Guess I am getting old

[TB Roye]

I will be 70 in September, boy time flies.. I have always taken care of our vehicles including race cars and our personal cars. Today I did something I never thought I would. I called our Toyota Dealer and made an appointment to bring my Tacoma Pick up in for a major service and to have the rear brakes done. It will cost me about $600 to have it all done. I was planning on doing the brakes Tuesday but this morning I looked at those big tires and rims 265/70 X16 and the thought of jacking that truck up and spending the time doing the job did not apeal to me any more. Perhaps if they would have been disc brakes and not drum brakes I might have done them, but then it needs a trans service, new plugs and fuel filter and oil change and I just said not any more. I will go and work on the cabinets for the sunroom to finish off the Kitchen renovation. I have an old midget that I will still take of but the personal cars they will go to the dealer or a good mechanic as soon as I find one. So after 50+ years I am done playing mechanic. I knew it would come but didn't think it would be this soon. The family is a little schocked but sitting on the floor in the garage or even on a stool and crawling under that truck doesn't interest me any more. Maybe I finially grew up. It will cost me about $400 to just change the plugs on LOML's Ford expedition next month, I don't have tools to do it. It is the 2 rear plugs on the passenger side that cause all the problems because of the way engine is buried under the cowl. That and the head are Aluminum and can cross thread or strip real easy.

So in the morning I will go out the hardwood yard and get some Alder to build the face frames, drawers and doors for the cabinets and enjoy not getting grease under the finger nails, my luck it will probably be a sliver. One thing I have found out you can't beat wood into submision like you can steel. Gotta get the renovation done before Trout season.

Tom

[herb fellows]

Hey, Tom, you're not getting old, you're just changing your priorities.
Well. ok, you're getting older, but I don't know anyone who isn't!
I'm a sprightly 65 and I've been the same way all my life as you, I can't remember the last time I brought a car to a dealer or gas station if it was something I could do myself. Until about 2 years ago, when I started feeling the same as you, that it just wasn't that satisfying anymore, more of a chore.

Obviously you are at a whole dfferent skill level than me, but the principle remains the same.
The reasons were threefold, part cheap, part the satisfaction of getting it done, part knowing it was done right, even if it took me a bit longer.

Just being able to talk the talk when I bring it in helps to get a no nonsense job done.
Good luck with the cabinets and if you haven't already tried it, trout and eggs for breakfast is quite yummy!

[toolguy1000]

+1. i outgrew the "i gotta do it all to my cars" attitude when it was time to settle down and reorder life priorities. 70 is the new 45 (or at least i hope it'll be when i get there).

[cabinetman]

My distaste for automotive maintenance happened several years ago, when my wife called me from a parking lot at a store, and she had no brakes. Up to that point I maintained my race cars, motorcycles, our cars, and my shop trucks.

But this time, I had to pack up whatever I thought I needed to get her back on the road. What a PITA. A waste of an afternoon, except for the hubby points in getting it done. Since then, I get others to do the work.

Probably not much different than the handyman that can build cabinets, and when it comes time for something major, like kitchen cabinets, it's figured to be left to those that do it all the time. I agree with Herb, in that my priorities changed.

.

[wardprobst]

Tom,

I think it is wise to realize that just because you can do something, it doesn't mean that you have to do it. Not saying you weren't wise before...
DP

[leehljp]

You lasted longer than I have! My daughter from Missouri came two weeks ago and she mentioned taking her car to get an oil change while here (to her favorite shop). I thought long and hard about doing it for her, then I took it to her favorite shop and let them do it. They recognized her car and asked about her.

My '95 Ford Ranger is running sweet, but it needs an oil change. I changed it once since I have been back (just over a year) but have decided to just let the service shop keep on doing it.


I do the small engines - mower, lawn tractor and tiller and do the mechanic work on the gas engines of my assorted gas powered yard and lawn machines. That is enough for me now.

Now if I had an old '50s or '60s car or truck . . . no one would touch those but me.

For me, I still have the skills to do it well, it is that I kinda dread getting under the truck and getting all greasy and skinning my knuckles! I used to enjoy that!

