I learned recently the lead-free needs to be a good 50 degrees F hotter than the leaded, and it is harder to work with. I don't know if you saw the thread where Bluecar has been helping me, but I almost destroyed a laptop mainboard from desoldering 2 broken usb ports. The laptop had lead-free, and I've never worked with it before. Plus, I'm not a master-solderer----yet.
Automotive is much easier than electronics in my opinion. Appropriate tip size is fairly crucial too, much more than people mention. When I remove switches, almost any tip seems to work, I think that type of work is more forgiving. Re-tin and flux baby, re-tin and flux!!!