I took my wife’s car into the dealership for a warranty a few weeks ago and while they were checking stuff, they said the car needed 1300 dollars of work (piston soak and replace some transmission parts). I ended up doing the soak with my grandpa and took it to a shop for the transmission (wasnt even an issue, just a rivot replacement on a wheel well cover) and ended up saving 700 dollars after accounting for tools, jacks, jack stands, etc.
I want to start working on my own cars for things that can be done easily without expensive specialized tools, and I might be buying a house in the next year. I just want to start getting a decent collection of tools to hopefully save money in the long run.
I currently have a huge range of screwdrivers, soldering equipment, plyer set, socket set, file set, wire cutters and a small tool kit with some misc stuff.
I am mainly looking towards a torque wrench and a good spanner/wrench set, but looking for suggestions on what to get. Holding off on power tools until I wrap my head around brands and batteries.
In addition to what others have said: Eye protection, earplugs, Those free moving blankets from harbor freight I lay them on the ground/floor when I’m working so I don’t get completely filthy and keep one in each car. Harbor freight long wrench set, a drill, good drill bits, an angle grinder, a cutoff wheel, a Dremel or similar, a 1/4" electric ratchet, pry bars, pick set, a gasket scraper, empty spray bottles from Dollar tree one with soapy wooder and one with some kind of degreaser, the big jug of orange hand cleaner, a nail brush for scrubbing your hands, work gloves the thinner fabric kind with coating on the palms/fingers they have them in Amazon but I get them from work, funnels, an oil catch pan that stores the oil inside, an open catch pan, a magnetic parts tray, long extensions, trim and plastic fastener tools, 3 lb sledgehammer, pipe wrench, torx bits from T10 thru T55, wire and nylon brushes, look for manufacturer specific app for your car forscan for Ford, jscan for jeep/Chrysler/Dodge there’s a ton more out there, they let you do a lot More than just the check engine light you’ll need an obdii adapter that works with that app, you might want a generic elm327 as well and download the torque app. Watch the torque test channel and project farm on YouTube. Be aware of the rental tool program at most parts stores as well, then there’s a bunch of specific tools you might want or need that I won’t get into.
second harbor freight. good set of sockets, screwdrivers, open wrenches. if you break them, get a better tool next purchase, otherwise they’ll last years. I’ve had a set of sockets for 20 years, from back in my retail days at advance auto parts. if you need a specialty tool, get it when you cross that bridge or rent one for the job.