How many here change their own oil?

[wxfree]

I think there's a law or regulation here in Texas that requires any retailer that sells motor oil to accept as much used oil as you buy, at no cost to the customer.  I'm not entirely certain, but I seem to remember reading that somewhere.  That makes a lot of sense, since almost all new oil replaces dirty oil.  I'm not sure how it works at dollar stores, though; I've never bought oil or tried to dump it at one.

[bugo]

I used to, but I realized that not getting oil all over myself was worth the extra few dollars to get somebody else to do it.

[corco]

I started doing it about a year and a half ago since everybody here charges an arm and a leg for an oil change, and I had gotten sick of taking my car to quick lube places in Tucson (it seemed like everybody down there dealing with cars was trying to rip you off- in the most egregious instance, I replaced an air filter immediately before going to an oil change place down there once, and the douchebags had the nerve to tell me I needed a new air filter).

Got a set of rhino ramps for the Honda and I just crawl under the Jeep. The first time with each car took about 40 minutes and a lot of frustration, but since then it takes about 10 minutes for each and I can put full synthetic in for less than the price of a conventional oil change at a lube place.

The mess is the annoying part- I have trouble not making a mess. I do the oil changes in the garage and just dump kitty litter over the oil as I finish up and sweep it up a couple days later and that gets most of it. Our landfill takes motor oil free of charge though and it's really easy to dispose of it there. I just fill up the new oil jug with the old oil and take them down there once I accumulate five or six.

I try to take the cars into a mechanic every 20,000 or so to give a once over for other stuff, more frequently if service intervals dictate it. I'll do oil changes and anything else that's simple- probably the most complicated thing I've ever replaced myself are sparkplugs; I wouldn't want to get much more complicated than that. Differential flushes and transmission flushes I could probably do, but that's where it just gets too messy for my taste. When you change oil, the oil just comes out of the drain plug neatly into a bucket- dropping a differential or transmission pan is comparatively disastrous.

[cpzilliacus]

Crankcase holds 20 quarts.  No thanks.

[Duke87]

My car has received 14 oil changes in the time I've owned it. 11 of them I did myself.

The first one was done at the dealership since they do your first oil change for free. I like free stuff.

Several years later it was done by the dealership again because when I asked them to give the car a checkup they said "we do that for free with the purchase of an oil change".

After that I had my oil changed at a Valvoline place in Florida because the person I was visiting down there lacked the necessary equipment to do it at their house and I wasn't going to drive the car home for 2,000 miles overdue for one.
And after that experience I am never going to Valvoline for anything again. Those jerkoffs stripped the plug on my oil pan and I had to get it replaced.



True, I do not have my own driveway and doing auto work on the street in the city isn't particularly convenient. But, my parents have a garage and a driveway and so I do this stuff when I visit them. I change my own oil, I rotate my own tires, I top off my own fluids, and I will gladly do any other work on the car myself that is simple and straightforward. I've also replaced my own windshield wipers and were I planning on keeping the car much longer I'd also be replacing my own battery, doing my own radiator flush, and doing my own transmission flush.

My justification is partly that doing things myself is cheaper, and partly that I on principle don't like paying someone to do something for me when I can easily do it myself.


As for the issue of getting under the car, yeah, I would never get under a jacked up car. But as a substitute you can buy little ramps that you can drive the car onto (or build your own out of scrap wood, like my father and I did years ago), that way it's much more sturdy.

[briantroutman]

Crankcase holds 20 quarts.  No thanks.

What do you drive–a Peterbilt?

[Brian556]

I change my own oil.

If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself. the morons at the local Kwik Kar can't even do it right. They either fail to put the dipstick back in the hole, or overfill the oil.

I like to but oil in the one quart containers. Four of them gives me the perfect amount of oil every time.

I use metal ramps. I put rubber traffic cone/vertical panel bases behind the ramps to keep them from sliding forward when I'm driving up on them.
My old 91 Accord was worse about pushing them forward, because the front end was so low. The front of the 04 Camry I have now is a little higher, but I still use the rubber bases for assurance.

[cpzilliacus]

Crankcase holds 20 quarts.  No thanks.

What do you drive–a Peterbilt?

Ford pickup. 7.3L V8 turboDiesel.

[Mapmikey]

I stopped doing any real maintenance for my cars about 23 yrs ago when I took a spark plug change-out and turned it into a $1000 drill-it-to-get-it-out later job.

I stopped using quick-lube type places after my first car was replaced.  Stopped being comfortable with how they operated.

The Chevy dealer up here is pretty honest about stuff and I can't complain - last 3 cars have racked up 315k, 204k (totaled in a deer accident), and currently 197k miles on them.

The oil change price is reasonable and I'm only doing it every 13,000 miles on my current vehicle...

Mapmikey

[J N Winkler]

I was changing the oil in my car the other day when this question came to mind. I asked several of my friends, and they all said that they take their cars in to get it changed. How about you all?

