As a 20 year Northern transplant, I have been told that there are 3 types of yankees here in Georgia.
Most of you already know that a yankee is a northern fellow who comes down, stays for a short time, and heads back up North.
A damn yankee is a northern fellow who stays… forever.
A damn good yankee, is a yankee who marries another yankee and they both move back up North.
I happen to be a fourth and fifth type of yankee. The one who marries a southerner and stays… which makes me a damn damn yankee. Along with this is my penchant for frugality, which makes me a damn damn cheap yankee.
I don’t mind being considered any type of damn Yankee. Heck I even grew up rooting for the New York Yankees in a North Jersey neighborhood infested with Met fans. But as for being cheap…
I am in certain ways. If I don’t have to spend money or buy anything, I don’t. But when it comes to cars I absolutely have to invest for rainy days where I save by doing my own work. Oil, filters, brake pads, coolant, hoses, wiper blades, belts, plugs and wires along with other wear items. Since I prefer to do things myself when time allows, we should also throw in jacks, jack stands, a torque wrench, a couple of tool sets, an oil drain pan container, and a Mityvac for helping remove power steering, brake and transmission fluid.
Whew!!! Come to think of it, that’s an awful lot of stuff! But if you are real sharp about it, all this long-term automotive maintenance shouldn’t cost you much at all.
Oil and filters: You can pretty much get motor oil for free these days. Every year motor oil marketers decide to introduce a new brand to the local parts stores. This year it has been G-Oil and Valvoline NextGen. The prior year it was Quaker State synthetic. Before that you had Pennzoil, Mobil and Castrol (which was cheap, but not free.) In most cases, to get free oil you just combine a store special with a manufacturer rebate which can be found at my second favorite site.
Some folks are fine with generic filters. I prefer to get Purolator Pure One filters along with their air filters since the quality is exceptional and I can always combine an online coupon code with the manufacturer’s rebate.
Plugs: Pep Boys offers them free during Black Friday. Up to 16 so you can pretty much have a near lifetime’s worth of plugs. Also manufacturers will offer rebates throughout the year which often meld with the Black Friday sales. I prefer to check my plugs changed every 50,000 miles since they can be incredibly challenging to remove if you keep them in for the full 100k.
Brakes, Coolant & Blades: You have all three discount sources available to you. Manufacturer rebates, online coupons, and Black Friday sales. I usually get the $10 Black Friday deal that Pep Boys offers for ceramic brake pads that usually retail at $40. Wiper blades I pay a little bit more for the better ones vs. buying the cheapies. They last longer and won’t scratch up your windshield. I always buy two sets to save me another trip to the parts store.
Coolant is generic. I use a coolant tester every other time I change my oil and replace when needed.
Mityvac Tools: I use Mityvac products more out of convenience than necessity. Since my wife has a credit card that offers Amazon rebates I used that to get the Mityvac pump and brake bleeder kit for nothing. The ones with the manual pumps usually last three to five years. The models that are used in conjunction with an air compressor last almost indefinitely. Both are a pain to drain.
One redneck version of as Mityvac a good friend of mine uses is to simply get some plastic tubing from Home Depot, put one end to the liquid you want to remove. Blow… and have physics drain out the fluid you want to remove. You can use empty coolant containers, or an oil pan container for storing the old fluids. Don’t reuse the tubing like he does. Better yet. Just get a set of jacks and stands during Black Friday and use that instead.
Wrench Sets: Only use the cheap generic stuff if you’re going to simply handle basic maintenance. Oil, filters and fluids? Cheap is fine. I like Craftsman since they come with lifetime warranties and are a known commodity. If you work on your car no more than every two to three months, that will do.
A more hardcore hobbyist will be on the constant prowl for premium tools such as Snap-On, which are anything but cheap. On the free side of things you can always rent certain tools from auto parts stores which cost nothing in the end. Most light hobbyists are far better off going that route when it comes to specialized tools.
The Big Bottles: The new thing at most parts stores is to encourage folks to buy far more fluid than they will ever need. The large containers for brake fluid and power steering fluid combined with the ‘buy x amount for your discount’ are a good example of that. I would just avoid those things. If you can buy the normal sized bottle with a manufacturer ‘s rebate… perfect. You don’t need more than that.
Sometimes it will be worth buying the unique tool that comes with the auto part. Such as the a/c gauge that comes with a can of freon. Make sure it is separate from the can and use that for the few times that it’s needed.
How long should I stock up for? Two years worth is fine. Anything more is hoarding and the marketeers taking advantage of your deal making desires.
