Until I started working on my own vehicles I thought it was a frivolous thing for an individual to have their own hydraulic lift. After using my best friends time and time again it is amazing the time and money you save by having your own lift:
1) Having your own lift means you can change your own oil and save $$$. Imagine saving at least $10 each time you change your oil and not having to wait in line!
2) Rotate your own tires
3) Make repairs standing up instead of laying on the ground
4) Having a lift can be safer than having your vehicle on mere jack stands. Every so often there is a story in the news where a car on jack stands has slipped off, pinning a person underneath.
5) Work on your brakes standing up instead of kneeling or sitting down on the ground
6) Change your own shocks or struts
7) You can freely inspect the under carriage
8) Save your back instead of hunching over on cars. My best friend recently had to work on his 91 Eagle Talon and having it on the lift he said saved him from bending over and his back becoming stiff. He was able to lift the car to a comfortable level.
9) Do maintenance on your transmission: change the fluid and/or the filter standing up
10) Watch how components are working. Every once in awhile one of our vehicles may have an issue (popping noise, clanking metal, something leaking, squeaking…) That may require one of us watching things move (or possibly not).
Ultimately a lift can save you time not having to go to the mechanic shop and wait until a bay becomes available and/or having to pay a shop to look at your vehicle or change your oil, transmission fluid, or differential gear oil. You can rotate your own tires, work on brakes at eye level too. There are some drawbacks to having one such as routine maintenance, making sure components are lubricated, you have to have a building big enough to set one up; putting it together, family and friends taking advantage of you because you have a lift; people treating you like a mechanic shop. With some cars it requires you to get on your knees to position the arms and pads in the correct location; sometimes you have to change out the adapters, depending on the height of the vehicle. On occasion we have helped family and friends do work on their transmission (like replacing it), changing out the transfer case or replacing a fuel pump. Just today my best friend changed out my broken motor mounts on my 2000 VW Passat and claimed it was just as easy as replacing them in our Jeep Cherokees. He says it was easy thanks in part to having the lift.
Overall though, you can work on your own vehicle anytime, take a break anytime you want. Having a lift allows you to get to know your vehicle. The hydraulic lifts really are not that expensive, my best friend’s dad got his at harbor freight about eight years ago for a very reasonable price. With all the vehicle repairs and maintenance we have done using the lift, it has paid for it self over and over again .