Why You Should Change Your Own Oil

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted By: E150GT
To get the dealer to do it with the oil I want is too expensive and I wait too long.


With the Toyota dealer I get oil change coupons for anywhere from $25-29 or so. With the Camry I had them supply the filter and labor while I brought in my own oil. They used the coupon for the discount and then subtracted off the oil. Total cost $12. The oil was free from Pennzoil.

Second example with the Matrix, I bought a Fram TG from WM and supplied the oil both from WM. Total on that one was $7.96. Car was in for the airbag recall so had them change the oil as well. The last oil change I did myself and kept the filter on. The oil I was used is in my signature, which was on clearance.

 

[HerrStig]

Drippy Lube, where I went to have the differential fluid replaced on a vehicle where the fill and drain are hard to get to and an OCD loudmouth employee told me I had front wheel drive and NOT a differential. I had the shop manual with me. Loudmouth refused to look at it. Never been back. Don't need that bleep from a halfwit.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Originally Posted By: AirgunSavant
How sad

I say the same thing about people who spend their time trotting off to the doctor and then whining about health insurance.

I simply choose to take care of both my health and oil changes myself.


Wow, you can do your own surgery and perform MRI and other tests on yourself?

 

[tc1446]

I agree with DIY and did all my vehicle's until the last couple of years when infirmities made it very difficult.
At that point, I started used a local Tire chain that I have bought tires and other services for some years and got to know the owner and a couple of the maintenance guys. I take my own oil and filter and in the summer, when the bays are open,you can watch them do the work on either the Accord or Ranger if you like.

My three wheel sling shot can not be lifted by their lifts, nor can it be driven up a ramp. Shortly after buying it last year, I stopped in a small local quick lube, a small chain, talked with the manager who had been with the chain for 12 years and he had me drive the Slingshot over his PIT and found that with just the front driven on, there was plenty of room for them to drain the oil and transmission if needed. Again, my oil and filter. Not only that, but they let me stand in the bay and watch and let me do the final hand torque on the canister filter which is on top of the motor. I always give a small tip and toot of the horn when I drive by. For both the vehicles and the Slingshot the charge is $20.

Point of all this is there are a lot of reputable outfits if you take the time to find them.

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Originally Posted By: AirgunSavant
How sad

I say the same thing about people who spend their time trotting off to the doctor and then whining about health insurance.

I simply choose to take care of both my health and oil changes myself.


Wow, you can do your own surgery and perform MRI and other tests on yourself?


He probably does all of his own dental work too!

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: oilboy123
With the baby boomer generation, the DIY oil changer is going to die off. Makes me think of starting my own quick lube.........

more like after gen-X. We still do our own work.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Originally Posted By: AirgunSavant
How sad

I say the same thing about people who spend their time trotting off to the doctor and then whining about health insurance.

I simply choose to take care of both my health and oil changes myself.


Wow, you can do your own surgery and perform MRI and other tests on yourself?


He probably does all of his own dental work too!


Yeah, I was going to say that too, but it's possible if just doing a lot of flossing and brushing. My dentist gave up his license because he didn't want to get into all the regulations they had recently passed about capturing the mercury in the mercury fillings. Doing your own x-rays is probably pretty hard too.

While I prefer to do my own oil changes, it's not really free either, there's the cost of the jack, jack stand, filter wrenches, and other tools. I've probably got several hundred in tools over the years, but at a minimum, it's probably close to $100 to get all the basic tools plus having a place to store all that. The time isn't really that big a factor as it takes just as long going to the dealer as doing it yourself.

 

[NormanBuntz]

Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: E150GT
To get the dealer to do it with the oil I want is too expensive and I wait too long.


With the Toyota dealer I get oil change coupons for anywhere from $25-29 or so. With the Camry I had them supply the filter and labor while I brought in my own oil. They used the coupon for the discount and then subtracted off the oil. Total cost $12. The oil was free from Pennzoil.

Second example with the Matrix, I bought a Fram TG from WM and supplied the oil both from WM. Total on that one was $7.96. Car was in for the airbag recall so had them change the oil as well. The last oil change I did myself and kept the filter on. The oil I was used is in my signature, which was on clearance.


Great. But can you be certain the tech actually used the Pennzoil for your car instead of feeding it something cheaper and possibly with a different viscosity? Unless I see them do it, I'm skeptical.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted By: NormanBuntz
Great. But can you be certain the tech actually used the Pennzoil for your car instead of feeding it something cheaper and possibly with a different viscosity? Unless I see them do it, I'm skeptical.


I had a UOA done on the Camry and it appears they use the recommended 0w20 TGMO which came back with excellent results. This was when it had 60k miles, so 5k miles ago. So if they didn't use the PP 0w20 it would have received the TGMO 0w20 which is fine or even better but I doubt they would do that.

