Easiest car to maintain....on your own?

thenashlegend

Just been talkin about this with someone earlier on today,
what do ye think is the easiest car to maintain on your own??
The parents have a 94 starlet and its a doddle, very simply laid out allowing most servicing work like filters, oil change, shocks, plugs and brakes to be done with little effort.

I have an A4 and been as it was my first time getting it serviced I took the mechanic route, but it was awkward even for him, and now as I have a few parts to change it means more money for labour!

What do ye lads and ladies think is an easy car to keep, as regards price of parts and ease of maintenance for a "weekend mechanic"?

martydunf

Many of the pre-2000 cars have simple enough mechanics to work on, esp Fords (in my experience), a lot of the newer cars have pain in the **** electronics aswell to add to the awkwardness!:mad:

Ardennes1944

my 01 punto was simples

Midnight_EG

Anything Honda

thenashlegend

Midnight_EG wrote: »

Anything Honda

Sounds good!;)
Am I the only one that notices the serious lack of DC5's around now?:eek:
Where the hell are they???

SV

thenashlegend wrote: »

Sounds good!;)
Am I the only one that notices the serious lack of DC5's around now?:eek:
Where the hell are they???

Ditches.

kev91

as midnight said anything honda
but from my experiance anything jap honda mitsi toyato nissan etc

DaveJac

had a 1.6 pinto sierra before easiest yoke i ever worked on didnt even have to jack it up to change the oil haha the sump stud could be accessed from the engine bay rwd cars are usually easier work on i find

omb0wyn5ehpij9

thenashlegend wrote: »

Am I the only one that notices the serious lack of DC5's around now?:eek:
Where the hell are they???

I haven't noticed a lack of them at all. Seem to see the same number of them around.
Browsing donedeal and carzone etc.....there does seem to be a lot of them for sale though!

rusty_racer94

Midnight_EG wrote: »

Anything Honda

It's a pain when It comes to changing speakers though.
Rest is easy.

thenashlegend

rusty_racer94 wrote: »

It's a pain when It comes to changing speakers though.
Rest is easy.

How so? Hardly the wiring? Or is it access?
A decent sound system is a must!:D

hellyeah

had a 1.6 focus for 6 years. no trouble at all. very easy to service. didnt even have to jack it up for oil changes.:D. all parts very cheap and off the shelf. lots of room in engine bay.
moved onto a dc2. seems handy enough so far. ground clearance a problem though for oil changes.:rolleyes:

rusty_racer94

thenashlegend wrote: »

How so? Hardly the wiring? Or is it access?
A decent sound system is a must!:D

I tried taking the headunit out....phew!!!

Graham_B18C

rusty_racer94 wrote: »

I tried taking the headunit out....phew!!!

It's just as easy to take the Head Unit out of my Integra as it is from any other car I've taken one out of

Gumbo

Graham_B18C wrote: »

It's just as easy to take the Head Unit out of my Integra as it is from any other car I've taken one out of

1st gear and into vtec in my ITR, the car used to pop the radio out for me.

god i mess how east my Integra Type R was to service, none of this turbo sh1t to be looking after!!!!

rusty_racer94

Graham_B18C wrote: »

It's just as easy to take the Head Unit out of my Integra as it is from any other car I've taken one out of

Please don't laugh but....I didn't had any experience with head units and I was unscrewing it from the front..

hellyeah

rusty_racer94 wrote: »

Please don't laugh but....I didn't had any experience with head units and I was unscrewing it from the front..

thats how you learn. next time out it will be a piece of cake.
people ask me how i know about cars, and i say im self taught.
im no mechanic. i started with my first car about 13 years ago and with
the help of haynes manuel or the web i do all my own car audio/servicing
plus neighbours cars/familys cars. handy few quid with a bit of know how.
plus i enjoying messing around under the hood so even though im working on cars during my free time it feels more like a hobby.

Gregsor

I do the oil changes on the Integra and Crv,also the brake pads and spark plugs.

K20 engine is terrible for the oil filter placement,fine if it is heisted i'd say though :mad:.

Would like to do a timing belt on the CR-V but i haven't the confidence.

rusty_racer94

hellyeah wrote: »

thats how you learn. next time out it will be a piece of cake.
people ask me how i know about cars, and i say im self taught.
im no mechanic. i started with my first car about 13 years ago and with
the help of haynes manuel or the web i do all my own car audio/servicing
plus neighbours cars/familys cars. handy few quid with a bit of know how.
plus i enjoying messing around under the hood so even though im working on cars during my free time it feels more like a hobby.

You sound just like me.
I'm only 16.
I love poking around with cars for no reason, taking off the exhaust..Listening to the soothing sound and then putting it back on.
I fixed a hole in the downpipe of a civic today which went really well. I started changing oil and filter last winter...then mounting tyres on rims and still going..
Now I have a question...I've got a Chevrolet Lacetti 2005 at home.
I bought Laser blue parking bulbs for it. Now the bulb of the car is located deep down inside. Do I need to remove the headlamp to install it?