Simplest and easiest car to work on

[Robotnik123]

What do you guys reckon would be the simplest, easiest car to work on, made from say 1990 to the present, so not counting Morris Minors, Model T's or whatever...

I think the 4 cylinder E36 BMW was a very simple car - it's a synch to change the cambelt on an M40 engine for example.

[chris g]

For me, the easiest car to work on is the one that results in the lowest labour charges by my garage!!

[Kieran]

Of the cars I've owned, I found my GLS was an easy car to work on. Lots of space and all the major were components easy to get at and remove. I never had to do a cambelt though.

I like the way the Japanese approach building a car:

Hex head nuts and bolts.
Screws.

That's it!

No stupid torx, allen keys or special connectors/bolts that strip out when you try and remove them. The only thing is the Japanese love of Metric Fine threads - Irritating when you've just stripped the threads on a bolt and reach for your standard metric tap and die set!!/Grrr

The easiest car I've ever worked on is my Coupe - very crude by today's standards but still very neatly designed - and 32 years later everything can still be dismantled with minimal swearing!:afro:

[pitslayer]

beetle. as much as i hate them, they are so simple to work on, if your quick like me, you can have the clutch done, in half hour, that includes jacking the car up, engine out, new clutch on, and back in and running.
you can fix them with a 10mm, 13mm, 17mm spanner, a hammer, instant gasket, flat and phillips screwdriver. and if all that fails, a multi tool a vw key and a pair of plyers.
if the engine stops working, its going to be fuel or spark thats it.
there cheap, and you can rebuild the engine in 2 hours, full strip down and clean and back together, the hardest part is getting errrrrrr nothing
not cambelts, no timing chains, just slap it together.
you can modify the engines in them upto a certain point and the insurance companys wont have a clue because you cant tell the difference looking at them
not alot that goes wrong on them, just get one with good heater channels and floors, and your sorted, everything else is simple,

still hate them though, i find htem nasty little things, prefer a more refined vw of the same age

[shaun1978]

easiest car ive had in recent times was a frontera i had, didnt even need a jack most of he time, the spitfire weve got is a piece of cake as well but its real old.
hardest car was probably the fiat coupe ive just got rid of.

[Robotnik123]

easiest car ive had in recent times was a frontera i had, didnt even need a jack most of he time, the spitfire weve got is a piece of cake as well but its real old.
hardest car was probably the fiat coupe ive just got rid of.

What is a frontera? Sounds like an SUV

[Subaru ETA]

frontera is a holden in our parts i think. a 4 door MU.

easiest car for me would be any mazda :D esp the mazda 2

[Ryan]

My '78 Mini was pretty easy. I found my 5th gen Celica quite easy to do as well, rocker cover gasket was replaced easily, brake pads (front) were a doddle.

Everything is nice and simple. I had to take it to an auto-electrician once to get the front fog lamps repaired and I quizzed him about the various cars and how easy / difficult they were to work on.

He says that they love European cars because they are his best customers! He says that he mentioned that some German marques needlessly complicate a lot of things - like too many wires to do a simple thing like wind a window up and down.

[miller]

The E36 BMW is easy, just look at replacing the rear bulbs, even my missus could do it!!!


Mike

[WildCards]

I've always heard that 90's Hondas were a piece of cake for the home mechanic.

French cars generally get mentioned as 'easy to work on' and I'd agree that they are quite simple, but the french being the french don't always put things in the most accessible places and alot of the bolts, scews fixings etc often corrode too much to work on easily, making them a PITA to do a simple job.

Stick with Jap or German for home spannering IMO.

[pitslayer]

i worked on a few minis when you actually get down to do real work there an arse to work on. My dad had a frontera from carbod spanking new 3months later it was on the scrapheap the aa were out everyfew days to get it to start so it could go into the garage and be fixed. After a while the company he worked for got tired off the massive bills that they but there losses. And turned up with a hi ab and took it for scrap lol

[Paul Beazer]

I always found sierras asy to work on. Loads of room in the engine bay and around the engine. Less complicated than my galant. Cleaing the disi contacts on the V6 is a pain, even getting to it takes 20 mins by the time you've removed the airbox etc. Hey ho.

[pitslayer]

anything french is a pig to work on, did an early 90s reggie 5 turbo....never again

you would really have to define, what you mean by "work on"
mk3 fiestas are easy to work on that includes dropping a 1.6 lump into a 1.1 fiesta base model fiesta

[stuey]

Anything rear wheel drive and without fuel injection....!

[TAR]

I go for Sierra as well, had 4 of them at different times. Very easy to do most jobs and the spares were cheap and easy to get.

Good old Ford!

[MGV6]

Ford /Escorts/Fiestas, Vauxhall Astra/Vectra's (earlier models)- all too easy.

[Ryan]

i worked on a few minis when you actually get down to do real work there an arse to work on.

Really? My dad and I never had a problem, including removing the engine. They are quite simple cars. That said, he knows the car quite well having driven them all over Botswana and Rhodesia.

[Paul C]

E36 Bmw 318is M44 engine easy to work on. Timing chain so no belt to worry about.

