Mechanics: easiest car to work on (a response thread)

[brandonwillyumz]

After seeing cars get trashed left and right in the "least favorite car to work on" thread, I decided to see what's the easiest. I feel like it's just going to end up being old American pickups, so let's try to keep it to just cars.

That being said, my only real contribution is my Jeep. Haven't worked on my jetta much, and didn't do much on my old Malibu either. My cherokee is retardedly simple and easy to work on. Anyway, let's try to get cars in here too, not just 1967 Ford F-100s and such.

[CSmith]

After seeing cars get trashed left and right in the "least favorite car to work on" thread, I decided to see what's the easiest. I feel like it's just going to end up being old American pickups, so let's try to keep it to just cars.

That being said, my only real contribution is my Jeep. Haven't worked on my jetta much, and didn't do much on my old Malibu either. My cherokee is retardedly simple and easy to work on. Anyway, let's try to get cars in here too, not just 1967 Ford F-100s and such.

Sorry...I'll go with old trucks with straight-6 engines. Tons of room in the engine bay.

[crazywrenchfreak]

1988-2000 Civic

[mike_A3]

Lifted Jeep Cherokee.

You can change every fluid without a jack.
Solid axles mean your jack only needs 2 inches of travel to remove a wheel.
5 gajillion people have had them for 35 years, so every problem has been troubleshot already on forums with walkthroughs and pictures.
Parts are cheap and always in stock everywhere.
The radiator support is strong enough to sit on to make working under the hood even easier.
And the 4.0 never fails, so you're only ever changing the WD-40 in the crank case at 20k intervals (i kid).

[spitfirevr6]

anything sbc/bbc or sbf/bbf,
Everything was so easy on my old f100 i felt like a master mechanic

I also ended up loving to work on my VR6. everyone bitches about the room, but you can pull the whole front end of in 5 minutes

[Fettes Brot]

Ignoring the grime, its simple, has lots of room, & rarely is broken to begin with.

[The Sage]

i worked on vw and audis in dealer for 5 years. coming from me i think they are easy. i have been working for land rover for about a year and half. they are retarded.

[BRealistic]

My 84 Toyota Celica GTS SPOILED me it was so easy to work on.
I learned to wrench on it and my 73 F-100.
Wow- working on later cars was a rude awakening.

[brandonwillyumz]

Lifted Jeep Cherokee.

You can change every fluid without a jack.
Solid axles mean your jack only needs 2 inches of travel to remove a wheel.
5 gajillion people have had them for 35 years, so every problem has been troubleshot already on forums with walkthroughs and pictures.
Parts are cheap and always in stock everywhere.
The radiator support is strong enough to sit on to make working under the hood even easier.
And the 4.0 never fails, so you're only ever changing the WD-40 in the crank case at 20k intervals (i kid).

Yeah that's where I'm at with my Xj. Just changed the tranny fluid the other day (Redline MT-90 ) without even touching a jack. Same with the diffs. I love it. So yeah, I guess this might end up being all about American trucks from fifty years ago... which is okay I guess because they're so beast.

[vwgtiIII]

VW Golf/Jetta III - ABA engine & 5spd transmission.

[Trike Kid]

Geo Metro/Suzuki Swift with the 3cyl, or older Hyundai/Kias, almost the entire car can be disassembled with a 10, 12, 14, 17, and 19mm wrench, and no component besides the shell itself weighs more than 100 pounds or so.

[markus037]

most BMWs and Japanese cars are easy to work on IMO.

[brandonwillyumz]

i worked on vw and audis in dealer for 5 years. coming from me i think they are easy. i have been working for land rover for about a year and half. they are retarded.

The thing I dislike about my Jetta is that everything is hidden behind little removable panels and such. I like when it's all right there, like on older cars and muscle cars.

[Golfmk3_18]

Saying a jeep cherokee is easy to work on is a laugh. It really isnt. Sure the fluids are easy to change, but so are the fluids on 90% of all cars. Try changing the oil pan, or figuring out whats going on in the drivetrain when something is loose. Better yet try figuring out an electrical gremlin with the oem wiring diagrams as a guide...

Been working as a generalist mechanic my whole life and specialize in electronics and diagnostics. I'd be inclined to say that in today's market (cars less than 3 years old) the easiest cars to work on are the toyota yaris and the hyundai accent.

All recent-ish cars considered I'd say 90's honda civics are definitely one of the easiest and most straight forward cars to work with, and the hyundai accent of model year 99-2004 ish being fairly close to tied.

[deucestudios]

Anything straight 6/RWD.
Having a 4" lift makes oil changes stupid easy, as mentioned above.

[spitfirevr6]

Saying a jeep cherokee is easy to work on is a laugh. It really isnt. Sure the fluids are easy to change, but so are the fluids on 90% of all cars. Try changing the oil pan, or figuring out whats going on in the drivetrain when something is loose. Better yet try figuring out an electrical gremlin with the oem wiring diagrams as a guide...

Been working as a generalist mechanic my whole life and specialize in electronics and diagnostics. I'd be inclined to say that in today's market (cars less than 3 years old) the easiest cars to work on are the toyota yaris and the hyundai accent.

All recent-ish cars considered I'd say 90's honda civics are definitely one of the easiest and most straight forward cars to work with, and the hyundai accent of model year 99-2004 ish being fairly close to tied.

