I am a new amateur mechanic, and I went to pick up a torque wrench at a box store. My immediate plan was for torquing my lug nuts to spec after rotating my wheels (80 ft/lbs for my Civic). I was planning on buying a 3/8" drive which goes to up to 100 ft/lbs, but the store employee strongly recommended that I go for a stronger 1/2". He said the 3/8" would not be adequate for torquing my lugs. Was he right? I ended up buying the 1/2", but I think the 3/8" would be more useful for the entry-level maintenance that I’ll actually end up doing, and it would still work for the lugs. Should I return the 1/2" and swap it for the 3/8"? Maybe I’ll just end up needing both eventually anyway …
You want a torque wrench where most of your torque jobs fall into the middle of the torque wrench’s rating. That’s the most accurate portion of the wrench. See this article on how to buy a torque wrench