> Why would I change the oil in my car when it's $40 to get it changed at the shop?
The shop might be incompetent and strip the threads for example (very common) which will cost you a lot more money down the road when it's discovered and becomes a problem.
But, aside that, even competent shops can't provide the same quality of care than DIY because they have to operate on the booked time it takes to do a job. So they can't deviate from doing exactly what's on the work list.
Meanwhile, when I work on my cars I'm taking time to look around and pay attention and address any other upcoming problems I might notice even if they are entirely unrelated to the work I started out doing. And I clean the parts and nearby parts as I go, which a shop could never afford to do even if they cared.
Oil changes tend to be a loss leader so you can't often save money by DIY (but I always DIY due to the reasons above). But on other types of work you usually also save a lot of money by DIY.
For instance I replaced the fence between us and neighbor for ~$500 in materials. That neighbor had to also replace his other side fence (between him and third neighbor). Identical fence, but cost them over $4K to have it done by a contractor.
The shop might be incompetent and strip the threads for example (very common) which will cost you a lot more money down the road when it's discovered and becomes a problem.
But, aside that, even competent shops can't provide the same quality of care than DIY because they have to operate on the booked time it takes to do a job. So they can't deviate from doing exactly what's on the work list.
Meanwhile, when I work on my cars I'm taking time to look around and pay attention and address any other upcoming problems I might notice even if they are entirely unrelated to the work I started out doing. And I clean the parts and nearby parts as I go, which a shop could never afford to do even if they cared.
Oil changes tend to be a loss leader so you can't often save money by DIY (but I always DIY due to the reasons above). But on other types of work you usually also save a lot of money by DIY.
For instance I replaced the fence between us and neighbor for ~$500 in materials. That neighbor had to also replace his other side fence (between him and third neighbor). Identical fence, but cost them over $4K to have it done by a contractor.