If you have a basic understanding of tools and fasteners, and even a $100 toolkit from Home Depot, start by changing the brake pads on your car. Youtube or Google search for a video and&#x2F;or writeup of changing the brakes on your particular installation. Many common cars have a user-generated video of the procedure.<p>I know that <i>sounds</i> insanely risky, but if you don&#x27;t end up with parts left over, and everything seems like it went together correctly, the chances of screwing something up are very remote, and the chances of screwing it up in a way that won&#x27;t be obvious in the first mile of driving are even more remote.<p>Anyone in the Cambridge, MA area who has a very flexible schedule and wants me to put an eyeball on them while they do their brakes, I&#x27;m willing (but scheduling is often a bear).<p>I would suggest this even before taking a class at the community college. I think you&#x27;re going to be taking the class with peers who have spent at least 50 hours with a wrench in their hand growing up. You are going to learn more (or at least <i>I</i> would learn more) if you have some of the basics and have experience with the basic hand tools.