Cost Cutting !

[GTR-N1]

Out Of Interest: Imagine that you've used master technicians for your Skyline/Sylvia before. If fuel stays over $2.10, how many would NEED TO MAKE A SWITCH to SAU for PRIMARY ADVICE rather than paying a technician. Assume you have 3 weeks to complete your repairs.

[GeeTR]

Wtf are you talking about. SAU or no SAU, if you have no clue, then your going to get stung.

If you cant afford to pay for petrol and a) spend time to learn about your car, or b) pay someone who knows... maybe its time to opt out, and just drive the prelude... harsh but fair.

[r33cruiser]

SAU have no clue, your going to get stung.

If you cant afford to pay for petrol and a) spend time to learn about your car, or b) pay someone who knows... maybe its time to opt out, and just drive the prelude... harsh but fair.

nuff said. u cant be that poverty stricken?

simple money management. anything worthwhile isnt easy...............or cheap

Edited June 29, 2008 by r33cruiser

[madbung]

Anyone who calls trades people technicians will always pay too much for service or advice.

I heard some woman call a glazier a window installation technician the other week, she thought it sounded very intellectual no doubt...I nearly choked on my coffee.

[GTR-N1]

Wtf are you talking about. SAU or no SAU, if you have no clue, then your going to get stung.

If you cant afford to pay for petrol and a) spend time to learn about your car, or b) pay someone who knows... maybe its time to opt out, and just drive the prelude... harsh but fair.

OOOH, you sound angryyyyy !

Didn't answer the question dude.

Rerad it and try again - 2nd chance !

[_x_FiReStOrM_x_]

I see no question marks in the OP lol.

Interesting point to raise though... i guess without the basic knowledge, tools and confidence to pull parts off an engine, it makes no difference whether SAU is here for reference or not.

[adam-__-]

I think I see what you're saying.

It would really depend on how confident you are with working on cars and what needs to be done. Touching something on the car when you're not confident or know what you're doing could end up costing you more.

I've always done things on my car at home. Only went out a few times with things I don't trust myself with (usually brake gear and wheel alignments).

[GTS4WD]

Everyone has to start somewhere..

so why not just start by doing things yoruself

oh.. and by the way.. the Technichians comment!.. SO true!

[GeeTR]

Rerad it and try again - 2nd chance !

LoL, admittedly that came out a bit strong, scuze

The below is essentially the crux of what I was passionate about...

...without the basic knowledge, tools and confidence to pull parts off an engine, it makes no difference whether SAU is here for reference or not.

$2.10/L - is really only a 25% increase, id pay that with a smile haha.

You didn't quote your current ability, so i assumed it based on your Q. A forum based mostly on modifications to Skyline skimps on the basic stuff, which can send a person backwards $$ very quickly... I know someone there now

Without getting into a debate regarding the legitimacy of info available in public forums, simply put, its about numbers. The viability weighting of info should be based on a singular persons apparent experience / knowledge, or simply the repeating of the same info by multiple sources.

On the other topic, without offending ppl, IMO theres a massive difference between a normal career mechanic VS an experienced mechanic with a passion (and business) for highly modified cars. Advising, piecing together, tuning and then putting your word on a particular customers 10- 11sec setup IS more then worthy of the 'technician" moniker.

Mind my English and bar all the jibba jabba, I reckon as long your passionate and skilled enough not to sweat over loosing an engine or entire car while tinkering - theres nothing to fear

Edited June 29, 2008 by GeeTR

[Justlikemusic]

I agree, petrol costs what it costs... About 8 years ago entry level IT positions were getting paid like $20k or something, now it's $35++ as a bare minimum. You can get basic stores work starting at 40k easy, everywhere.

Saying that it definately will make me cruise less that's for sure.

[Mayuri Krab]

Doesn't really affect me much, b4 a full tank cost ~$90, after this will be $100+, $20 increase is nothi... sorry I can't finish typing this holding a straight face...

Yes the price increase sucks, but what can you do? Nothing, but to live with it, like pretty much everything else in life.

As with the technicians thing, I'll still be using my local mech guy to do the servicing, since I'm one of the few people who prefers to keep a stock line (the stock line's performance is already plenty for me; contrasted with all my previous driven cars; crap o VN & stock Camry) , for basic servicing he gets the job done. & should leave me with some $ to do minor mods from time to time.

[Justlikemusic]

I'd rather DIY! I try do as much as possible myself. Exhaust and welding is pretty much mostly what I don't do due to not having equipment.

[RBwhatever]

Wow. I never thought you could associate the price of fuel with whether you go to the mechanics to get work done or not.

[Justlikemusic]

Wow. I never thought you could associate the price of fuel with whether you go to the mechanics to get work done or not.

Agreed.

[-Dukes-]

I know I can do my own work, I just don't have half the tools and equipment I need... and the space I spose...

I used to be an apprentice mechanic for about 2 years and used to do ALL my own work on my torana at tafe, at home, and at work when it was quite.

My advice to anyone that really wants to learn is do a pre-app at tafe or 'cert 1 in vehicle servicing' as its called, or start reading manuals and basic automotive servicing books...

On the technician comment, lol... I'm a plumber now what does that translate to? Poop flow technician?

Edited July 6, 2008 by -Dukes-

[hojak]

On the technician comment, lol... I'm a plumber now what does that translate to? Poop flow technician?

Our business is your business ey?

[turbo_brian]

Hojak, it's the other way around....

You Business is our business..

As for cost cutting, never, never, never. Did I say you should NEVER cut costs....

If you want a perfect car, use the perfect tools, if you cant do the work perfectly yourself, get it sent to someone who can, dont only half do it.

There is goods and bads with the rising fuel prices, the goods are that there will be heaps of people that simply cant afford to fuel the cars, and then the car goes from everyday luxury drive to and from work, to the shops, etc and changes to a luxury weekend only device with public transport being the everyday way. This is good because this will mean there is mess morons on the road.

The Bads are that you will have idiots driing around cutting corners everywhere, not chan ging their oil at the regular intervals because it's to costly, not getting leaks fixed because it's cheaper to top up every now and then rather than spend the extra few hundred, besides they need the few hundred for the fuel. There will also be unregistered, or uninsured cars floating around, and fuel theives on fake plates. This means the quality of the cars goes down, not to mention the safety aspect of some cars, and the one that really scares me is the uninsured cars, they make one mistake and there is you AND them off the road, and them not even being able to afford fuel, let alone fixing your car, and then their own car.

I hate saying this, but if you cant afford to fuel the car, you shouldn't own it (BTW, this particular paragraph is not targetted at any single person in this thread, just a general statement). Fuel is (even now) still the cheapest aspect of a motorvehicle, with rego, insurance, servicing, and maintenance being more expensive. You 'can' do most of the basic stuff at home, nice and easy, but dont cut corners please.

B.

[Godzilla32]

I take offense to the comment about mechanics not being technitions and only guys that can tune cars to run good 1/4 mile times are technitions. What a load of absolute crap. You have to know your bread and butter before you can make them faster. Its harder if anything to diagnose a problem on a car whether it be standard or not, than to go out bolting parts onto a car to make it faster.

I was the same before i started out as a mechanic, thinking i could do it all and thought why do we need trained mechanics. Trust me guys, try working in a workshop and see how much of it you can actually do yourself or have half an idea about.

I agree that if you can't afford the upkeep on a car comfortably ie: fuel, maintenance, etc you shouldn't be driving the thing. It would mean a hell of a lot of people out there without cars! So many unmaintained cars run into the ground.

Edited July 6, 2008 by Godzilla32