[psbarham]

i worked on a few minis when you actually get down to do real work there an arse to work on.

nah they are a piece of pee pee to work on, i could do a head gasket in 24 minutes from pulling up outside the workshop to starting the engine, a clutch on one i could do in a shade over an hour, and removing the engine was about 2 hrs, all these times are for me working alone.

the easiest cars i have ever worked on though were ford sierras/granadas loads of room and the engine is the right way round :scholar:

[valleyforge1]

Vauxhall Cavilier Mk 1. Dead easy to work on, you could climb into the engine bay.

Vauxhall Cavalier Mk 2, and Mk 3 Carlton

[ianturbo]

This cause i made it myself :scholar: :scholar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tWcfnXdz7s
ian

[shaun1978]

nothing wrong with a bit of tail happiness!!!

[evo1]

Im not just saying it coz its my car but my 93 evo is stupidly easy to work on,for a fast jap car.
1 hour the gearbox is on the floor, about 2 hours the whole engine and box comes out complete.
Im not a pro car mechanic,but im good on the tools,Im a motorcycle mechanic (hence why i like all things Jap)

[pitslayer]

nah they are a piece of pee pee to work on, i could do a head gasket in 24 minutes from pulling up outside the workshop to starting the engine, a clutch on one i could do in a shade over an hour, and removing the engine was about 2 hrs, all these times are for me working alone.

the easiest cars i have ever worked on though were ford sierras/granadas loads of room and the engine is the right way round :scholar:
you know how to do a clutch on a minbin? expect questions if we ever have to get around to doing one, which we are hoping we never have to do, they just make no sense there backwards /lol
by the way....i hate minis, retched little things, grew up working on them and i have grown a massive hatred for them.

i will tell you what isnt easy to work on....95 Jaguar XJ6 4 litre/Grrr 3 hours to change 2 exhaust gaskets
first take of the heat shield, 5 bolts...no problems there
next job undo the down pipes....first 3 undone....how do you get to the 3rd.....hmmm i need an extension bar with several right angles....thats done.
now the fun begins, getting the down pipes off, took half an hour to get them to actually move downwards....

maniifolds off, job speeds back up again, clean up the rusty faces on the manifolds:thinking: :thinking: :inquisiti loads of assembly paste, new gaskets on, more paste....

slot them on, do up a few bolts to hold them, in place so the goo sets and they dont fall off
spend next hour getting the downpipes back on, /Grrr /Grrr loose one bolt in the one piece heatshield that doesnt come off.

tighten everything back up, start car up..... get seriously worried about the fact the car is now miss firing.... now get seriously ******* worried that the car has just cut out.....learning ecu /pan /pan

tidy all tools up, whilst car is running letting all teh goo set.....then notice the chrome heatshield still on the floor....not a job i will ever be doing again



ian nice crapi, not sure i would personally want a cossie lump in a capri, it is only going to end up one way, backwards into a tree....have you gone the full hog and put 4wd in, or is still a live rear axle...tis very pretty though, never really been a fan of the RS 7 spokes though..... lovely motor, i love capris, i did have a picture somewhere of my uncles mk1 capri, done in the style of starsky and hutch, with side exit pipes nose down arse up stance, god bless the 70s

[ianturbo]

you know how to do a clutch on a minbin? expect questions if we ever have to get around to doing one, which we are hoping we never have to do, they just make no sense there backwards /lol
by the way....i hate minis, retched little things, grew up working on them and i have grown a massive hatred for them.

i will tell you what isnt easy to work on....95 Jaguar XJ6 4 litre/Grrr 3 hours to change 2 exhaust gaskets
first take of the heat shield, 5 bolts...no problems there
next job undo the down pipes....first 3 undone....how do you get to the 3rd.....hmmm i need an extension bar with several right angles....thats done.
now the fun begins, getting the down pipes off, took half an hour to get them to actually move downwards....

maniifolds off, job speeds back up again, clean up the rusty faces on the manifolds:thinking: :thinking: :inquisiti loads of assembly paste, new gaskets on, more paste....

slot them on, do up a few bolts to hold them, in place so the goo sets and they dont fall off
spend next hour getting the downpipes back on, /Grrr /Grrr loose one bolt in the one piece heatshield that doesnt come off.

tighten everything back up, start car up..... get seriously worried about the fact the car is now miss firing.... now get seriously ******* worried that the car has just cut out.....learning ecu /pan /pan

tidy all tools up, whilst car is running letting all teh goo set.....then notice the chrome heatshield still on the floor....not a job i will ever be doing again



ian nice crapi, not sure i would personally want a cossie lump in a capri, it is only going to end up one way, backwards into a tree....have you gone the full hog and put 4wd in, or is still a live rear axle...tis very pretty though, never really been a fan of the RS 7 spokes though..... lovely motor, i love capris, i did have a picture somewhere of my uncles mk1 capri, done in the style of starsky and hutch, with side exit pipes nose down arse up stance, god bless the 70s
no its still RWD and loads of fun !!! needed the bigger wheels for bigger brakes !:scholar:
ian

[Subaru ETA]

all euro cars a pigs to work on IMO.

might me coz i only work on jap and oz cars! american shtuff is bull**** to work on too. explorers and F series trucks spring to mind

[pitslayer]

no its still RWD and loads of fun !!! needed the bigger wheels for bigger brakes !:scholar:
ian
tears. /lol
running cossy 4 pots? they only just clear a 15 inch wheel and they are really close, if it were mine, i think i would look out for a different set of wheels, the RS 7 spokes dont do the car justice :( ....still orsum