I need an opinion on whether or not to start taking my truck to the Ford dealer or to Firestone or a jack Williams type place. I need to know how much of a cost difference i'd be looking at. Good thing with Firestone is they have a credit card i use with no interest for 3 months and I've never had to pay interest for the past 6 years but I'm starting to think the dealer may be a better place to go. What do you all think?

 

What are you looking at having done? Just general maintenance?

 

My advice (free advice is worth what you pay for it!) would be to find an independent shop that people you know have used & develop a relationship with them. Usually cheaper in the long run, and they then know your vehicle.

Kerry

 

Buy the tools and do the work yourself. Saves you money and you know who to blame when something goes wrong.

 

Wish I had the time and more knowledge to do all the work myself.

 

Once again what do you need done?

 

Personally, I'd do all the little piddly things myself (if you have the know how and unfortunately I don't) such as oil changes or air filters and whatnot to save some dough. I would never dare try my hand at timing belts, fuel filters or transmission flushes. Services along those lines I'd rather leave to the pros even if they do charge an arm and a leg. That's just my 2 cents anyway.

 

I'm with you on that one.

Nothings wrong just need some info for future problems. Trucks getting old and funky electrical things are starting to happen.

 

I'm good with fluids and single nut and bolt stuff but I once I get into multi-step processes on things I'm at a loss. I always forget something or miss one thing and f'up the whole deal.

 

Learn to do it - youll save ALOT of time.

It takes less then 10 minutes to change a fuel filter, all you need is a vacuum hose//pump to flush out a transmission and fill it back up (the easy way) and it only takes about an hour to an hour and a half depending on how slow the pump is.


Lots of stuff you can save bunch of cash on.. its like paying someone to rotate your tires, when it only takes a pair of jacks, a wrench, and about 15 minutes in your backyard.

I think you should invest in getting a Hayes manual, and then reading up on teh vehicle.. learn it a little bit, dont be afraid to ask for help either!! If you think its a stupid question or seem to newbish, its best that you ask it because someone else will be thinking the same thing, and then the question woudl never get answered

We almost need a separate stickied post with a single message detailing all the 'General Maintenance' know-how on a Ranger