Saved some money today

[street]

I have a 2008 Chevy Colorado and it is my bum around pickup. It has 110,000 and was in need of brake pads and rear brake shoes. Well to get it done they said it would cost about 750 and I believe that included the parts.

Well this morning I decided to go price the pads and shoes and tackle the job myself. I'm no mechanic but can do some of the work if I try. Lol

Well it took me 7 hours to do and of course run into many issues but got it done and they work great. It cost me 100 bucks in parts. Lol

 

[Newventurer]

Great job, face the fear and get the job done. You deserve a shot of that stuff 'Blue Collar Worker' just bought over on another post

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/i-bought-it-because-i-can-87214-2.html#post1894861

 

[street]

I was so tried after that one shot would of put me down! Lol

 

[bradaz2488]

Good job.. Drum brakes can be tricky. Those springs and shoe pad adjustment can be a PITA... I get a lot of satisfaction doing my own car maintenance too, not to mention the big $ saved....

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I have a 2008 Chevy Colorado and it is my bum around pickup. It has 110,000 and was in need of brake pads and rear brake shoes. Well to get it done they said it would cost about 750 and I believe that included the parts.

Well this morning I decided to go price the pads and shoes and tackle the job myself. I'm no mechanic but can do some of the work if I try. Lol

Well it took me 7 hours to do and of course run into many issues but got it done and they work great. It cost me 100 bucks in parts. Lol

Nice save, I know in advance i would not be able to do what you did. I own a tire pressure gauge. I tried to replace the windshield wipers once. After installation i turned on the switch and they flew off the arms. I was thrilled i didnt scratch the windshield.

 

[brucethebroker]

I saved over $200 on a brake job recently, through a different technique. Dealership quoted a price (which included turning the rotors). Went to Firestone for a second opinion. "Rotors are OK". Saved over $200. 10,000 miles and 7 months later, brakes are still working great.

Maybe dealership has higher standards mandated by Corporate office. Maybe just a money maker for dealership....

 

[frank]

brakes are a pretty straight forward fix unless you have bad lines or calipers. anyone can do it with a little help from you tube.

 

[exnavynuke]

brakes are a pretty straight forward fix unless you have bad lines or calipers. anyone can do it with a little help from you tube.

+1

A friend convinced me years ago to start working on my own car (starting with doing my own oil changes). I'm sure I've saved thousands of dollars over the years now doing my own car maintenance. Changing out the cabin air filter takes me 5 minutes and costs ~$11 for the new filter. The stealership charges ~$80 for that maintenance. Anyone that has fairly standard sets of wrenches, sockets, and screwdrivers can do most maintenance on their vehicles themselves if they can follow directions. Youtube, forums for the vehicles, etc are all free sources of information but in "worst case" scenarios you can probably just buy the Haynes manual for your vehicle for a one time cost and have instructions to do pretty much anything on the car.

The one tool some may not have that they should would be torque wrenches (or just one). Not a bad investment if it saves you thousands of dollars on vehicle maintenance costs over the years.

 

[Koolau]

I really try to take it easy on my brakes. I attempt to anticipate stops and time the lights - a real challenge since "smart" lights. So, when it's finally time to do the pads (50K to 70K or more, usually) I let the pros do it because I'm no longer willing to do it. Back in the day, I did as much maintenance as I could. Now, I can afford to let someone else do it. It's just a different way to allocate resources. I applaud those who DIY! I'm just no longer that guy. YMMV

 

[ponyboy]

Wow 7 hours...thats not good. Yeah its great that you did it but if it took you that amount of time I would question whether it was done properly.

I recently changed the front brake pads/rotors on my 2009 corolla and it took maybe 45 minutes. Granted the back ones are the tough ones to change but dang...7 hours is long.

 

[athena53]

Car maintenance doesn't interest me- I take mine to the dealership where DDIL used to work before she had my oldest granddaughter. I bring the granddaughter and she gets the royal treatment. They wouldn't rip off her Grandma, right?