[TB Roye]

One other reason I have given up doing maintenance on my cars, is the hassel of getting rid of used oil, filters, trans fluid, anti freeze and other fluids. One less mess to clean up. Sawdust is easier with a shop vac and leaf blower. I also found I don't get as much done in the same amount of time I used to. Looks like I get to do a "do over" today. One of the cabinets I made is all screwed up and I can't fix it. Built 4 all the same but the last one has all the screw ups. Some how I messed up when cutting the sides and the top drawer doesn't fit and I can't make it fit. 1/16" here 1/32 there and the result is a messed up cabinet. should have known when the back didn't fit right.

Tom

[Old Dutchman]

Guess I am getting old

I think that the end comes to all of us, some time, or later. I was disabled about ten years ago, so I didn't get to chose when I was ready. It happened during a large project on My house. I kept plugging away, and I still am not done. Needless to say, I am sick of remodeling, but I hope to get it done, sometime! Congratulasions on those of You who have made that desision,There are many other things that You can do, with Family members, or by Yourself, that will give You far more satisfaction than Brakes, or what ever.

[Denco]

In our young married days, I did a lot of work on old cars because we couldn't afford decent cars nor had the money to repair them. Totally lost my taste for it then.

I live in the country, so there's the garden tractor, weed eaters, sprayer, etc. I'd rather not even have those gas engines, but that's better than being consumed in overgrowth.....(maybe I'll move back into town.....well, maybe someday).

[Sweet Willy]

TB, don't feek too bad. I'm 68 and I stopped working on my vehicles because I'm just not bright enough. I just can't figure out all the sensors and computer programs and all that goes along with it. However, I still do work on my '54 Chevy 3100 pickup. Here's a couple if pics. Checkout the interior. Life is still good.

[JimD]

Love that pickup! I was born in 55 and sometime think about trying to find one and make it a project. I probably won't however, maybe I'll buy the parts and let my son do it.

I've rebuilt motors and one manual transmission but I stopped doing more than oil changes and brakes years ago. At first, I was like my Dad and did the work out of economic near necessity. And it was kind of interesting. But now it just gets annoying when a 30 minute job eats up the whole weekend. Brakes need replaced so infrequently on my vehicles (manual transmissions) that I nearly don't do them. For oil changes, I have a 5 gallon metal can from the poly that is on the floors of my house. The local government trash place takes it as does Advance Auto parts. So once or twice a year I have to dump it. As long as I remember to pick up the parts while I'm out for other reasons, changing the oil takes much less time than going somewhere. I don't get that dirty and don't really care about that. I also do an oil change event once a quarter at church and do 6-10 vehicles on a Saturday morning. I get dirtier then but it's no big deal. The clothes I wear have done this before and go into the washer when I get home. I jump in the shower and all is well.

Jim

[Pappy]

Still do most of my own maintenance on my truck and Harley. When it comes to the electronics I have to rely on the shops that have the equipment to read and interpret the codes.

The '65 Chevy truck is still sitting patiently waiting for the day she will be stripped to the frame. Intent is to do most of that work myself, with the help of my sons.

[woodturner]

I have an old midget that I will still take of

I think "SWMBO" is the preferred term, but if she lets you call her a midget.......

Guess you could call her "midge" for short....

[Woodshark]

I think everyone has there own level on what they will do and what they will pay to do.

I quit changing oil & fluids a few years ago. The cost of an oil and filter change is only $30 or so. Heck, that's about what it costs for 5 quarts of oil and the filter. I figured it is not worth the time, plus the extra hassle of getting dirty and then more time taking 5 quarts of dirty oil to be recycled.

Now brake pads and rotors I'll change because I can save a significant amount of money by doing that myself. Same for shocks. Struts, I pay to have changed.

Small engine stuff like weed whackers I normally will repair myself. Or if I can't repair it, I'll just replace with new. (I don't own Stihl equipment)

[TB Roye]

Woodturner

The Midget is a 1948 Kurtis Kraft Offie Midget race car. I also have the pieces for a KK V8-60 Midget that I plan on restoring in the near future. LOML is a 1946 model and still in decent shape, it is cheaper to by Alky for the midget than Diamonds for her but I do it to keep the cars.

Tom