I was wrenching on my car recently, and it struck me (almost literally), “Where the hell are all the homegrown mechanics these days?”
Due to an annoying groan coming from the front end of my car, I hit up the Internet to see what was up. Heading over to FocalJet to do some homework. Turned out to just be an issue with some sway bar endlinks. Due to the combination of both knowledge and experience, the Internet’s become a wonderful resource for us do it yourselfers (DIY’s). Finding out what part numbers I needed, and how to install ‘em, I breezed over to Amazon.com’s new automotive section and ordered what I needed. In a few days, I was ready to go… or so I thought. Every time I got my car off the ground, I needed a new tool. First it was deep sockets, then it was a breaker bar, and of course every time I go buy tools, I buy more than I need, so throw in a new set of jackstands for good measure. (Come to think about it, a new jack would be nice too)
During all this, I tried calling friends to come help me out. Not one of my friends knew how they could help, so I was left to do most of the heavy lifting myself. I started asking around, and practically no one I knew knew how to even do the basics on cars. Oil changes, wiper changes, check air pressure, they all kinda let it go. Guess I was lucky to have a dad who made me take care of my own stuff. It wasn’t until I ran into a buddy of mine who was a BMW mechanic (motorcycle, not car) who knew how to do some of this. The thing was though, even though he was a motorcycle mechanic and knew little about cars, he was willing to get his hands dirty and learn. He recently ran into an issue where the alternator on his Honda went out. Instead of passing off a fairly simple procedure to someone who’d charge him an arm and a leg for it, he took it behind the shop he worked at and fixed it himself. I’m not sure he even knew what an alternator for a car really looked like before this.
I know this all comes from personal experience, but it just seems to me that most people are just willing to pass the buck when it comes to basic automobile maintenance. Cars have become a disposable commodity (and they look like ‘em too). Me? I’ve put 112,000 miles on my Focus myself, and he still runs just as strong as the day I bought him. (Yes, my car’s a guy. Mainly because he’s a stubborn fucker.) Simple maintenance, and a willingness to learn have kept it in great shape.
Whatever happened to that old americana image of dad wrenching on the old family hauler in the driveway?
