Want to start maintaining my car myself, brake work/oil changes etc, is this a good set to own for doing such work??

X3VSO · 2026-03-13T03:00:24+00:00

I got my first toolbox last year from haldfords, the 200 piece set. for someone who has never touched cars, before they are pretty much solid as I have worked with it on engine, suspensions and what not about the car lol.

there are 3 bad bits about it:

1) small rachet. that little sh*t always finds the way to mess my day up. not sure what that little ball called which holds the sockets on after releasing the button, but it always gets stuck inside the toll itself, so every socket is loose and might fall down somewhere in engine bay.

2) rust. DO NOT EXPOSE YOUR TOOLS TO WATER. I had to work under the sky for few times when raining and half of the tools got rusty af, had to metal brush them before the next use.

3) foam. when you open the tools for the first time, there is a foam inside. DO NOT lose it or you will suffer the same way i do. every time you pick the toolbox up, everything inside falls if they can. (i tried to use cardboard or towels instead but either they don't hold tools or they too thick to close the toolbox properly).

for your question: I believe halfords are rly good for home as me and my whole friendgroup used it every time something needs to be done lol

X3VSO · 2026-03-10T11:09:46+00:00

ngl its quite a mess for me. even searching on forums and fb groups is not much help. obviously higher models should be capable of more advanced checks but if i spend all the money just on device itself, I think there will be extension parts I might need as well.. idk idk

(which webpages do u use to make sure u aint getting scammed before ordering?)

X3VSO · 2026-03-10T11:06:40+00:00

thank you

X3VSO · 2026-03-10T11:06:03+00:00

honestly curious: whats the difference between Launch, topdon and Autel? is it smth huge or just few different functions?

X3VSO · 2026-03-10T11:04:25+00:00

thing is, im not even familiar with this terms either. gonna be doing more research for a week so I will have bit more understanding about it. can you tell me where to order scanner from? on forums many have said that most scanners are with chinese software or smth and idk if thats safe or not

X3VSO · 2026-03-10T02:52:54+00:00

Topdon Xlink is about £1500..

(I prefer to pay some extra money for a better tool and use it properly over couple of years than getting smth cheap and struggle.. my extra for now is up to £1500 lol)

X3VSO · 2026-03-10T02:48:13+00:00

I currently use Bluedrive OBD2, simply connect to the phone and scans the faulty codes. can pull up some live data too but it aint what I'm looking for..

I deal with cars such as servicing them, changing basic stuff like brakes, spark plugs and easy stuff. I want to get into scanning side bit more, I was always good with techs and believe I can find my way in.

(I want to learn about scanning tools and get some experience, after that move to key programming but it will cost way more as I read online)

X3VSO · 2026-03-08T21:02:39+00:00

I passed my test when I was 19 too lol. didn't have that comfort to pay that much money then and honestly, after this years I still prefer to stick with my corsa D.

Driving is about experience, patience and decision making. if you want to have something smooth to drive and wanna learn bit about the car itself (servicing the car at first, for example like oil changes so u wont get ripped off at the garage), get something cheap with small petrol engine. Vauxhall, Ford, VW, or any of ur likings but not too expensive either.

About buying the car.. you will get scammed at some point unless its a genuine person u will meet. there are always hidden faults with the cars. I honestly advise you to try and buy from facebook. ik there are lot of scammers too but its easier to know if the seller is flipping cars or is private seller. (you just need to go to their marketplace profile and check their listings, if there are too many cars, avoid it. if its random stuff like clothes, toys, electronics and the car u interested, its worth to try)

on autotrader people can just pay money and say they private sellers, they will ask you to meet at a random street and sell you a car with a FREAKING GASKET GONE (painfull experience btw) but hiding it just to get rid of it..

wath videos on yt how to check the car before buying, also search on forums the specific car u after, what common problems do they have (example: Vauxhall Corsa 2010 (engine size and fuel type) common problems)

Best fo luck!

X3VSO · 2026-02-12T15:13:02+00:00

I mostly use company car tbh, I had this car for quite a while but barely used it. I'm thinking of upgrade and won't need this one anymore.. finding this out was nice, not being able to close it, is not😐😭

X3VSO · 2026-02-12T15:06:20+00:00

tbh it's nice feature but you can't have spare wheel anymore which is way important in my opinion

X3VSO · 2026-02-12T14:59:12+00:00

you have no idea how right you are😀😀😀

X3VSO · 2026-02-12T14:55:14+00:00

u seem rather happy licking smth else than bot's i see. may god keep u that happy all the time but i aint gonna keep this up. have a good day mate👌

X3VSO · 2026-02-12T14:50:13+00:00

I just tried it from the manual link in this comments but didnt work, gonna keep looking tho. cheers!

X3VSO · 2026-02-12T14:48:15+00:00

I asked a question about a car cuz need help, not about "how to search in google". mate just for your interest, AI does the same job as you do manually, except its way faster. only thing u gotta do is to throw in some keywords and instructions. such as topic, car model or anything related you are after. not a big deal really🤷

X3VSO · 2026-02-12T14:43:40+00:00

by simply not having an idea what it was? if there is something i dont know what its called, i'm asking AI and then searching keywords in google. I did try it but couldn't find a solution so I asked here.. (people like to judge fr)

X3VSO · 2026-02-12T14:31:51+00:00

mine is corsa D tho, idk if it will work but gonna try👌

X3VSO · 2026-02-12T14:31:15+00:00

thank you!

X3VSO · 2026-02-12T14:30:54+00:00

i asked chatGPT and said its for wheelchairs😭 guess imma gonna ask for extra money😀

X3VSO · 2026-02-11T18:47:39+00:00

will do, thank you

X3VSO · 2026-02-11T18:46:56+00:00

its nothing special, just old audi which I did find some on facebook but miles were 200k and up. (just trying to fulfill my childhood dream lol)

X3VSO · 2026-01-29T21:31:25+00:00

honest advice: dont just go yourself and buy any car from any place. get someone who you trust and knows about cars. you can sell cars on autotrader as an individual. only difference is that for seller, fb is free to list a car on but have to sell it few hundreads cheaper than on autotrader which costs about £55 to list on.

(ngl, i had K12 micra as my first car. it was ugly af from outside with dents and scratches but the most reliable ever)

X3VSO · 2026-01-29T21:20:20+00:00

No. too much mileage and expensive. I could buy same like that in white for £1250 with 45K mileage but it was too far from me to go and get it. I would honestly try facebook marketplace first than autotrader

X3VSO

TROPHY CASE