Oil changes (I tend to let the bad stuff drain out for at least four hours and I don't trust them to use synthetic oil ) and wheel lug torquing.

Nothing! As long as I am confident that organization has a good reputation, have at it.

I own an exotic car, but in the end, it's only a thing and things can be replaced, fixed, or compensated for...

The loss of life or impairment of life can not.

Like what happens when your front wheel falls off at 70mph.

I nearly had this happen when some slacker left my wheel lug nuts only finger tight, luckily the wheel started wobbling on the entrance ramp and not during an emergency lane change maneuver on I95.

And yes, I had him fired.

I repeat - that I have confidence in...

I won't take it to Walmart. However, you can never assure perfect service, just improve the odds of it.

So, do you fly commercial? Do you preflight the plane before you board?

What about a taxi? Do you demand the service records?

Of course not. We have to put faith into others, but you would not give an accountant a mechanics job to do.

"We have to put faith into others"

No, we don't. I'm perfectly capable of doing many auto maintenance tasks myself.

Brakes.

If someone snarks up an oil change I lose an engine. Same thing on brakes - I could lose my life.

Right. Car no go, get out and walk. Car no stop, bad day.

This is a question that is near and dear to my heart. The only thing I ever let someone else do to my car is align the fron end. That is only because I dont have an alignment machine.

I don't trust anyone with my automobiles. I don't trust that I won't get cheated or that the job will be done correctly. I do it my self and I do it on the side for others. I don't cheat myself nor do I cheat others. I am what you call an honest mechanic.

My father worked for OTASCO for 30 years and not one of the mechanics he had was allowed to cheat customers or tell them they needed unnecessary work. I find that just isn't so in todays world.

Last time I took my car to get the front end aligned the mechanic told me I needed to replace practically the whole front end. This was about 2 weeks after I had just replaced the inner and outter tie rod ends and sway bar bushings. Needless to say I wont be going back there again.

Am I on a soap box? You betcha and I will stay there until someone can prove me wrong.

By the way I have been working on cars since I was 16 so thats about 31 years for me.

Anything that I can do myself.

(Tools and fixtures are usually an economically limiting factor. Knowledge is relatively easy to obtain. For instance, I have a hard time justifying a tire mounting and dynamic balancing system for automobile tires.)

When you have 10 vehicles in varying stages of repair, haveing a way of mounting and dismounting tires has been helpful.

I do my own tires but still haave to have them balanced. Working on remedying that though. I don't let anyone take off and put on tires for any of my cars as i have gotten tired of having my lug bolts stripped by those itiots that think its ok to just stick the nut into the socket and zip them on the stud.

Hey if I screw up its my fault and I kick myself for it if someone else screws my stuff up it just pisses me off. I don't deal well with stupidity especially my own . :)

I have heard that DYNABEADS are a good alternative to balancing tires. I have not tried them yet. I will try them on one of my motorcycles soon.

I have not heard of that particular style of tire who makes it?

Until they can shake off the greasy mechanic image, good technicians will just have to be patient and hope. There are too many careless people out there servicing automobiles. I guess it's like this in most professions . There are good doctors, engineers, mechanics/technicians etc., and unfortunately there are many not so good out there and no one can blame you for not trusting your auto to someone whose work ethic is unknown and maybe even known for that matter. We have all heard the horror stories of careless people servicing autos and you need to do everything you can to be somewhat sure of the people you leave your car with for work. Pride in workmanship is a rarity these days.

I'd gladly let anyone who claimed to know how adjust the shift selector indicator on the dash my Ford truck do it.

It's one position off, to the right. So, if you put it in drive, by the indicator, it's actually in neutral.

This can create considerable stress when your friend is pulling your boat out of the water, with you in it. STOOOOOOPPPPPPP!