I just have to say it… 3rd Gens suck to work on.

I think it must be a Chrysler thing. I used to know someone who had a PT Cruiser and changing the battery in that car (if I recall correctly) required removing part of the air cleaner assembly, some trim and part of the headlight. Though it's been a long time since I worked on one so I may be a bit fuzzy on some of those steps.

 

15-22 chevy Colorado with v6. starter pay 7 hours to replace... have to remove both exhaust manifolds. both motor mounts. drivers side motor mount bracket wraps around starter. then jack the engine to the moon to remove bracket. then you can remove starter...
if you don't work on modern cars for a living your ill informed..

 

lol, you are the master of the slippery slope, i'll give you that.

 

Hitting the nail on the head.

 

I'm more like the master of none, but I can do an oil change without whining about it.

 

Motivx kit / hose works well to drain the oil cap assembly.

 

OK, OK…….I usually refrain from calling people out on BS, but I don’t know what crack you are smoking. After 5 years of endless “gear hunting”, “rust spot on muffler bolt. Should I take it to dealer”, and “Magnussun Moss” threads I beg to differ.

 

That said, with the release of some TSBs and such, a lot of the complaints have quieted down.

 

Yes but those posts always get hammered by the mob

 

We finally got there!

 

My wife's Camry has the same filter setup, and I just pop the whole cap off and drop the filter out. People actually mess around with that plastic thing and drain the housing? That seems like a lot of extra work for no real gain.

OP is whiney, evrey car ever sucks in it's own way to work on.

 

The new Tundra twin turbo should be fun to work on. Probably as much a PITA as I would assume an EcoBoost would be to work on. Ofcourse technicians have had the opportunity to work on the EB.

 

Planned rust prevention?

 

Skinny jeans!!! Lol

As for the second paragraph, I’ll have to try that after my 2yr MX agreement is done and I’m doing my own oil changes at the Auto Hobby Shop on Dover Air Force Base.

E
****

 

Rover’s a V8, Alfa was a V6. Yeah the inline in the BMW made it easier, and yeah the fact that they're old also helped

Exactly, the tool isn't a big deal but if you're going to do a cartridge style oil filter why not just have it top mounted so it's easy to service?

Well no, I don't do it for a living. Maybe it's just all modern cars, the next newest one I've ever owned was the BMW which was a 98.

And that was kind of the point, I've always enjoyed working on my cars. Nothing I've ever done on my Tacoma has been remotely enjoyable. I wasn't saying it's the absolute worst vehicle ever to work on ever, or that I can't do it. A Sunday spent working on my Land Rover is an enjoyable Sunday. A Sunday working on my Tacoma has me wishing it's Monday because work sounds more fun.

 

It was tough suffering through the ToyotaCare services, but free work jives with my cheap ass. Still, way better doing it myself. The beauty of not even needing ramps makes it quite nice.

The only thing I would say is with the

$52 0w-20 oil Toyota/ exxon mobil Case of 6 Quarts Full Synthetic TGMO SN 0W-20 Oil

0w-20 oil, hold the catch pan near the drain plug to keep the initial stream from shooting out of the pan.

 

It's not that the other cars I've had have been frustration free to work on, but every single step didn't have me scratching my head, peering around with a flashlight and a mirror, figuring out if I should go at it from the top or the bottom, experimenting with finding the right combo of extensions and whatnot and jamming my hands someplace they don't fit. And it's not like there isn't a TON of unused space in the engine bay they could've worked with to make it more serviceable, it's just clear they took an engine originally designed for transverse vehicles with tight packaging and did the bare minimum amount of work to adapt it for a longitudinal application.

Guess I'm not as much of a man as you all for pointing out something's a pain in the ass.

 

The Liberty leaks pretty much every fluid so yeah, Suspension is in tip top shape. Rocker panels and other components not covered by oil, atf, coolant and/or brake fluid are toast though.

 

There’s been cars that are a pain in the ass to work on for many many years. When I was wrenching back in the late 70’s some of the GM products were so tight in the engine bay you had to unbolt the engine and jack it up just to change some of the damn spark plugs!

 

Admitting that is a good first step Getting more used to working on your new vehicle is the second step