirty minutes. Rinse and repeat for our Ram 1500 the next day.

What maintenance do you perform on your own car? If you’re not with driveway or garage space at the moment, what jobs did you used to tackle? Now, more than ever, I think it’s DIY, FTW.

#DIY #Maintenance #QOTD #QuestionOfTheDay

Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

More by Matthew Guy

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 93 comments

Salzigtal on May 10, 2017

Had these on every 3 & 4 wheel internal combustion engine since 1986, never so much as a drip: http://www.oildrainvalve.net Mobil 1 @ Costco = same price as non-synthetic @ non-Teamster auto parts stores. I save enough to buy OEM filters @ dealers. Even Stahlwille & Beta tools are less than an hour of dealer service. I don't weld or compress springs. The 2nd thing I buy for a vehicle is the shop manual, even if it's $150 US from Daimler. The times I've stumped myself & paid for a tow to a shop have been counted against the entertainment budget when "Dieter" told me "Here's where you went wrong dummkopf".

Like Reply
Synchromesh on May 11, 2017

This all depends. I own multiple vehicles and while my '72 Beetle is fun to mess with and I try to do most of the work myself, I try to avoid doing anything that way on the '12 WRX I own. The latter is very complex, requires synthetic oil, etc. Plus if you go to the same dealer all the time you build a relationship which means you get preferential treatment. Oil change is about $75 over there and for Bay Area that's quite low. But I do get a free car wash and occasionally other stuff with purchase. A pretty big job on these were the spark plugs (flat-4 engine). I did some thinking and decided that despite the warranty I'd rather have the dealer do it. Because if I screw something up I may have to do it all over again and there is a chance of ruining the engine - just not worth it. So I called all the dealers in the area and had my dealer price match the lowest price. Sure, it was $600 but it included a bunch of other services. So the car runs like new again.

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Redapple2 Good luck to them. They used to make great cars. 510. 240Z, Sentra SE-R. Maxima. Frontier.
Joe65688619 Under Ghosn they went through the same short-term bottom-line thinking that GM did in the 80s/90s, and they have not recovered say, to their heyday in the 50s and 60s in terms of market share and innovation. Poor design decisions (a CVT in their front-wheel drive "4-Door Sports Car", model overlap in a poorly performing segment (they never needed the Altima AND the Maxima...what they needed was one vehicle with different drivetrain, including hybrid, to compete with the Accord/Camry, and decontenting their vehicles: My 2012 QX56 (I know, not a Nissan, but the same holds for the Armada) had power rear windows in the cargo area that could vent, a glass hatch on the back door that could be opened separate from the whole liftgate (in such a tall vehicle, kinda essential if you have it in a garage and want to load the trunk without having to open the garage door to make room for the lift gate), a nice driver's side folding armrest, and a few other quality-of-life details absent from my 2018 QX80. In a competitive market this attention to detai is can be the differentiator that sell cars. Now they are caught in the middle of the market, competing more with Hyundai and Kia and selling discounted vehicles near the same price points, but losing money on them. They invested also invested a lot in niche platforms. The Leaf was one of the first full EVs, but never really evolved. They misjudged the market - luxury EVs are selling, small budget models not so much. Variable compression engines offering little in terms of real-world power or tech, let a lot of complexity that is leading to higher failure rates. Aside from the Z and GT-R (low volume models), not much forced induction (whether your a fan or not, look at what Honda did with the CR-V and Acura RDX - same chassis, slap a turbo on it, make it nicer inside, and now you can sell it as a semi-premium brand with higher markup). That said, I do believe they retain the technical and engineering capability to do far better. About time management realized they need to make smarter investments and understand their markets better.
Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Off-road fluff on vehicles that should not be off road needs to die.
Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Saw this posted on social media; “Just bought a 2023 Tundra with the 14" screen. Let my son borrow it for the afternoon, he connected his phone to listen to his iTunes.The next day my insurance company raised my rates and added my son to my policy. The email said that a private company showed that my son drove the vehicle. He already had his own vehicle that he was insuring.My insurance company demanded he give all his insurance info and some private info for proof. He declined for privacy reasons and my insurance cancelled my policy.These new vehicles with their tech are on condition that we give up our privacy to enter their world. It's not worth it people.”
TheEndlessEnigma Poor planning here, dropping a Vinfast dealer in Pensacola FL is just not going to work. I love Pensacola and that part of the Gulf Coast, but that area is by no means an EV adoption demographic.