My car has 130K miles and I think I'm going to stop going to the dealership for repairs despite a great deal of trust in them; it is just too costly. I plan on going to an independent mechanic near my office, but it's one of those tire shop/muffler shop places who also seem to do other repairs/maintenance. Do these places actually fall into the category of an independent mechanic or are they simply rolling the dice when they are out of their area of expertise (like tires, brakes, or mufflers)? And second, where can I get the recommended maintenance *activities* for my vehicle based on mileage. I always followed my dealership's recommendations, so I need a better idea on what might be needed bringing it into an independent shop.
posted by teg4rvn on May 11, 2009 - 16 answers

Remember the Manimal? Well his buddy Big Bird is in a bit of a pinch... Any classic Dodge mechanical types out there? [more inside]
posted by letahl on Aug 6, 2008 - 7 answers

Car-repair-filter: Any mechanics got a trick for freeing a stuck brake piston? [more inside]
posted by sergeant sandwich on Jul 9, 2008 - 8 answers

When buying exhaust flex pipes like these, to fit over an H-pipe with a diameter of 2.5", would you buy the flex pipes with the 2.5" outlet diameter or do you need something bigger? [more inside]
posted by Venadium on Jun 2, 2007 - 1 answer

What is the REAL life span of auto spare parts compared to what the manufacturer or the auto mechanic tells you? Is there some sort of graph showing risk of failure of parts versus time out there? Specifically I am interested in Peugeot cambelt life spans. How dead am I if it fails? [more inside]
posted by vizsla on May 24, 2007 - 11 answers

I want to fix a couple of things on my car. However, looking under the hood causes to me to collapse with the vapors, forcing me to go purse shopping for an hour to mitigate the effects. Does anyone have an online walkthrough-to-fixin-up-your-car for guys like me? (Details inside.) [more inside]
posted by billybunny on Jan 6, 2005 - 28 answers