They always sale descent mechanics tool sets for like $100 on black Friday and sometimes other times from home depot or Lowes.

That and youtube will pay for itself the first time you need to do an easy diy job on your car.

Why pay a shop $300 dollars to replace a thermostat when you can do it for a $15 part and $20 of radiator fluid yourself?

$30 set of jack stands and you'll never have to pay a shop $400 again to replace your front brakes. Good brake pads are $50.

Spark plugs need replaced? $200 at a shop for a 4 cylinder car, or do it yourself in under an hour for $35 worth of spark plugs.

There's tons of vehicle stuff that's not very hard to do that will save you tons of money with a set of tools and the ability to learn. I drive 15+ year old vehicles and have only taken one to a shop twice in the past 20 years. I do stuff a lot more advanced than your average person probably wants to try to do themselves, but I like working on my own stuff. But most of what I do is easy enough for most people to do without being too difficult.