An Amazon list of all the tools one would need to start working on automobiles efficiently/seriously
I regularly see posts asking “would these be good to get to start working on cars” and it’s either a cheap set of hand tools like hyper tough or kobalt, just the sockets and ratchets maybe some combo wrenches with a lot of sae that is not useful at all unless you work on diesel / heavy equipment stuff too.
This list is a little more extensive than sockets ratchets and wrenches. In my opinion as a semi professional DIY automotive diagnostician who can work a power probe a multimeter and interpret waveforms on an oscilloscope(you really don’t need one of those but for $40 more you could replace the Astro ai multimeter with a Fnirsi $53 multimeter and oscilloscope that would be useful if you learn quick) this is what I would want if I were getting started with absolutely nothing. Also the $100 on sale gear wrench bi directional blue tooth tool IS SLOW! Sometimes I just use my corded cheap craftsman wired scanner for clearing codes or reading live data. But the GW one is very good for the price. However if you want to not wait 3/5 minutes for the system to load and read the ecu data a wired tool is the best option. Maybe other wireless tablets are not as slow but idk I’ve only used this one it’s my second upgrade from a cheap actron, to the craftsman live data and then now the Gw bidirectional.
[https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2P3ZFJ2YEMLA?ref\_=wl\_share](https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2P3ZFJ2YEMLA?ref_=wl_share)
Now this list misses a few things that you don’t need immediately and a few that you do. The things you need(unless you’re starting in a shop) are at least one floor jack and one pair of jack stands, preferably 2 floor jacks one 3 ton and one aluminum racing jack because you will not want to pick up an 80-90 pound steel three ton in and out of a vehicle. And preferably 2 pairs of jackstands a 3 and 6 ton so you can have options and be able to put both axles off the ground. A pair of composite ramps are great too for when you just need to do fluids. Also a small tool box / some tool Organization. The craftsman versastack 3 box setup is pretty decent but tool bags and cheap plastic boxes work out to start too. Even a tote whatever you have most preferably water tight.
As far as what you won’t need yet or things you might own / already have are power tools, preferably cordless. A 1/2” mid or high torque impact wrench (I really recommend the ryobi brushless HP stuff it’s made by TTI(Milwaukee, rigid, orek, hart (rip) AEG) and they are a great value for the quality especially on sale the high torque was recently $160 kitted with a 4ah) a long neck ratchet, a 1/2” drill angle grinder, hackzall/sawzall and a die grinder will all be very very usefull. You can do any of the work they can do by hand but obviously it takes a lot longer to use a hack saw than a powered recip saw. The new brushless second gen hyper tough tools are also a great value just not sure how tbey hold up. The ryobi brushless stuff has held up very well to some rather heavy use over the years.
I don’t own everything on this list, really only a few things. Most of what I own is HF, lowes a very small amount of tool truck stuff from marketplace. Hf has its benefits especially easy warranty process. But sometimes you can find equally good quality on Amazon for a bit cheaper. Like the 1/2” impact metric master sunex socket set Dupe branded Masfate for $65. I have an older identical set that I’ve abused for 4 years and it’s awesome, I did pay a little more for mine but it’s impressively good.
As far as learning and resources to help you do repairs quickly and effectively YouTube is amazing. Lots of good channels to help you learn how to use tools like Gearhead Bryan, Chris fix kinda sucks but he’s not awful, rainman ray’s repairs, one of my favorites hardly moving pictures, then for more advanced Diagnostics based stuff there is Schrödinger’s box, scanner danner, south main auto, pine hollow diagnostics. I know I’m forgetting a few things. Also Lemon Manuals, idk if it’ll be around too long with the Mitchell/all data charm lawsuit but you can find the link and download the entire library which is around a terabyte or so. But being able to find accurate wiring diagrams and pin out schematics if ECU and other electrical connectors is just invaluable.