I think you were going for more of a ‘transplant’ northerner than a ‘transient’ northerner, which by your definition, I guess would be a standard ‘yankee’. You should probably just stick with ‘carpetbagger’ ;)
Winters reek. Congratulations on minimizing them 20 years ago.
That would be your opinion. There is nothing like a cold winter’s night with snow falling, and after a walk or snowmobile ride, having a cognac by a roaring fire. Of course, if winter is more like 35 degrees and rain, well, yeah that sucks…
I would infinitely rather deal with winters in Maine than summers South of the Mason-Dixon line. I can easily stay warm, but if I removed enough clothing to be comfortable in that sweatbox environment I would get arrested.
I keep oil and filters in stock, but really I just can’t be bothered to chase down specials. My time is worth more than that. I will usually order spark plugs and such to fill out orders to meet “free shipping” minimums.
“I would infinitely rather deal with winters in Maine than summers South of the Mason-Dixon line.”
Boy, you’re not kidding. It’s humid enough in Cincinnati, but not as bad as where I’m from – St. Louis. Anywhere south? Phooey.
Move me north, please – or to Santa Barbara…
Yes, yes, I used to do all of that before my eye went bad. I do very little of my own work anymore, because:
Number One: I can afford to pay someone else I trust.
Number Two: Due to my eye issue, I can’t do anything that involves looking up for any length of time.
Number Three: I bought good cars that don’t require much and, perhaps most important:
Number Four: I’m 61 and don’t want to anymore!
Steve,
Don’t forget Harbor Freight for infrequently used tools. The quality of their hand tools has really improved. I had a $10 breaker bar with a 3/8″ drive that I broke by standing on it while trying to remove a lugnut on a tire. I took it back and was told that it was guranteed for life. They gave me a new one for free.
I also have an electric 1/2″ drive impact wrench from HF that is great for removing difficult lugnuts and anything else you can reach with it. Best $40 I ever spent on a power tool.
The trades people I work with would never be caught dead in the place, but it works for my needs.
Got here as soon as I could, best decision I ever made moving from Upstate NY to NE GA. Two great pieces of advice, no one cared “how they did it up north” If you wanted that why did you move here. And Southern Hospitality is a luxury that takes time to master but can be enjoyed immediately.
In the late 90s I worked for a consulting firm and had a project in Miami Beach. the project was redesigning the lighting and access control for the Lincoln Lane parking garage. The electrical contractor had a “I don’t care how they do it up north” bumper sticker on his truck. Pretty funny. Of course to him, pretty much everywhere was “up north”….
Ah the North/South, East/West divide. Nearly every country has one, from the US to the UK, Italy, France, Germany – even Canada.
Back in the UK I remember anyone north of a certain place being regarded as “Northern monkeys” whilst when I moved up North I was regarded as a “Soft, southern, shandy drinking b*stard.” Now I live in BC, I find the attitude is that anyone who lives east of the Rockies is a gun toting, pickup truck driving, environment wrecking oaf, whilst my friends east of the Rockies regard those of us who live west of the mountains as long haired, lazy, pot smoking hippies.
It’s great when the stereotypes turn out to be true!
I wore out my cheap 10mm 3/8″ drive socket working on cars. Lowe’s sells high quality individual sockets for about $3 to replace the few that wear out. Why buy a full new set if only the 10mm and 12mm sockets get the heavy use?
I do most of my own work also, but I let the local Ford dealer do my oil changes because they charge only $20. Motorcraft filter and synthetic blend oil costs more than that to buy at a parts place and also it doesn’t hurt to have a second set of eyes look things over. You just gotta learn to say NO to the up-sells and take the advice for whats its worth.
+1 on Lowes tools, Kobalt is made by Snap-on and is a notch or two above Craftsman. What I hate is the oil change on my GTI, c’mon – who in their right mind decided needelessly complicated was cool?
The north-south thing, I think it’s about played out here in NC, if you look at all the industry that moved here back in the 60’s, most of the work force moved in from other places with it. It’s only in little towns where you’ll find Mayberry these days and even that is changing.
The Atlanta area has had a significant Northerner population for decades. No one I know pays any attention to that any more.
Harrycase2000, Southerners may or may not be hospitable, but it definitely does not extend to driving. LA drivers are far, far more polite than anyone in Atlanta. They actually let you merge and change lanes if you turn your blinker on. Down South, turning on the blinker is an encouragement to other drivers to close ranks to prevent lane changes.
