I've never been particularly interested in cars, and especially not when it comes to fixing or maintaining them myself. I do love a good problem to solve though, and I consider myself pretty skilled at finding the right information in order to do so.
Last week a friend asked me to store his 2006 Alfa 147 1.8JTD for him, and since I had the time, to try to get a few things attended to. The dealers had quoted him R30k+ for all the necessary repairs.
By day 5, and thanks to the internet and especially the alfa owners forum, I have fixed half of the problems myself for 5% of the cost. Most of the costly repairs suggested by the dealers stemmed from misdiagnosis and wouldn't have actually sorted the problems out.
It's pretty addictive, and I've realised that I actually picked up a lot of know-how watching my dad fix his cars when I was a kid. It's also been a wake up call as I recall all the repairs I blindly forked out for when I had a car and enough money not to bother checking things myself.
The bug has definitely bit, and I can't wait for my diagnostic cable to arrive on Thursday so I can hook this thing up to a laptop and get into the engine management systems. The car has lived up to the stereotype of being a pain in the ass at times and needing a lot of TLC, but it also lived up to the reputation of being really fun to drive. I think I'm going to keep it and continue to tinker and restore.
Since this is a forum topic and not a blog post... err.. do any of you get your hands dirty with cars and have an interest in fixing or restoring them? Tell us your story.
Last week a friend asked me to store his 2006 Alfa 147 1.8JTD for him, and since I had the time, to try to get a few things attended to. The dealers had quoted him R30k+ for all the necessary repairs.
By day 5, and thanks to the internet and especially the alfa owners forum, I have fixed half of the problems myself for 5% of the cost. Most of the costly repairs suggested by the dealers stemmed from misdiagnosis and wouldn't have actually sorted the problems out.
It's pretty addictive, and I've realised that I actually picked up a lot of know-how watching my dad fix his cars when I was a kid. It's also been a wake up call as I recall all the repairs I blindly forked out for when I had a car and enough money not to bother checking things myself.
The bug has definitely bit, and I can't wait for my diagnostic cable to arrive on Thursday so I can hook this thing up to a laptop and get into the engine management systems. The car has lived up to the stereotype of being a pain in the ass at times and needing a lot of TLC, but it also lived up to the reputation of being really fun to drive. I think I'm going to keep it and continue to tinker and restore.
Since this is a forum topic and not a blog post... err.. do any of you get your hands dirty with cars and have an interest in fixing or restoring them? Tell us your story.
