Dad died a few months ago so I took possession of his 2002 chevy trailblazer which he purchased brand new. I am doing needed maintenance and the spark plugs were the first on the list. All 6 plugs were eaten away at the center electrode which caused a .060 gap, the specs in the manual state a .050 gap but GM changed it to .040.

Dad had 4 coil packs go bad and the latest was in 2025, you would think that when replacing the coil the dealer tech would have pulled the plug and noted the electrode was bad and gap distorted, what they did tell my dad as he told me because i told him to have them check the plugs was that the plugs are fine, Big BS as the truck only has 500 more miles on it since dealer had it.

The tech also messed up big time when putting the resonator rubber flange which is the size of a grapefruit onto the throttle body the bottom of the rubber flange got rolled over so as not making a tight seal and sucking in dirty air, The rubber was now shaped with the fold and I had to take a hair dryer and get the rubber super hot and mold it back into proper shape.

I do not trust anyone other than myself to work on my vehicles as they are under pressure to turn out the work in an allotted time and that causes mistakes or overlooking important steps. I asked the service writer how much to change the fluid in the front differential, $168.00, I did it on Saturday in my garage for $20 which was the cost of the gear oil, very easy job, also the transfer case another easy job, they wanted $174.00, cost me $40.00 and same with rear end dealer 168.00 me $20.00. They want $374.00 to flush my tranny, The pan is very accesable with no crossmembers in the way so i will do that myself. That is a total of $884.00 they charge. The dealership charges $192.00 an hour plus the shop fees will be added on, the dispose of waste fee and of course tax.

@throttleplate

Love hearing this.

If you have the tools and garage, it saves $ thousands in labor cost over the years.

Been doing my own maintenance for 50 years and sometimes it doesn't go as planned.

Several years ago bought a 2005 Wrangler TG and serviced everything on the Jeep.

Came time to flush the transmission so went to Google to find out where output and return lines were from the radiator / auxiliary cooler were.

I have the wife start the vehicle while I'm underneath to flush into a drain pan until the fluid turns a pretty red.

Well Google lied and I took a bath in transmission fluid. 😂

I’ve had to redo a lot of work I paid somebody else to do, less aggravating and I cost less if I just do it myself.

Good on you @throttleplate, for doing the work yourself! I try to do all my own maintenance, oil changes, rotate tires, etc.

This makes me giggle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-Hz6QIbCt0