Ask Lemmy

Going against the spirit of the post and recommending nothing.

Start your project. Hit the store for what you need. Rinse and repeat.

Once you get a feel for what's useful to you, keep your eye out at the flea market, garage sales, whatever.

Nothing. When you need it, buy it cheap. When you break it, buy a good one.

Look for a tool library near you. See if you can borrow some from neighbors. You'll get the hang of doing jobs, and what good vs bad tools feel like.

Here are a couple of items that I wish that I had picked up earlier. They are not required, but they greatly simplified my life.

• headlamp: Trying to balance or prop up a flashlight while working used to result in so much frustration.
• tin sheers: I love these so much that they have replaced scissors in most day-to-day applications
• flexible drill bit extender: So many screws are in places inaccessible to a drill body. This inexpensive item solves that problem. Magnetic wristbands: Keep those screws and bits from getting lost.
• level that is at least 2ft long: I really appreciate having a level that can span two studs (16")
• precision / mini needle nose pliers: I don't need them often, but when I do I am always happy that I have them
• painters tape: I am surpised how often I use painters tape for all sorts of applications

Harbor Freight is your friend. Their cheap tools can suck and may break with repeated use, but that's almost a feature.

If you use a tool often enough that you break it, then it's worth investing in a quality version of that tool. If you don't use it often enough to break it, you can get by with the lower quality.

If you've got sockets, wrenches, pliers, and screwdrivers you're 90% there. Get an impact driver, you can use one for pretty much anything with the right bits. I buy DeWalt or Milwaukee power tools in the US personally, but it doesn't matter much. You won't be using it all day every day, dropping it off scissor lifts, etc like I do.

A good set of jacks will go a long way. And start collecting flashlights.

I'd check to see if there's a tool library near you. After doing some work, you'll get a feel for what tools you're using most often, or that are frequently checked out of the library.

In addition to what others have said: Eye protection, earplugs, Those free moving blankets from harbor freight I lay them on the ground/floor when I'm working so I don't get completely filthy and keep one in each car. Harbor freight long wrench set, a drill, good drill bits, an angle grinder, a cutoff wheel, a Dremel or similar, a 1/4" electric ratchet, pry bars, pick set, a gasket scraper, empty spray bottles from Dollar tree one with soapy wooder and one with some kind of degreaser, the big jug of orange hand cleaner, a nail brush for scrubbing your hands, work gloves the thinner fabric kind with coating on the palms/fingers they have them in Amazon but I get them from work, funnels, an oil catch pan that stores the oil inside, an open catch pan, a magnetic parts tray, long extensions, trim and plastic fastener tools, 3 lb sledgehammer, pipe wrench, torx bits from T10 thru T55, wire and nylon brushes, look for manufacturer specific app for your car forscan for Ford, jscan for jeep/Chrysler/Dodge there's a ton more out there, they let you do a lot More than just the check engine light you'll need an obdii adapter that works with that app, you might want a generic elm327 as well and download the torque app. Watch the torque test channel and project farm on YouTube. Be aware of the rental tool program at most parts stores as well, then there's a bunch of specific tools you might want or need that I won't get into.

Electrical meter

Tire air gauge

Tire patch kit

Air pump

Brake reset tool (forget exact name, I paid $10 and it pushes the brake piston back in when installing new brake pads)

Tire thread measuring tool (know when you need new tires)

Battery tester (test how many cca remain)

Battery acid tester

Radiator coolant tester

Distilled water to put in battery

Coat hangers (metal hanger can be cut and bent to hold things such as the brake caliper)

The tire patch kit saved me a few weeks ago.

For any tools: if you're not a professional who needs them for work, buy cheap ones as you need them. If you use one of them enough that it breaks and still need it, buy a quality one. You'll have yourself a lot of money from buying unused or used-once tools that way.

A lever and a proper surface on which to stand.

In addition to the torque wrench, a breaker bar is helpful. You didn’t mention it but Allen wrenches are vital.

Also, all hail Harbor Freight. Great place to get cheap tools. If you don’t think you’ll use a power tool more than once a year, they have some great cheap shit too. They do have higher end power tools, but they have frequent sales so I would wait for one of those.

Otherwise, other tool choices come down to the type of work you’ll be doing. I do more wood stuff personally, but you sound more like a metal guy

If you're going to work with wood. A jig saw is the OK at everything saw. You can do long straight cuts by clamping on a guide. You can do bends.

I don't do battery powered tools, just mains powered.

My advice to any home handyman is to avoid cordless power tools. You can get a powerful name brand corded drill with all the features for the same price, or even less than the entry level cordless driver. Plus, I promise you that in the long run, the batteries will cause you more aggravation than the cord.

You can never have too many clamps, screwdrivers, or tape measures.

Ryobi cordless tools are great consumer level battery powered tools. They aren’t as high of quality as Milwaukee or DeWalt, but for the average homeowner, they are more than good enough. That said, I do prefer my DeWalt drill and impact because they are more compact, but for all the rest, Ryobi is fine.

