6 Gift Ideas Under $50 For The DIY Mechanic In Your Life

It's time to shop for holiday gifts for your loved ones, and SlashGear has always been here for you with gift suggestions for people who love camping, presents for video game enthusiasts, and a guide for shopping with Google's Search Generative Experience Artificial Intelligence engine. With much of our focus being on the auto industry and tips on maintaining and repairing your car, we felt it was time to provide you with a guide for some inexpensive tools for the shade tree mechanic in your life. 

The items that follow can also help you compile your personal wish list if you're the one who is tasked with changing the oil, spark plugs, and various filters on the cars that belong to your family and friends. We've owned and used all of these tools in working on our own vehicles, and can attest to their reliability and durability. They all come from reputable suppliers that have a confidence-inspiring return policy and can each be purchased for less than $50. 

A set of sockets is an essential part of any mechanic's tool kit. Professional mechanics spend hundreds of dollars on socket sets from the likes of Snap-On and MAC tools, but most home mechanics don't have the budget or need for sets like these. The Neiko 26-piece impact-grade metric socket set usually sells for $49.99 on Amazon but is currently on sale for Cyber Monday at $40.77, an 18% discount. It comes with shallow and deep six-point sockets in one-millimeter increments from seven to 19 millimeters and a molded plastic case for storage, transportation, and organization.

Each socket is laser-etched with the corresponding size for quick identification while you're working, and they're made of high-strength chrome vanadium steel with a corrosion-resistant black phosphate coating. The kit has an average rating of 4.8 out of five stars from more than 10,000 Amazon buyers, and there are SAE and combination SAE/metric versions available if you work extensively on American-made cars. 

A good set of sockets is completely useless without a ratchet handle to drive them, and we've got you covered there as well. One of the best values in this category is the Duratech three-piece ratchet handle set sold on Amazon for $36.99 in a polished chrome finish and $41.99 in a matte finish. The kit contains fixed-head ratchet handles in 1/4 inch, 3/8 inch, and 1/2 inch drive, each of which has a 90-tooth head with a quick-release button and reversing switch. As of this writing, both kits are on sale for Cyber Monday: The polished version is 15% off at $31.44, and the matte-finish kit is 27% off at $30.74.

The four-degree arc swing and ergonomic handle make working in tight spaces easier, and the handles with the polished finish have a knurled, non-slip grip. The kit comes with a foam storage tray that keeps the handles protected in your toolbox, and the Duratech kit has an average rating of 4.7 out of five stars from more than 4,000 Amazon buyers.

Wrenches are just as important as sockets when working on cars, and the Gearwrench seven-piece metric ratcheting wrench set is a great buy from Amazon at just $37. Gearwrench makes high-quality hand tools that come with a lifetime warranty against defects in manufacturing, and these wrenches are made of polished alloy steel with metal gear teeth for strength and durability. The kit comes with 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 18-millimeter wrenches, and the 72-tooth ratcheting end has an arc swing of just five degrees for working in tight spaces.

These wrenches have an average rating of 4.7 out of five stars from more than 3,200 Amazon buyers, with more than four out of five giving them the full five stars. Most reviewers praised the build quality and durability, and only six percent of buyers rated these wrenches three stars or lower. One user wrote that they "use them often when working on cars so they have been tested rigorously and have come out on top," and another added that they had "used them a bunch and definitely over torqued them and they still work great."

Any time you crawl under your car, you need the peace of mind that comes from knowing it is supported securely. Most home mechanics don't have the budget or space to install a lift, so jack stands become essential equipment for most home garages. This pair of Torin Big Red three-ton jack stands normally sells for $36.98 on Amazon but is now on sale for $28.16, a 24% discount. They have a lifting range of 11 1/4 inches to 16 3/4 inches and a generous saddle diameter of 3.35 inches.

The locking pawl and safety pin give you confidence that you're safe underneath your car, and the heavy-duty steel is welded at the seams for added strength. The pyramid-style base measures 7.5 inches by 6.7 inches at the feet, and these jack stands meet American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) safety standards. They have an average rating of 4.7 out of five stars from more than 25,000 Amazon buyers, with 80% awarding them a perfect five stars. 

One user is on his second set after owning his first for over a decade. He gave them five stars and wrote, "These are heavy duty and sturdy jack stands which are a good size and height for light duty trucks and SUVs. I'm sure you can spend more and get better but for my DIY purposes I think they are a good value."

When it comes time to diagnose and repair electrical problems with your car, an absolutely essential tool is a multimeter for testing circuits. Amazon normally sells the Neoteck auto-ranging multimeter for $30.99, but it's on sale for Cyber Monday at a 35% discount of just $20.24. It comes with a rubberized cover, 100-centimeter (39.4 inch) test leads with alligator clips, a zippered carrying case, and the nine-volt battery you'll need to operate it. It measures Alternating and Direct Current and voltage, resistance, frequency, capacitance, and continuity, and it also has a diode tester.

It has a backlit LCD display for easy visibility in low light and an auto-off feature to preserve battery life. More than 7,000 Amazon buyers have given this meter an average rating of 4.5 out of five stars. Nearly three-quarters of them gave it five of five, with many mentioning that it was a great value for the money and performed as promised.

Screwdrivers might not be the most exciting tool in your toolbox, but they're versatile and important in auto maintenance and repair. You can use them on hose clamps, trim panel screws, and as light-duty pry bars for valve covers and oil and transmission pans. This Rotation brand six-piece magnetic screwdriver set usually sells for $9.99 on Amazon but is now on sale for Cyber Monday for $7.99, a 20% discount.

The heat-treated steel shafts have a chrome-plated gloss coating for rust protection, and the red magnetic tips offer corrosion resistance as well. The rubberized ergonomic handles have a slot to insert another driver for added leverage or string the kit together, and the six-pack includes drivers with Phillips 0, 1, and 2-sized bits as well as flat-head drivers in three, five, and six-millimeter widths. 

All of the shafts are 100 millimeters (3.93 inches) in length, except the #0 Phillips and three-millimeter flat blade, which are 75 millimeters (three inches) long. These screwdrivers have an average rating of 4.6 out of five stars from more than 4,000 buyers, with most reviewers praising the solid build and value for the money the kit provides.

Each of the items on this list was previously purchased privately by the author to equip his home auto shop, and most of the tools were used over a period of several years to test their durability over time. The lone exception is the screwdriver set, which was only purchased in 2023 and has not been used as extensively as the other tools included here. 

We also went through existing customer reviews on Amazon to verify that our impressions were in line with those of other buyers and verified that each item was still available for less than $50 even when sale prices were not in effect.