I once heard a very valuable quote about tools... "Only a rich man can afford cheap tools"... If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense, and its true.
That being said, don't waste your money on the really high dollar stuff like Snap-On and Mac. Those are great if you want to be the cool kid around, but they're hard to find. I have Craftsman for all my hand tools, easily available at any Sears and a lifetime replacement guarantee. Or you can go with Kobalt as DW said, same deal... For me, Sears is closer than Lowe's... But I digress..
Torque wrenches are great because properly torquing bolts is very important, and sometimes people skip that step. Not a wise move. I take the time to torque stuff, even lug nuts. Why people wouldn't torque those is beyond me...
A variety of sockets, 1/4" and 3/8" drive are best for carsn(interior and engine work). You will at times enjoy having a 1/2" drive set (suspension work), so I would get those too if budget allows. I have standard and metric, but really, you don't need them. Also, I would try and buy 12 point sockets instead of 6 as they're a little more flexible. And like others mentioned, extensions, adapter sockets, maybe a couple universal joints, and a breaker bar wouldn't hurt either. Cars typically have a lot of tight spaces, so the adapters and universals do come in handy.
Inspection mirror, magnet on a pole... Those are must haves... In addition, I have a set of dental picks and stuff like that (I call it my pokey tools drawer). Those are great for doing gaskets, removing o-rings, and picking grime out of small places...
Heck, I could write forever.. I should just go take a picture of all the drawers in my roll away...
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