Also a good tool box and tool bag. Having a place for everything makes finding and using your tools so much easier, and having the bag to fill with tools for whatever job you’re tackling has proven to be a game changer.

I’ll second most of the recommendations here:

Socket set in SAE and Metric Wrenches in the same A set of screw drivers (Phillips and Flathead, you want at least a standard length, long, and stubby in probably three tip sizes) An Allen key set

Honestly, Home Depot has a 120pc husky mechanics set on sale for $100 for the holidays I recommend if you have nothing. It covers all of the basics, the quality is decent enough, and it’s cheaper than putting it together piecemeal even at harbor freight.

You’ll want a jack and stands as well, and if you plan to do oil changes probably ramps too (plus an oil drain pain and a storage container to store the used oil to take it back to the store for recycling).

For cars that will get you 95% of the way through most jobs. From there I recommend filling out additional tools as jobs require them.

For home improvement, add a hammer, some pliers (I’d get one of the triple sets that go on sale various places all the time).

For power tools I suggest you pick an ecosystem and stay in it. Milwaukee, Rigid, and Ryobi are all made by TTS and perform pretty similar for home users. I invested in Milwaukee but would easily recommend rigid as a solid middle brand with decent price to performance. Dewalt has a great reputation as well, with a large selection and sometimes the price to match. I also know plenty of folks that are happy with the Hercules battery tools from HF. I would stay away from craftsman/black & decker, and other budget brands from big box stores, if that’s your price range then just go with the similar priced HF tool. I suggest a drill and driver to start, then fill out tools as you need them for projects. I use my oscillating multi tools a tons as a good fit most great at none tool for cutting. A lot will depend on what work you need to do around your house (which you won’t really know until you buy a house).

I subscribe to Adam Savages methodology of buying cheap hand tools and replacing them with quality ones when they break (since that’s the sign you need a good version of it). I’ve found I still have a ton of cheap tools that work just fine.

Lastly, shop around. Don’t assume the Harbor Freight will be the best deal (they have the reputation of cheap stuff, but as their quality has started going up so have their prices). Look for sales and deals, and for sure shop the clearance aisles at the orange and blue stores. I also shop estate sales and moving sales where folks are looking to offload an entire garage worth of tools quick.

Edit to add: safety equipment is the one area I never compromise. Good eye and hearing protection is invaluable (you only have one set of eyes and ears, and both are fragile). I keep safety glasses in the basement and garage near all my power tools and mechanics toolbox so they are always close by. I also keep n95 masks for working in dusty areas like the attic. I hate gloves but keep a couple pairs for mechanic and outdoor work mostly. Glasses and ear plugs/muffs/active buds (isotunes, AirPods Pro, etc.) should be the first two things you get.

A friend with a good set of tools. Who you can trade labor with. Many car tasks need 2 people so if you can hang out with someone else working on their car and they return the favor you are greatly ahead. Not only that but you will teach each other (well at the start that person will teach you - do plenty of work to pay them for their effort to teach you).

After that tool do you need for the current job that either your friend doesn't have or you use so often it is worth having your own. Every car has its own set of special tools that are not used for any other car you will ever have but you need it to do some job. You will need several torque wrenches as they have different ranges, but you won't need them all for the first project.

A 13mm (half-ish inch) ratchet spanner comes in handy quite often. It's used everywhere, and handy to have available when you can't be arsed taking out the entire socket set.

Depending on what you're working on you'll end up needing more tools. If it's something you'll do a lot of, especially if it's easy, then it's easily worth buying. Like if you plan on doing your own brakes, having a caliper spreader and in doing a tune up you'll want to grab a spark plug socket. You can also borrow tools from places like auto zone in it's a one time tool or maybe once every few years.

Having a good set of sockets, both metric and English. Someone mentioned an impact driver. Ramps, chaulks, car jack stands (never rely on just the jack), trouble light, pliers, some wire brushes, battery terminal cleaner, can of pb blaster, shop rags, a tub for catching your oil, a couple of funnels, oil filter wrench, vice grips, pry bar, breaker bar.... These are things that come to mind that I've used over and over again.

Some other things: A good copy of the Haynes manual for your car. Don't be afraid to make notes in it. An error code reader is always nice. And there are some things to consider like a heat gun which you can use on hoses and honestly is just good to have around the house. Having a good space where you can continue working if it gets rainy or cold is very nice. At least having some sort of portable canopy is handy. And don't forget to take lots of pictures along the way, especially if it's something new. So you phone with a good camera. A creeper is nice as well.

For working on cars on stuff as complicated as transmission swaps, you have to know what you are doing, but look into a QuickJack.

In other regards just start with a few basic tools and get more as you need them. You can justify buying a $100 tool if it saves you from e.g. a $200 replacement item or shop repair.