Welcome to NASCAR country!! lol
Doing my own maintenance is hugely cathartic for me, and cuts down substantially on the stripped sump plugs and incorrect fluids that are otherwise an apparently inescapable consequence of getting service work done in this country. And since I, fairly coincidentally, have a stable full of Honda products at the moment I can buy my oil filters in bulk :-)
All of which is really just foreplay to my actual point. (sorry)
If you want to do your own oil changes, and you value your time and/or your knuckles, consider a Fumoto oil change valve. Elegantly designed and beautifully constructed from excellent materials by (presumably) only the finest magic Japanese gnomes sitting cross-legged in a field of wild lotus blossoms. They’re not cheap but there’s a real joy in executing a complete oil change with no tools whatsoever. Push the catch basin under, spin the old filter off by hand, flip the Fumoto open. Wander off for 5 minutes while the oil drains, then come back and repeat in reverse with a fresh filter. Add oil. Done. If it wasn’t for the inevitable middle-age-pee-dribble of oil that inevitably escapes the oil filter on my cars, I wouldn’t really even need a paper towel to clean my hands. Of course, this presumes you can scootch your catch pan under the vehicle without jacking or ramps. Even then though, not a huge deal.
+1 I purchased Fumoto for my last oil change and will be much happier changing oil from now on :)
Glad it works for you but it won’t for many. My wife’s Chrysler 300 requires unbolting a plastic cover from UNDER the engine to access the oil drain plug and filter.
A lot of folks remove the cover. I did on my Insight. It didn’t have any discernible impact on fuel economy (1% or less).
The tried to get a fumoto valve to use on my old Camry way back in the day. The auto parts store didn’t have it in their stock anymore. If it hadn’t been for that fateful moment I would likely still have that Camry among my fleet.
With the valve installed and the filter on top of the engine, you could indeed have a paper towel free oil change.
You’re a neo-carpetbagger? That explains your susceptibility to facile economic arguments, and your penchant for trading the certainty of higher taxes on your fellow citizens for an absurd promise that taxation will indirectly improve your profit margins. Yankees have been buying that malarkey for decades. It’s so bad that the Federal Government returns just $.65 for every $1 it taxes away. Yankees still can’t figure out why they have no economic opportunity. It’s called divide and conquer. Governments pit people against one another until governments get the funding they “need”.
The same general tax pattern will evolve in Georgia. Those ad valorem taxes that supposedly benefit your bottom line will lead to softer demand in the future, especially as CAFE 2025 drives up new car prices. The tax revenue will eventually be siphoned into other programs, like public transit, as the Zeitgeist shifts. Look on the bright side, though, you’ll be retired long before it comes to pass.
Just keep the rancor on your side of the Mississippi.
Those huge brake fluid bottles make no sense unless you’re about to do a full flush on 2 or 3 cars at once. Once opened, brake fluid starts to collect moisture and that is BAD for your brake system.
Only thing I have to say about the AC guages your talking about. (took some automotive repair courses when i was younger)
My instructor called them suicide hoses. They can be very dangerous, I forgot the reason, but because of his nickname, I’ll stick with a professional set if I’m going to tackle an AC project.
1) It’s getting more difficult to find free stuff. The deals just ain’t what they used to be.
2) I was given a new Craftsman tool set for my 14th birthday, it is MUCH better quality than the stuff they currently sell. If you go to a garage or estate sale and find old Craftsman tools, they are generally worth buying.
3) You from Joisey? I’m from Joisey. My sister and her husband lived in North Carolina for 5 years. The natives were not so friendly, but my B-I-L in your typical Jersey mook, so that may have had something to do with it.
I do as much of my own maintenance as I can. On TDIs you can do the oil change without getting under the car, unless you want to check things out. You just need an oil extractor like a Pela 6000 and a Metalnerd TDI filter wrench.
As for tools, I have two socket sets that I’ve purchased at Canadian Tire when they have their crazy 50 or 60% off sales. Most of the other tools have come from Lowe’s and Amazon and the occasional tool comes from Sears if I get into a job and discover I need some weird automotive tool immediately.
Filters usually come from either Amazon or idparts.com. Amazon sells Mann filters and some are Prime eligible. I pick up Rotella T synthetic at Walmart for about $22 per jug. I typically get Bosch Icons for wipers and they last about a year. Occasionally Advance Auto Parts will have a buy one get one sale on Icons.
Don’t forget to get yourself a copy of VCDS to load on your laptop if you’re doing anything with a VW/Audi product!