About $300 of tools covers most of what an ordinary car needs. One brake job pays for the whole kit.
The two halves of the kit
The first $100 tells you what is wrong — a code reader, a multimeter, a test light and a basic socket set. That much alone will save you a diagnostic fee more than once.
The second $200 is what lets you actually fix it, and it is mostly lifting gear: a floor jack, jack stands and a torque wrench. That is the real line between knowing what is wrong and doing something about it.
What that buys you
A front brake job with new rotors runs $200 to $500 at a shop. The parts alone cost about $65 to $225. One job pays for the tools and leaves change — and every job after that is free labor.
Before you start anything: the safety rules
These are not suggestions. Every one of them has killed or maimed somebody.
- Never get under a car held up by a jack alone. Jack stands, every time, on solid level ground, with the wheels chocked. A jack is for lifting. Stands are for holding.
- Never work on airbags or seatbelt pretensioners.
- Never open the air conditioning refrigerant circuit.
- Never touch the orange cables on a hybrid or electric car.
- Never open a fuel line under pressure, and never work near a hot exhaust.
- Never open a hot cooling system.
- Torque wheels and brake hardware to the specified figure. Look it up. Do not guess.
- If brakes or steering are involved and you are not certain it is right, stop and have it checked. A brake job you are not confident in is not a saving.
Easy jobs — under an hour, nothing lifted
Click a link below to see the procedure.
- Read a check engine code with a $30 scanner
- Find and change a blown fuse
- Test a battery with a multimeter
- Clean corroded battery terminals, and replace a battery
- Jump-start a car correctly — and the mistakes that fry electronics
- Change the engine air filter and the cabin air filter
- Replace wiper blades and bulbs
- Check and top off fluids
- Check tire pressure, plug a nail hole, reset the pressure light
Bigger jobs — what the full kit unlocks
Click a link below to see the procedure. These all involve lifting the car or working on a cold engine, so read the safety rules above first.
- Front brake pads and rotors — the job that pays for the kit
- Rear brakes, including electric parking brakes
- Oil and filter change, and disposing of the old oil for free
- Spark plugs — easy on some engines, a nightmare on others
- Serpentine belt
- Thermostat
- Tire rotation, and torquing lug nuts properly
Not sure where to start?
If you have never done any of this, work down the easy list in order. Reading a code, changing a fuse and testing a battery need no tools beyond the first $100 and cannot go badly wrong. Do an oil change next. Come to the brakes once taking a wheel off feels routine.
And if what you actually want to know is what your car is doing wrong in the first place, start at What’s Wrong with Your Car instead.
Everything on this site is information, not professional advice. Work on your own vehicle is at your own risk. See the disclaimer.