I'm better at home maintenance- have put down tile and will be repainting my deck after prepping the surface with a belt sander. Yesterday I got a free Nest thermostat from the electric company and they give you a $50 credit if you install it yourself. I carefully pried the current one off the wall and it has lots of wires but the markings are identical for the new one. I have a few crazy days coming up but will tackle that, too (after turning off power to the AC and to the room with the thermostat).

I've replaced the guts of a toilet and had to empty it and pull the tank. Don't want to do that again- too much work.

 

[Newventurer]

Car maintenance doesn't interest me- I take mine to the dealership where DDIL used to work before she had my oldest granddaughter. I bring the granddaughter and she gets the royal treatment. They wouldn't rip off her Grandma, right?

I'm better at home maintenance- have put down tile and will be repainting my deck after prepping the surface with a belt sander. Yesterday I got a free Nest thermostat from the electric company and they give you a $50 credit if you install it yourself. I carefully pried the current one off the wall and it has lots of wires but the markings are identical for the new one. I have a few crazy days coming up but will tackle that, too (after turning off power to the AC and to the room with the thermostat).

I've replaced the guts of a toilet and had to empty it and pull the tank. Don't want to do that again- too much work.

Regarding your nest thermostat - be aware that there are settings, presumably to allow the unit to sense you in the home, that activate a microphone in the unit, which of course opens you up to unauthorized snooping by hackers. You may want it to function as designed but just be aware.

 

[athena53]

Regarding your nest thermostat - be aware that there are settings, presumably to allow the unit to sense you in the home, that activate a microphone in the unit, which of course opens you up to unauthorized snooping by hackers. You may want it to function as designed but just be aware.

Thanks for letting me know- in general I'm not fond of snooping devices. Not sure how well it will work at sensing when I'm in the house- it's just me so there's no conversation unless I'm talking to myself. It would pick up noises such as the vacuum, though, or the podcasts I play while I'm cleaning in the area. Now you've got me thinking about how to put a sound-deadening cover on it!

 

[SpinDr]

Good job.. Drum brakes can be tricky. Those springs and shoe pad adjustment can be a PITA... I get a lot of satisfaction doing my own car maintenance too, not to mention the big $ saved...


Disc brakes are pretty straight forward but I agree, drums, with all the small bits and pieces can be confusing. One trick I use is to take pictures on my cell phone of the brakes before dismantling that I can reference when putting them back together.

 

[Newventurer]

Thanks for letting me know- in general I'm not fond of snooping devices. Not sure how well it will work at sensing when I'm in the house- it's just me so there's no conversation unless I'm talking to myself. It would pick up noises such as the vacuum, though, or the podcasts I play while I'm cleaning in the area. Now you've got me thinking about how to put a sound-deadening cover on it!

You can disable the mic in the software access when you log on to it from your computer. I have one and do like the ability to set a schedule for both the fan and the AC/Heat. You get a report of how long and when your system ran as well. Some good stuff.

 

[aja8888]

I just replaced all the drum brakes on my 1971 VW Beetle project. I installed new wheel cylinders, new shoes, new hardware, cleaned up the star adjusters (rusty, stuck), had the drums turned, new flex hoses, power bled the system and adjusted the shoes. Took all day, but saved probably $1,000 in parts and labor.

One thing I would recommend to car owners is to have your brake hydraulic system pressure bled every couple of years to change the fluid as it is hydroscopic and will attract water. Your brake system will last longer and there will be less internal rust issues with your calipers. Any brake shop can do this for a nominal cost.

 

[38Chevy454]

That's good OP took on the job, and saved some money. I do almost all of my vehicles maintenance. It can really add up the savings. Brakes are an area that if you replace the parts before they are totally worn out, you save money. Pad and shoes are cheap, rotors, drums and calipers are not so cheap. So don't wear the brakes down until the rotors or drums have big grooves.

 

[bradaz2488]

That's good OP took on the job, and saved some money. I do almost all of my vehicles maintenance. It can really add up the savings. Brakes are an area that if you replace the parts before they are totally worn out, you save money. Pad and shoes are cheap, rotors, drums and calipers are not so cheap. So don't wear the brakes down until the rotors or drums have big grooves.

