Finally did the oil change once I got a pair of Rhino Ramps. The drain bolt is easy to reach on level ground, but that filter is just in a horrible place. It was easy enough to reach it with ramps, but whoever decided that it should go in that particular place must not have thought too much of people doing it and/or the possibility of dripping oil on garage floors/driveways/streets.
I've done oils changes on other cars that were messy, but none quite with this combination of inaccessibility and mess. I've done filter changes with other cars where I could at least set up a little piece of cardboard or plastic to guide the flow of oil. A V6 Camry has an easy to access filter, but it does drain to a strange place - down a heat shield. Still - that's pretty easy to clean up except for the oil that gets caught inside a clip that holds the heat shield to the block.
So basically all I do is just put down a sheet of plastic or a drip pan, and then hose down my driveway so that any oil dripping there ends up as a slick (that I can blot up) rather than soak in. Then a nice long drive and it mostly burns away. I left it in the garage overnight too before driving it off.
I've done oils changes on other cars that were messy, but none quite with this combination of inaccessibility and mess. I've done filter changes with other cars where I could at least set up a little piece of cardboard or plastic to guide the flow of oil. A V6 Camry has an easy to access filter, but it does drain to a strange place - down a heat shield. Still - that's pretty easy to clean up except for the oil that gets caught inside a clip that holds the heat shield to the block.
So basically all I do is just put down a sheet of plastic or a drip pan, and then hose down my driveway so that any oil dripping there ends up as a slick (that I can blot up) rather than soak in. Then a nice long drive and it mostly burns away. I left it in the garage overnight too before driving it off.
