Why to change your own oil.

[brianl703]

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Not just a reason to change your own oil, but to avoid Stealers all together...

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Sounds about typical. I had one outright lie to my mom about the condition of the brake pads on her car, telling her that they were worn and in need of replacement. I've had others refuse to perform warranty work, claiming that the part isn't covered when it clearly is. And of course they seem to be incapable of looking up TSBs.

There's an idiot who posts on these forums who would deny that my experiences mean anything, but he works at a dealership, so what do you expect?

I don't think my luck is so bad that I just happened to go to the only crooked dealerships in the state, or maybe the country..

http://www.allpar.com/dealers/exmechanic.html

 

[Crashbox]

I like changing my own oil because I like knowing what's going in my vehicles. Well worth the trouble.

As far as other work I'd rather not do myself, e.g., timing belts, &c., there is one shop I do trust- then again, I know the owner's uncle...

 

[Mystic]

I do know a mechanic who has been a mechanic for over 50 years (he is over 70 years old and still working). I change my own oil but I think if I needed any car maintenance that I did not know how to do I would take my car to that old mechanic. He does not look 70+-he looks 50+. And he will let you stand right there while he changes the oil. He likes to use Mystik unless a person brings their own oil. He has a lot of people who go to him for car maintenance. The guy also has probably the cleanest repair shop I have every seen. In the past he was a NAPA dealer and is retired from that. In his shop he has several repair manuals including for the latest vehicles. He puts these so-called mechanics today to shame.

 

[Mr. Boston]

Had a Jiffy Lube forget to reinstall the filler plug in the third member of my pickup! Fortunately, I caught it before any permanent damage had occurred...I think.

I now do most of my own maintenance to try to eliminate one more *gotcha* from my life.

 

[John_E]

Another reason: 10-fastener belly pans (1996 Audi A4, 2001 VW Passat). The Passat's belly pan began to drag on the freeway two weeks after my last free-and-worth-every-penny dealership oil change. Before I back off my Rhino ramps, I recheck all ten fasteners.

Another reason: Overfill. I don't know why, but according to my reading on PassatWorld and VWVortex, VW dealerships love to overfill past the "safe" zone on the dipstick. OK, we're dealing with the coke-prone 1.8T, for which underfilling is deadly, and the 2.8 V6, which is a known oil leaker/burner, but overfilling is hard on the catalytic converter.

When you use a 1-quart(!) oil filter (Purolator L40316, to augment the 1.8T's puny sump capacity), prefill becomes especially important.

Another reason for doing my own oil changes is that I like to inspect the drained oil.

 

[John_E]

I also concur that taking a car somewhere for an oil change does not really save one any time. For those with teenagers, doing light maintenance together on the house and/or cars is a great way to spend quality time with your kids.

 

[harrydog]

The one and only time that I had an oil change done at a quick-lube place they cross threaded the drain plug in the oil pan.
I've changed my own oil since I got my very first car and I'll continue to do it as long as I'm physically able. I actually enjoy doing it anyway.

 

[INMY01TA]

I'm an able bodied man, I do it myself.

 

[Syntec-Man]

i worked at a chevy dealer here up in canada and we had one customer come in he was complaing that his car was leaking. The mechanics here got paid flat rate so they went there and they determined the problem to be a power steering leak. this car was a Chevy Malibu and the mechanic had to disconnect the steering system, well he forgot to bolt it back on because he was in such a rush "flat rate". The customer takes the car home the next day and he gets into a accident on the highway! he lost control over the car and BOOM 4 car accident. The next the owner of the stealler gets a visit from Mr. Lawyer telling him what happened well the owner of the dealership ended up taking responsibilty and giving the person a new Malibu and a Corvette! along with free maint. for the rest of his life, just to avoid court. The mechanic got fired because this was not the first time he had caused a accident.

 

[Mystic]

With so many horror stories involving even new car dealerships (actually, I do like 'stealerships') as well as quick lube places, I don't know why anybody would not change their own oil. Buy some ramps and do it.

By changing your own oil you insure quality motor oil, correct viscosity for time of year, synthetic oil in the engine if you paid for synthetic oil, other stuff checked that needs to be checked, drain plug installed properly, corect oil filter actually installed, etc. The ramps are quickly paid for. And a worker (you) who actually cares about the job done because it is your vehicle.

 

[Auto-Union]

"One of them had a bottle of Mytik 10W40 conventional oil in his hands and had been almost ready to put that in my car. The Mobil 1 was still in a bag and laying on the floor against a wall"

Maybe he was unaware or forgot there was ~something~ sitting in the bag next to him? It seems possible it was an honest mistake.

Some of you guys seem pretty paranoid, however I DIY all oil changes. If I did mechanic changes, I would still use my extractor and refill with fresh oil. Of all chain service shops, Firestone/Bridgestone is far and away the best quality serice. They have Kendall to boot!

As far as dealers stealing oil, I think of mega-dealers who sponsor professional race cars, like Champion Audi or even Holbert's. It seem preposterous Champion would sponsor an LeMans team, and then steal some guy's Mobil 1. Also, fwiw, my local mechanic uses TA too.

 

[Brogy]

Quote:

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"One of them had a bottle of Mytik 10W40 conventional oil in his hands and had been almost ready to put that in my car. The Mobil 1 was still in a bag and laying on the floor against a wall"

Maybe he was unaware or forgot there was ~something~ sitting in the bag next to him? It seems possible it was an honest mistake.

Some of you guys seem pretty paranoid

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Still, that honest mistake would have cost the mobil 1 the guy paid for, and the next time too, and the next time...

 

[HawkeyeScott]

Mystic is right about a few mechanics still being good guys. My mechanic is great. A few weeks ago, I took my wife's Jeep in to have him put on new front brake pads. Soon after I left, he called me to tell me that the pads are worn, but that they didn't need replaced that day. In fact, they still had 15 or 20K left on them. So instead of this guy being like many mechanics and taking money from me dishonestly, this guy saved me money with his honesty.

When I went back to get the Jeep, he didn't even want a few bucks for the time he'd spent on it. Deeds like this is why I tell everybody I know about him.

He's certainly a dying breed...unfortunately.

 

[Syntec-Man]

change your own oil! its not that hard.

 

[glenncof]

My Ford dealer is willing to change my oil for about what it cost me for oil/filter. Wife will go SHOPPING when drop-off. That's the REAL expense!

You know why they will do this....get it in there and "Oh 30K checkup" or you need new xxxx. Then wife gets concerned (I now send her in with written list.)

Also I DON'T LIKE them working on my car. Had idler arm replaced once...mechanic left the tie-rod end loose... one Porsche shop put Redline synthetic in a '85 911 tranny which was likely failure for brass syncro's (should be Swepco 201 dino). This last on was about $3000 mistake when tranny blew. Why were brake pads only lasting 24K ?, cheap pads. Warm-up idle problem on 911, "oh you need turn-up"... $850 due to new wires, get it back...still has the problem!!!...needs another $400...three years later I see distributor cap was never changed at tune-up ....I could go on.

Doing oil changes gives me a chance to look at things and monitor health.