Asklemmy

Wow, this is highly informative, thanks for taking the time to put that much effort into your reply!

I expect the drums are probably fine as the squeaking only started very recently and only occurs at the very end of coming to a complete stop (it does not happen during otherwise normal brake usage).

The cost effectiveness that you have noted for a few different maintenance items really affirms my interest in this. My auto-dealer gives me free oil changes, but only under the condition that I stay with their service schedule. I know how easy and cheap it is to change out oil so while that might sound appealing to other people, it really is not for me because as you have shown, I could be saving much more money if I learned how to do the other kinds of maintenance myself.

I guess I can use whatever the dealer has on their service schedule as something to orient myself on what items I should go learn how to do, but I think something that would be handy in that regard would be to first learn how to diagnose what should be getting replaced or fixed.

As you noted, I can use calipers to check the brake drums to make a determination on replacement there, and the fact that I can hear the brakes beginning to squeak implies that the pads should be changed.

I wonder if there is a resource somewhere which has information on this specifically - just how to make these checks to make that determination on what should be done. Surely I know a few others. I know how to check if the oil is low, or the washer fluid etc, but would be really interested in other items like this, because for me I think it would be a really great jumping-off point.

Thanks!