I'm so with you there! Well, used to be.
When I was a mechanic and even before, when I still knew my way around under the hood and was dirt poor, when I got done with a car, it really was done.
I was at least good enough at math that I knew that a couple hundred bucks and a weekend's work getting a paid-for car by for another 6 months was like a $35 per month car payment on a car that wasn't likely to surprise me unpleasantly anytime soon.
My car history is full of cars like the Pinto that was in excellent condition but had a cracked cylinder sleeve that I bought for $200 because a friend (an insane one) put a 302 in his Pinto and was offering his original (slightly modified and in excellent condition) engine for $50. I drove that car for 3 years until it got t-boned by someone who couldn't stop on ice pulling out of an alley.
And before that, the beautiful little Maverick that looked like hell when I bought it, ran even worse, but a set of plugs, wires, and a carb rebuild later, along with a full weekend going over the whole car with rubbing compound, polish, and wax, turned out to be good as new and never missed a beat. It was red and actually quite a head-turner. Think I paid $100 for that one.
I still do much the same thing with my cars, though the price tags are higher. I have 4 Taurus SHO's. 2 good ones and 2 parts cars. All inexpensive and the 2 good ones are quite good, thanks to a ready supply of parts.
And, more recently, a 94 BMW 530i. I knew it had brake issues when I bought it, but otherwise it seemed in decent-enough shape, so I hauled it home, drove it a couple of days and spent a few hundred bucks on new rotors, pads, and caliper rebuild kits and a couple of hours rebuilding the calipers (honing, cleaning, painting, resealing), replacing the rotors and pads, and replacing the brake fluid, and now the brakes are like new and will last years.
Granted, it's an easier decision when you're not paying someone else to do it. Such an extensive brake job, especially if done at a BMW dealership, would've cost well over $1k.
Once I address the remaining issues (a persistent coolant smell which I suspect is a pin-hole leak in the heater core as the coolant level isn't perceptibly dropping, the car always heating and never cooling, noisy and stiff throttle linkage, one or two dashboard lights not working, lights that aren't bright enough -- just ordered $280 worth of high-candlepower versions of ALL the car's exterior bulbs at Tire Rack, the driver's seat heater working in the back but not in the seat, and the electric headrest adjustment not working on the driver's side) it'll be a like-new car and I shouldn't have to mess with it anymore for quite a while.
And it's become my daily driver. $6500, maybe $1000 worth of parts when all is said and done, and I'll have a $7500 car I KNOW is in like-new condition rather than paying $10,600 for it at a dealership and having no idea what surprises await.
