Would you buy a maintenance kit for common jobs?

[runnerbear99]

Hello all,

As I remembered all of the research I did in order to get the best parts for various maintenance tasks, I had an idea and wanted to get some thoughts from this community.

The question is: Would you buy a kit that contains all of the parts necessary to complete common maintenance tasks, such as an oil change, coolant flush, transmission fluid change, brake bleed, fuel filter replacement, LBJ replacement, power steering flush, etc.?

For example, a power steering flush kit would include a fluid extractor, ATF, an o-ring, 3/8" hose clamps, the correct length of fuel injection hose, and a Magnefine transmission filter, with the option to remove any of those items from the kit upon ordering.

An oil change kit might include an OEM oil filter, oil plug gasket, and oil; while a brake bleed kit would include brake bleed tubing, a fluid extractor, funnel, offset wrench, and container in which to collect drained fluid.

Again, each kit would consist of a list of parts that you could select when ordering. That way, if you already have an oil funnel, you wouldn't need to get another one when ordering an oil change kit.

I am interested in how useful you would find this, or any other features you would find helpful. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

 

[mrblah]

Hello all,

As I remembered all of the research I did in order to get the best parts for various maintenance tasks, I had an idea and wanted to get some thoughts from this community.

The question is: Would you buy a kit that contains all of the parts necessary to complete common maintenance tasks, such as an oil change, coolant flush, transmission fluid change, brake bleed, fuel filter replacement, LBJ replacement, power steering flush, etc.?

For example, a power steering flush kit would include a fluid extractor, ATF, an o-ring, 3/8" hose clamps, the correct length of fuel injection hose, and a Magnefine transmission filter, with the option to remove any of those items from the kit upon ordering.

An oil change kit might include an OEM oil filter, oil plug gasket, and oil; while a brake bleed kit would include brake bleed tubing, a fluid extractor, funnel, offset wrench, and container in which to collect drained fluid.

Again, each kit would consist of a list of parts that you could select when ordering. That way, if you already have an oil funnel, you wouldn't need to get another one when ordering an oil change kit.

I am interested in how useful you would find this, or any other features you would find helpful. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

It depends on the price. If I am forced to do my own maintenance, I tend to be a cheapskate bastard, otherwise I'd pay a mechanic or dealer to do it.

Whatever you do, please don't market your kit to "overlanders".

 

[mnofpeace]

It would depend on a few variables:

1. If i had a garage to store the stuff and then to do the work.

2. how many miles i drove yearly...if its a vehicle that i cannot afford to have break down on me, and that i need to run tip top all the time while racking up the miles >25-30k yearly or more

3. if i cannot get to a dealer or good mechanic to do those things for me when its cold, wet, rainy, or i just do not feel like doing them and/or can do it and benefits from me having the resources for him to just be the labor.

4. how remote my existence is to the rest of the world. if these top 3 things are all leading me to do them AND i live in a place where its a hassle to get to anywhere to get this work done when i need it...

As it stands, in my current life, i would not buy a ton of stuff because all of these variables listed are not a problem for me, i dont have a garage to keep this stuff or do the work during the bad-weather months, i drive about 15K yearly, but in the warm months my cars sit as i am on a motorcycle almost daily, i have both a local dealer 15 min away, and a great local mechanic 3 min away who both suit my needs accordingly, and as you can tell i do not live in a remote area (Wash DC suburbs).

 

[runnerbear99]

It depends on the price. If I am forced to do my own maintenance, I tend to be a cheapskate bastard, otherwise I'd pay a mechanic or dealer to do it.

Makes sense. That is actually part of the reason I do my own maintenance - the fact that it is cheaper than taking it to a mechanic. I also enjoy working on my vehicle, but would rather not spend hours putting together a list of parts and ordering them from various places. The question is, are there enough people that want the savings on labor but don't want to spend the time to shop around in order to find the absolute lowest prices.

 

[mcaninch35]

I would see the value in something like that depending on price, especially for those new to vehicle maintenance. For me, it would all depend on the contents of the kit- am I getting OEM replacements where it matters, OEM ATF for the power steering flush, etc etc etc. I will always pay extra for OEM items when I'm able, so that would absolutely be a deciding factor for me

 

[runnerbear99]

I would see the value in something like that depending on price, especially for those new to vehicle maintenance. For me, it would all depend on the contents of the kit- am I getting OEM replacements where it matters, OEM ATF for the power steering flush, etc etc etc. I will always pay extra for OEM items when I'm able, so that would absolutely be a deciding factor for me

Thank you for the feedback! I agree with your assessment that it would be important to have OEM parts when possible. If somebody did decide that they were fine with cheaper alternatives that might not last as long, it would be possible to exclude those items from the kit or substitute them with another option.

