Easiest Car to work on?

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Anything made by GM before 1972 was awesome to work on.
Still a couple in my garage.
How I miss those cars everywhere.
 
probably a Passat or Audi, I think if I won the lottery I'd go buy a slightly preowned A8 with the 4.2

once u take the front clip off you can do whatever u want like the engine is out of the car lol....

little bit of work for a lot of room
 
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Originally Posted By: SkyGod
Anything made by GM before 1972 was awesome to work on.
Go replace a heater core in a 70-72 Chevelle or ElCamino. Those are terrible. I had a 70 ElCamino and the Heater case was riveted to the firewall from the factory with these huge 7/16 rivets that I spent days drilling out.
 
Originally Posted By: 38sho
probably a Passat or Audi, I think if I won the lottery I'd go buy a slightly preowned A8 with the 4.2

once u take the front clip off you can do whatever u want like the engine is out of the car lol....

little bit of work for a lot of room


Can you tell me what is involved in changing fan belt (drive belt) on one of those car?
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
Originally Posted By: 38sho
probably a Passat or Audi, I think if I won the lottery I'd go buy a slightly preowned A8 with the 4.2

once u take the front clip off you can do whatever u want like the engine is out of the car lol....

little bit of work for a lot of room


Can you tell me what is involved in changing fan belt (drive belt) on one of those car?

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I was thinking the same thing.

I remember the A/C belt being looped around an engine mount in my mom's Audi 4000. I was wondering how much they've changed.
 
This never gets old :)

Volkswagen Passat Timing Belt and Water Pump Replacement Procedure
http://d-tips.com/general/articles/article.aspx?id=13

Mind you; the procedure is similar for drive belts too, here is a gem from that web site "There is absolutely no clearance between the radiator and the front of the engine. Even a simple drive belt replacement can be an arm-scraping ordeal."

You have to visit that site if you are in the market for VW.

Here is where you end up
passatbord17.jpg
 
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Originally Posted By: demarpaint
My 66 200 I-6 Falcon was very easy to work on, and my 74 250 I-6 Chevy Suburban. I was able to sit on the wheel well to change plugs in that beast.


+1 My '64 Mercury Comet is a Falcon clone. Plenty of room in the bay with the 200ci. Easiest oil change I've encountered!
 
My Cruze looks like it's pretty accessible. Having a 1.4 liter engine in a midsize car sized engine bay means there's tons of room all around. It does use external Torx-head bolts for every little bolt, however. Replacing the intercooler means taking off the front clip. Fortunately that task is quite simple and can be done in 20 minutes.

Our Fit is easy on the routine maintenance items. It's the things like replacing the spark plugs where it's a grizzly bear with an attitude problem.
 
Originally Posted By: bigsplash
If you had to buy a car and the only criteria was, that it had to be easy to work on, what would you get?


I've had 3 cars that were very easy to work on

'63 Chevy II I6, 3MT
'65 Mercury Comet V8, 3MT
'81 Toyota Celica I4, 5MT (at least I think it was a 5MT)

It was kind of hard to get at the last spark plug on the right side on the Comet but that was about it.

Ecotourist
 
Originally Posted By: cchase
An older pickup truck.


+1 this was exactly the first thing that came to my mind.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
This never gets old :)

Volkswagen Passat Timing Belt and Water Pump Replacement Procedure


My Audi 200 Turbo is better than that, but not by much. Actually, though, only that and the air filter are difficult to do on that thing, and a few suspension things can be a little tricky. Just about everything else is very easy.

I read on one site (checking on prices for my timing belt) that most Audi/VW timing belt/water pump jobs are booked at six to ten hours.
 
+1 on the Jeep Cherokee or any Jeep with the 4.0L. Very easy to work on with basic hand tools. I don't get how people think something is easy to work on if you need to take off the whole front clip?
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From my experience, most newer VWs are a pain in the [censored] to work on. Nothing like removing 20 plastic shields and covers to access something.

Hondas are also pretty easy to work on.

Another thing I have to add about the jeep is how easy it is to get parts. Most auto parts stores stock everything, and the parts are cheap. My sisters VW the parts cost an arm and a leg. There's also plenty in the junkyards. If the transmission goes out, pick one up for $200 and swap it in over a weekend. Same with the 4.0L. Even my friend's Ford Ranger alternator cost twice as much as mine.
 
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Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
+1 on the Jeep Cherokee or any Jeep with the 4.0L. Very easy to work on with basic hand tools. I don't get how people think something is easy to work on if you need to take off the whole front clip?
confused.gif
From my experience, most newer VWs are a pain in the [censored] to work on. Nothing like removing 20 plastic shields and covers to access something.

Hondas are also pretty easy to work on.



Our Honda certainly isn't easy to work on. Pretty much anything involving the intake manifold, spark plugs, or valves begins with removing the windshield wipers and part of the HVAC air intake.

The front bumper on my Cruze just about leaps off, so removing it for work is easy.
 
My S2000 was ridiculously easy to work on. Engine bay was huge and the motor was tiny, and very accessible.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas

passatbord17.jpg



I'd LOL if they backed it out of the bay under its own power like that to bring another job in.
 
Anybody who looks at the photo posted and still goes out and buys that model has big brass ones. Or is insane :)
 
I was at a specialty VW/Audi shop that also did motorcycle inspections and there was an Audi with the front end removed looking just about like that photo above. Made me a lot less interested in the nice looking used cars on his lot.
 
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