Difficult cars

[woodsman]

Is your Porsche the most difficult car you've worked on? Does it require 'new to you tools'??? Mine is and does I'm lucky to get 2 hours of work on my car before I need to find a solution to an unusual problem: locate unique tool and order it

[ccstud17]

my other car is a 69 jeepster Commando. They only made the 7 slot version for 3 years (67-69) so finding parts was impossible! every part was either custom made or buy the "easiest" to modify CJ part. So in terms of room to work on, the jeep was easier, but to buy any and every part w/o custom fabrication the P car wins!

[JFP in PA]

Not by a long stretch; the newer Ferrari's (and in particular the twelve cylinder cars) seem designed around not using any off the self tools, as do the Nissan GT-R's.

Look at this way: Speed costs money; how fast do you want to go?

[GemballaPhil]

I think the boxster is a hard car to work on. There's not many off the shelf tuning products. The engine is ridiculous to get to. I fitted a bigger engine in my Vauxhall Corsa in the same time it took to get my air box out.

[woodsman]

ha ha 'speed costs money' ok I'm used to thinking in those terms- that helps actually and thanks for the warning about Ferrari-- I'm tracking the price of 355's

[black_box]

I think my boxster has been surprisingly easy to work on.... But I do have access to a lift. Without that, forget it!!

[0bserver]

My previous car was a 2001 Range Rover. It seemed like it was engineered specifically to be difficult to service. Every panel or part seemed to be intertwined or overlapping in some way with many others. The 986 by comparison is fun for me

[san rensho]

Its a bit of a pain because most of the work has to be done from underneath, which for me means jackstands, but its not rocket surgery.

[truegearhead]

Originally Posted by ccstud17

my other car is a 69 jeepster Commando. They only made the 7 slot version for 3 years (67-69) so finding parts was impossible! every part was either custom made or buy the "easiest" to modify CJ part. So in terms of room to work on, the jeep was easier, but to buy any and every part w/o custom fabrication the P car wins!

Odd, my other car is a 1970 commando. Lately though I've been Traveling exclusively by taxi since nether of them run....

[recycledsixtie]

This is the first car I have really started to work on. Done oil change, air filter change
and cabin filter change. I have a torx driver to remove the panel to access the cabin air filter but the screw went around and around etc... I did manage to reach under the plastic panel without removing it and install the filter anyway.

Yes I agree with you, you need specialized tools to do jobs. Next is to install the new accessory belt and check the water pump for freedom of rotation and play in it. My 2001 Box base has 40k miles on it and I will be doing the occasional 4 hour drive to the mountains. I have not had the codes read on it for the two years I have had it but likely should as the manual says so. My worst fear is having the Box apart in the garage and not being able to get it back together. My wife's Camry could serve the purpose of my being able to get parts and tools though.

I really don't like what my indy garage charges for work done so if I can do it myself it is a bonus. In 10k miles in the last 2 years nothing has really gone wrong. The big decision is whether to replace stuff slowly eg. water pump, coolant tank etc or just drive it till something breaks. Good thread this.

[cameronzero]

hardest to work on was my 1990 NA Z32 (300ZX). you couldn't have squeezed a bigger V6 into a smaller engine bay unless the engine bay was shrink wrapped around it, lmao.

the worst was my 2001 Suzuki Esteem. every part, every damn part had to be ordered from Japan, and the thing that killed me is the kids who are/were about "JDM" parts... they were ordering cup holders, ash trays, and lights bulbs while i was order lifters, bearings, pistons, axles, valves... loved that car, loved modifying it, and i hated having to replace any thing with the OEM part. was easier just fabbing parts to fit. when my shifter linkage went out, i just modified the whole assembly to be a short shifter to take up the slack in the cables and wear in the shift assembly.

[LAP1DOUG]

Actually, it seems to me that they did a great job of designing in sufficient space to get to all the nuts and bolts for the usual suspension, engine, and gearbox/clutch work. Much better than my BMW. Except for that oil filer on the bottom thing...

[truegearhead]

all things being all things I think the boxster is the easiest car to work on that I've owned. Sure its got some special tools and if your familiar with most cars the bow will be very unfamiliar but i think it actually is very accessible as long as you like being on the bottom...

[shadrach74]

I don't think the Box is hateful to work on, and I think it requires little in the way of specialty tools for normal maintenance. A lift makes it a far better experience. I'm currently using jack stands and have about 17" of clearance which is sub optimal.

I do think that Porsche skimped on the fasteners. The roll bar covers are a case in point... those threaded shaft friction fittings are a lousy design that requires a pry bar to remove them. Very crude, and one of mine broke in the process of removing.

Easiest cars to work on in my opinion are the pre-1992 Mercedes Benz products. Beautifully put together machines that are easily disassembled. I once installed an alternator in a 89 300E in a parking lot at midnight when a buddy was stranded. 1hr from start to finish. I've also worked SELs and SLs as well as a 190E 2.6. They were all great cars that were great to work on. None of the Euro or Asian cars of today are built with the same philosophy. These days you're drilling out pop rivets to replace a window regulator or pulling a timing belt to get to a thermostat. I think the 70s and 80s were the last of the golden years for German autos...

[01SBox]

Originally Posted by shadrach74

Easiest cars to work on in my opinion are the pre-1992 Mercedes Benz products....

I would disagree - the VW Bug (the original) you could remove, rebuild and replace the engine in a day.

The 1990's era toyota camry's were very much the same - in addition to being reliable, they were designed for ease of service.

The E30's were very easy to work on...I think I did a waterpump and timing belt on mine in an hour one day.

I've removed and replaced a few dozen transmissions over the years...the Boxster's tiptronic is one of the most difficult transmissions to remove I've ever worked on. It required that I build a special engine support, and a good majority of the removal was done topside, on my knees, over the engine compartment. Very poorly designed from a repair point of view.

Even simple things, like the cam position sensor, is insanely hard to get to with the engine in the car.:ah:

[woodsman]

how's this for simplicity-- a 10 and 12mm wrench and a Philips screw driver can remove 99% of the fasteners on 1980's Toyota pick-ups and for the 4 wheel drives you never need to jack it up unless doing brakes or bearings