 

[runnerbear99]

It would depend on a few variables:

1. If i had a garage to store the stuff and then to do the work.

2. how many miles i drove yearly...if its a vehicle that i cannot afford to have break down on me, and that i need to run tip top all the time while racking up the miles >25-30k yearly or more

3. if i cannot get to a dealer or good mechanic to do those things for me when its cold, wet, rainy, or i just do not feel like doing them and/or can do it and benefits from me having the resources for him to just be the labor.

4. how remote my existence is to the rest of the world. if these top 3 things are all leading me to do them AND i live in a place where its a hassle to get to anywhere to get this work done when i need it...

As it stands, in my current life, i would not buy a ton of stuff because all of these variables listed are not a problem for me, i dont have a garage to keep this stuff or do the work during the bad-weather months, i drive about 15K yearly, but in the warm months my cars sit as i am on a motorcycle almost daily, i have both a local dealer 15 min away, and a great local mechanic 3 min away who both suit my needs accordingly, and as you can tell i do not live in a remote area (Wash DC suburbs).

Thanks for the thoughts! As it stands, it sounds like you don't personally do many maintenance jobs on your rig. If I may ask, because there are likely a lot of people in your situation, is it because you don't particularly enjoy working on your vehicle, don't feel like you have the knowledge and don't want to spend the time watching videos or looking through multiple guides, or that you find more value in spending your time doing other things?

I appreciate any further thoughts you might have.

 

[ElectroBoy]

I believe this would be valuable, especially for folks attempting these maintenance items for the first time. Also if a customer could customize the kit items, like with a check box when ordering, in case they already have some items or tools.

And if the critical items are mostly OEM like gaskets, o-rings, filters, hardware, any special tools like oil filter wrench, etc. Fluids should be OEM with the option to select some others, since there’s a lot of opinions about engine oil, differentials, ATF, and transfer case.

On the order form include all the OEM part numbers so OCD people like me have confidence in what they’re getting.

Another thing would be to include an instruction sheet with photos. Maybe a link where the user could go to download a PDF to print at home.

Sounds like a winner, good luck with it!

 

[spartacus]

Folks tend to favor a complete kit over researching buying all the parts. If its an all oem option then I woulldnt mind paying extra for one click and done.

 

[runnerbear99]

I believe this would be valuable, especially for folks attempting these maintenance items for the first time. Also if a customer could customize the kit items, like with a check box when ordering, in case they already have some items or tools.

And if the critical items are mostly OEM like gaskets, o-rings, filters, hardware, any special tools like oil filter wrench, etc. Fluids should be OEM with the option to select some others, since there’s a lot of opinions about engine oil, differentials, ATF, and transfer case.

On the order form include all the OEM part numbers so OCD people like me have confidence in what they’re getting.

Another thing would be to include an instruction sheet with photos. Maybe a link where the user could go to download a PDF to print at home.

Sounds like a winner, good luck with it!

Thank you very much for the response! I concur with your assessment that essential parts should be OEM, and think it would be a good idea to include a few options of the most popular fluids like oil, ATF, etc.

Also, nice idea on the instruction sheet. I think that some sort of guide or tutorial to go along with the kit would definitely be helpful.

Again, thanks for the feedback.

 

[80knots]

I too agree with OEM critical parts. I find sometimes I’ve not required full use of kits and end up with excess xtras that I need to store or trash.

 

[mnofpeace]

Thanks for the thoughts! As it stands, it sounds like you don't personally do many maintenance jobs on your rig. If I may ask, because there are likely a lot of people in your situation, is it because you don't particularly enjoy working on your vehicle, don't feel like you have the knowledge and don't want to spend the time watching videos or looking through multiple guides, or that you find more value in spending your time doing other things?

I appreciate any further thoughts you might have.

Living in the mid-atlantic, it is literally a hot/cold situation. I do enjoy wrenching. But since i do not have a garage, i have to plan out what day i can get out there and do things that are necessary. so from April to July, ill do whatever i need to do, July-Aug, not so much, too hot to be laying in the street, Sept-Oct, ill be out there, then winter comes and ill pull back again.

In addition, i wrench on my motorcycles also, so that takes up some time as well.

So yeah, dont get me wrong, im not running to a mech or the dealer for anything dirty...i just need to choose my battles. My wife and i are planning our next house buy in the next 3-5 years, and one must-have will be a garage so that i CAN do all of these things.