If you don't mind, whats so hard about the oil pan? with my rx we had to pull the motor out because its sitting on the rack, and it was still very easy.

[Broduski]

I have already won.

[spitfirevr6]

I have already won.

No, you has AC, you lose

[Broduski]

No, you has AC, you lose

Ha, I wish. Thats the air pump for smog reasons. Although I think the system is more complex than A/C

[1987GTI]

aircooled vws. the first time i even touched my bus i had the motor/tranny out and on the ground in under an hour and the entire front end out in about the same. literally 4 bolts for the motor/tranny and a few on each axle and 8 bolts for the whole front beam. everything and i mean everything is completely straightforward in how it works and is ridiculously simple to figure out

[Jimbow]

89-98 12 valve cummins. They never break and if they do it's so easy to fix.
Also most Toyota are $hit simple, I'm biased as I'm a Toyota tech.

[200HP4dr]

No, you has AC, you lose

I don't see a/c. I see a smog pump.

Chris

[brandonwillyumz]

aircooled vws. the first time i even touched my bus i had the motor/tranny out and on the ground in under an hour and the entire front end out in about the same. literally 4 bolts for the motor/tranny and a few on each axle and 8 bolts for the whole front beam. everything and i mean everything is completely straightforward in how it works and is ridiculously simple to figure out

Didn't even think of those. I've heard of their simplicity but sadly have no real-world experience

[spitfirevr6]

I don't see a/c. I see a smog pump.

Chris

even better, i would assume a smog pump is more complicated than ac? (i have no idea what im talking about btw)

On a kinda related note, anyone have experience with the ford 300 six w/ a turbo?

[BRealistic]

I have already won.

My 73 F-100 had MANUAL steering and MANUAL brakes.
It literally had nothing but the alternator running off the engine drive belt.
And even with the medium 352 block (FE), I could literally climb down and stand beside the engine in the engine bay.

[spitfirevr6]

My 73 F-100 had MANUAL steering and MANUAL brakes.
It literally had nothing but the alternator running off the engine drive belt.
And even with the medium 352 block (FE), I could literally climb down and stand beside the engine in the engine bay.

That's exactly what i had except a 1967, what a dream to work on.

[Metallitubby]

Honda anything.

[C4 A6]

1988-2000 Civic

Expand that to any 90s Honda. Those engine bays are so spacious, and the engines are so simple.

[Horror Business]

E30 4cyl cars are as simple as can be.

[Grey Mouser]

Matchbox, dead simple:

[alex_bgnet]

My Volvo S70 is cake compared to my old B5S4.

[Broduski]

My 73 F-100 had MANUAL steering and MANUAL brakes.
It literally had nothing but the alternator running off the engine drive belt.
And even with the medium 352 block (FE), I could literally climb down and stand beside the engine in the engine bay.

I'm glad I have manual brakes but SO glad I have power steering

But with yours being a 73 you should have had the 360 and not the 352 right? I'm jealous you had an FE, I like the 300, but I think a 360 would pair nicely with the 4 speed OD I just put in.

even better, i would assume a smog pump is more complicated than ac? (i have no idea what im talking about btw)

On a kinda related note, anyone have experience with the ford 300 six w/ a turbo?

The pump itself, no. It's just a basic air pump. The crap on the intake and exhaust? yes. And on the turbo 300. A (semi) local yard I just found out about does $50 all you can carry Saturdays, So I may try to do a turbo 300

[BRealistic]

But with yours being a 73 you should have had the 360 and not the 352 right? I'm jealous you had an FE, I like the 300, but I think a 360 would pair nicely with the 4 speed OD I just put in.

It was a 360.. but the block is stamped 352 (FE).
I just say 352 block because some would not realize an old 360 V8 was not a smallbock.

And yes- manual steering in a black truck with dark tinted windows and wide tires and no a/c was a real sweaty mess sometimes.

[spitfirevr6]

The pump itself, no. It's just a basic air pump. The crap on the intake and exhaust? yes. And on the turbo 300. A (semi) local yard I just found out about does $50 all you can carry Saturdays, So I may try to do a turbo 300

What would be easier just using the carb, or getting a efi system off a new f150? I seriously want to do this sometime this summer also

[rimtrim]

Ignoring the grime, its simple, has lots of room, & rarely is broken to begin with.

I'm going to object to this one, at least for the older models with no CEL. It may be easy to physically work on, but first you have to figure out what's wrong with it. My brother has an '87 245, he always calls me saying, "It's shaking/stumbling/stalling," and I say, "Go to the junkyard and buy one of everything!" I don't know where to start on diagnosing an EFI system with no ability to report diagnostic information.

Aside from diagnostic frustration, I've never worked on a car that I felt was generally hard to physically work on. Every car has some difficult job...a simple PCV valve on my Olds took forever because it's buried down inside the intake among a bunch of wires and hoses that I didn't want to damage. I also once had the valve cover off an I6 AMC Pacer. Supposedly that can't be done without undoing mounts and shifting the engine around, but I did it, with some difficulty and possibly a rubber mallet I guess most of the cars I've worked on don't have the packed-tight engine compartment problem that some modern cars do. Even working on '95 Lumina APV (3.1 TBI) wasn't nearly as bad as I expected based on the stories I've heard about short-hooded vans.

-Andrew L