…for basic(ish) car maintenance.

I currently have a £5 jobbie that came from Woolworths a loooong time ago. It's pretty poor, but has been okay for the bike.

Now I'm attempting some of my own car repairs (suspension/steering brakes etc), the money I should "save" on labour would allow me £400ish and I also have some money from a graduation present.

What would you buy and why?

If you have the money buy a set of Snap-Ons.

Don't however, do what I did, which is to misread an offer and buy a set of Strap-Ons. You get a completely different set of tools, most of which will be of no use in fixing your car.

Halfords Pro range are on discount at the moe and also a voucher :

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/categorydisplay_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_categoryId_165532_langId_-1

A half decent drawer box to keep everything in. Halfords do good offers on them.

Sockets & socket wrenches from Sealey – they're cheap, I've abused mine loads, and never broken anything. Snapon might be worthwhile in a Garage, but not for a home user. Get "Wall drive" type sockets, they're approximately 9000000 times better than any other shape. You can easily identify these – the corners of the hex are radiused, so that the force acts on the flat of the nut and not the weaker corners.

Halfords pro for combination spanners.

Knipex for wire cutters.

Whatever screwdrivers float your boat.

Buy cheap mole grips, they're all the same.

Get a blow torch – you'll want this for stuck fasteners, and bending a cheap spanner so you can get at whatever parts the manufacturer's chosen to bury.

I wouldn't bother with buying the big bumper box of tools setups. They tend to have loads of bits you won't actually use. Better to get a good quality range of stuff that will get used for the same money, and add special tools like brake caliper wind backs as you go.

If you must have an adjustable spanner, get a Bahco.

If you have access to Costco they do a fantastic Crescent tool set with a huge range of sockets, spanners etc with a lifetime warranty for around £70.

Used them for years on cars/mycles/vans etc.

Costco also sell a decent trolley jack too along with ratcheting spanners and some good screwdriver sets.

Get that lot and then find some axle stands and you'll be just about sorted.

What car have you ? that will determin the type of brake windbacktool you get, plus oil filter remover etc..
If you can bluff your way into getting a Halfords Trade card then there stuff can be very cheap (sometimes, not always) .

They're both BMWs.

This is a flippin' bargain:
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_173083_categoryId_165572_langId_-1?cm_vc=IOV4PLPZ1

The 150 piece Professional toolkit – half price at £99.99. I've got one and it's great quality, the only thing it lacks are a couple of breaker bars.

Snap-On are incredibly good, but they're also incredibly expensive. I've use Halfords Professional stuff in my workshops because they have a lifetime guarantee: keep your receipt somewhere safe. If the tool breaks, they'll replace it for you.

: P

Get yourself down to a decent sized Halfords, not something I say often. Their proffesional tools are brilliant great quality, nice cases etc and they come with a lifetime guarentee that they actually honour.

http://www.facom.fr/com/interactive_catalog/catalogue/appli.htm

automotive

Thanks fellas, I bought the 150 piece Halfords Pro set (£89 with a student discount) to be getting on with and a set of ratchet spanners as I always find thee useful. I also bought 2 breaker bars, which I put to use immediately 🙂

Cheers,

M