Totally agree... I was surprise to see how much I could get new Rotors/Drums online. They were not original MFG parts, but they were good quality brand name OEM parts that it made more sense to buy new vs having rotors/drums turned at a machine shop... I take the old rotors/drums to recycle drop-off vs ending up in landfill...

 

[W2R]

I have a 2008 Chevy Colorado and it is my bum around pickup. It has 110,000 and was in need of brake pads and rear brake shoes. Well to get it done they said it would cost about 750 and I believe that included the parts.

Well this morning I decided to go price the pads and shoes and tackle the job myself. I'm no mechanic but can do some of the work if I try. Lol

Well it took me 7 hours to do and of course run into many issues but got it done and they work great. It cost me 100 bucks in parts. Lol

That's great! Sounds like you earned almost $93/hour by doing your own brake repair.

Have you decided what to do with the money you saved?

 

[braumeister]

Regarding your nest thermostat - be aware that there are settings, presumably to allow the unit to sense you in the home, that activate a microphone in the unit, which of course opens you up to unauthorized snooping by hackers. You may want it to function as designed but just be aware.

Do you have a reference for that?

Nest seems to say there is no microphone in the thermostat:

https://nest.com/support/article/Technical-Info-Tour

 

[Koolau]

Regarding your nest thermostat - be aware that there are settings, presumably to allow the unit to sense you in the home, that activate a microphone in the unit, which of course opens you up to unauthorized snooping by hackers. You may want it to function as designed but just be aware.

I've mentioned in passing to a couple of folks that I would not be interested in voice activated systems (cable co. wanted me to use the one on their remote to set up my TV recently - I said "no!") They look at me as if I'm from another century (which is, of course true.) That's when I recite to them my tag line. Of course, I get more blank stares.

I often wonder how many "criminals", "cheaters", accident "participants", etc. were surprised to find just how much info could be retrieved about them from new technology such as cell phones, car computers, Google trucks, etc. I've heard that there have been folks sent ads based on what they talked about in front of their voice activated TVs (though can't confirm that without a search - heard something recently along these lines.)

So when all else fails, see my tag line, but of course, YMMV.

 

[folivier]

I wouldn't be concerned about the Nest listening in on me. But I would be concerned if the electric company had access to remotely control my thermostat.

 

[John Galt III]

brakes are a pretty straight forward fix unless you have bad lines or calipers. anyone can do it with a little help from you tube.

Ummmm. I have yet to master drum brake shoe replacement. Read the manual, talked to parts store guys, and still I could not get the dang springs to go back on right. I even bought the stupid tong tool that is supposed to make it easy. I had to give up before I bent something permanently. I got the car driveable, sort of, drove it to my mechanic and had him do it. Awful experience. I do all sorts of other work on my car. Front (disc) pads are easy to replace. Even replaced a few calipers and rotors, but I stay away from those drums and shoes. Argghhh!!

 

[Just_Steve]

Regarding your nest thermostat - be aware that there are settings, presumably to allow the unit to sense you in the home, that activate a microphone in the unit, which of course opens you up to unauthorized snooping by hackers. You may want it to function as designed but just be aware.

As far as I know the at home sense is a motion sensor, please provide a link showing that there is a microphone in the thermostat.
Nest smoke detector, yes.
Nest camera, yes
Thermostat no microphone as far as any spec sheets I have seen.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Ah, drum brakes...what a joy...NOT. Last ones I changed were on a 1970 Dodge Dart...what a PITA they were.

Speaking of car maintenance, my fabulous Infiniti G37 is right at 100K miles, so I thought it was a good time to get some maintenance knocked out. I priced the following at the stealership and through a mobile mechanic just for an idea:

Oil/Filter
Change/Flush Fluids in: Differential, Power Steering, Brakes.
Replace Spark Plugs
Clean Throttle Body
New Air Filters.

The estimate from the stealership: 1275
The estimate from mobile mechanic: 1080

Well, I thought about it and decided that if I could turn wrenches on AF planes for 6 years and my own plane for 5 years, I could knock this out. So, over the period of a day and a half (yes, I took my sweet time...but hey, I am retired, so I have ALL the time in the world!) I did all that work myself. Total cost: 258.97