With the Matrix I gave them a jug of Valvoline Full syn with ML. Since it contains 5 qts and it only takes about 4 qts I requested the remainder back which I received. This was six months ago and I received a UOA back a few days ago which confirms they used it. If they didn't use it they prob would have put TGMO 5W30 syn-blend in worse case scenario. But yes I see your point which is why I did the last oil change myself.

 

[Donald]

There are places that do quality work, both indy and dealers.

DIY oil changes are fine. Not so fun in the north during winter.

But there will come a time where we all will not be able to change our own oil.

 

[MCompact]

My Mazda dealer gave me free oil changes on my MS3 for as long as I owned the car; somehow it survived until 158,000 miles when I flipped it for the 2er. It also gets free oil changes for four years/50,000 miles. I still do the occasional oil change on the Jeep and the older Bimmers, but I've been perfectly happy with the service I've received from my BMW dealer.

 

[PolarisX]

Dealers around here are way too goofy to me. Plus both cars I have are easy to change, I don't have to fight with splash guards or bad filter locations.

Its probably that I enjoy doing my own work sprinkled in with a nice helping of paranoia.

 

[ragtoplvr]

The used oil is the only thing I have found that will kill multifloral rose.

I kid of course,gasoline and diesel work too.

Nothing kills multifloral rose.

Rod

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: Donald
There are places that do quality work, both indy and dealers.

DIY oil changes are fine. Not so fun in the north during winter.

But there will come a time where we all will not be able to change our own oil.



Very good post. I like how these "this is why I change my own oil" threads pop up every once in a while. These threads must be posted when we can't think of anything else to post.


I guess it reinforces something that someone feels need reinforced. Kinda like a poster on here how he has 12 years worth of oil (true story btw). But hey - he got it at a good price and everyone congratulated him.


No one likes to run any errands of ANY KIND on a Saturday. But for hard working folks that's the day they have.

 

[Lolvoguy]

Originally Posted By: PolarisX
Dealers around here are way too goofy to me. Plus both cars I have are easy to change, I don't have to fight with splash guards or bad filter locations.

Its probably that I enjoy doing my own work sprinkled in with a nice helping of paranoia.

 

[Merkava_4]

Don't these people realize all the things that can go wrong with a simple oil change ?

 

[PolarisX]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Don't these people realize all the things that can go wrong with a simple oil change ?


The older I get the more I realize people around my age (late 20's - early 30's) do not care about anything until it is totally broken, smoldering, in a pile. Even friends of mine, planning vacations while their vehicles are falling apart. All I can say is I am ALL FOR State Inspections. People do not care about their safety or your loved ones.

They want everything cheap, throw it away when it breaks. If it clicks, bangs, rattles, or whatever they don't care if it goes down the road for the most part. Then they all get on stupid Facebook and post how its a pile of junk. I treat my cars like an investment. Even if they can't be sold for a profit per se, the longer I can keep them running good, looking good, and being reliable they are more valuable to me.

...My fiancee says I'm 29 going on 63. If you will excuse me I have door hinges to oil and news to watch.

 

[69GTX]

I don't consider the cost of jack and jack stands I bought 20 yrs ago for around $100 to be part of the oil change. Those were mainly bought for more significant inspections and repairs on vehicles. The tools used on the car are also used around the house too, including the filter wrench. If you figure 20 yrs of oil changes on 2-3 vehicles, at up to 2X per year, that $100 investment....you're getting close to $1 per OCI for your tools. And those same tools can also be used for under-carriage inspections and detailing, diff-trans-coolant fluid/filter changes, not to mention jobs like tires/brakes/suspension, etc. The cost of your jacks, jack stands, ramps, etc. becomes much less than a dollar and simply inconsequential.

If one is really frugal, you could buy used quality jack stands, ramps, and even jacks for half of that $100. Or build a simple set of wooden ramps with tossed away wood...no cost...just an hour of your time. When I did numerous oil changes back in my early years, I didn't even need a jack or jack stands to slide under the car to access things. You don't even need a filter wrench if you put the filter on properly only hand tight. Only tool needed for an oil changed would be a crescent wrench/box wrench/socket set, which everyone has for around the house use any ways.

 

[KingCake]

Been doing my own since I was a teen in HS thanks to my dad teaching me. When I do go to the 5 minute places (like when I was recovering from surgery) I go to one where the guys will let me give them my own filter and oil.

They still manage to [censored] up and break vacuum hoses and airboxes, though

 

[nitehawk55]

I was an auto mechanic and I still like to look my own car over and do what repairs and maintenance I can , makes me feel better too .