I had to answer "No" regretfully.  When I still had Rosie (a 1986 Nissan Maxima), I changed the oil myself all the time, including on the road.  It was very easy to do because both the drain plug and the filter could be accessed from above, without any need to raise the car.  For the amount I would have spent at an oil-change shop, I could put in Mobil 1 synthetic instead of low-quality dinosaur oil, and be sure that no damage was done under the hood while checking the other fluids and filters.  (This generation of Maxima has an air filter held in place by six screws and an oil-change shop managed to lose two of them, which I had to replace myself when I discovered they were missing several hundred miles later.)  There was a bit of a learning curve, but by the fifth time I had done my own oil change, I was able to do it without causing the filter stud to leak more than a few drops of oil on the exhaust pipe or ground.  Disposal of the waste oil was easy in Wichita while our neighbor worked as the parts manager at a GMC dealership.  When I travelled or relocated temporarily, I made extensive use of public recycling facilities (I knew where the waste-oil tank was in Greenbelt Park, Maryland, for example), though once I left a milk jug of old oil outside a repair shop in Green River, Utah.

I always changed the oil cold.  Changing it warm is a standard recommendation, but who needs to be anywhere near a hot exhaust manifold?  I did always go to great lengths to ensure that the new filter was primed with oil.

I hardly ever changed the oil in a garage--I generally did it out in the open, including in apartment and hotel or motel parking lots.  I never encountered an apartment complex that actually enforced any ban it might have on DIY car maintenance.  I could be done with a complete oil and filter change within 45 minutes, so there is a possibility that I might have been caught if I had taken longer.

I have had to give up oil changes with my current car, a 1994 Saturn SL2, because they are absolutely miserable.  The drain plug might be accessible from above, but the oil filter certainly is not.  It is located right next to a screw-on filter for the automatic transmission fluid (hence instruction printouts for oil-change mechanics for this model include "Do Not Remove Red Filter" in all caps) and care has to be taken to ensure that any oil that leaks out through the filter stud does not fall on the CV joint boot, which is immediately underneath.  We do have facilities to lift the car and suspend it on jack stands, but this is too much of a hassle to do at home at a typical 3,000-mile oil change interval, let alone on the road.

I did multiple bulb replacements on the Maxima (I had to replace the right headlamp bulb fairly often because the polycarbonate lens was chipped and let in moisture, and it was cheaper just to pay $4 for bulbs that would struggle to last 30,000 miles versus $200 for a new lens), and I did do a turn signal bulb replacement on the Saturn about four years ago.  I don't like wiper blade replacements (too fiddly), but I have done them twice on the Saturn and I think I did them at least once on the Maxima.

Our landfill takes motor oil free of charge though and it's really easy to dispose of it there. I just fill up the new oil jug with the old oil and take them down there once I accumulate five or six.

I got in the habit of getting rid of old oil ASAP when I discovered that milk jugs leak.  I used a closed drain pan with two screw-top openings (a small one on a narrow side to allow old oil to be poured into a waste oil storage tank, and a large one on a wide side that is removed when the container is inserted under the drain plug), and learned quickly enough that old oil leaks out all too easily if it laps up against either cap on the inside.  Whenever I had to transport a full container in my trunk, I kept it inside a bin liner and put that inside a kitty litter box.

I try to take the cars into a mechanic every 20,000 or so to give a once over for other stuff, more frequently if service intervals dictate it. I'll do oil changes and anything else that's simple- probably the most complicated thing I've ever replaced myself are sparkplugs; I wouldn't want to get much more complicated than that. Differential flushes and transmission flushes I could probably do, but that's where it just gets too messy for my taste. When you change oil, the oil just comes out of the drain plug neatly into a bucket- dropping a differential or transmission pan is comparatively disastrous.

What is easy and what is not varies considerably by car model.  In the case of the Maxima, I did transmission drains and fills too, at an approximate 15,000-mile interval.  This was easy since I just had to remove a drain plug on the bottom of the transmission housing, without having to drop the pan, replace filter screen and gasket, etc.  I also did a twice-yearly tuneup routine that included spark plug replacement (super-easy since the VG30 engine has cast-iron heads), air filter replacement, PCV valve replacement, fuel filter replacement, and spraying the intake manifold with carb and choke cleaner.  One year I replaced nearly all of the vacuum hoses.  This allowed me to wring better than 30 MPG highway out of a car for which Consumer Reports cited 23 MPG highway in the "real world."

I actually need to get comfortable doing an abbreviated version of the same routine on the Saturn.  Spark plug replacements are nothing to sneeze at (aluminum heads), but need to be done since the existing plugs (platinum) are already 60,000 miles old, and I suspect I still have a resin-tipped engine coolant temperature sensor that really should be replaced with a brass tip.  On the other hand, I now think frequent fuel filter replacements are overkill and I don't think the Saturn really needs a new one.  I may need a new thermostat as well, but I am holding off on that for a while because I hate thermostat replacements with a passion.

[agentsteel53]

I also did a twice-yearly tuneup routine that included spark plug replacement (super-easy since the VG30 engine has cast-iron heads), air filter replacement, PCV valve replacement, fuel filter replacement, and spraying the intake manifold with carb and choke cleaner.  One year I replaced nearly all of the vacuum hoses.  This allowed me to wring better than 30 MPG highway out of a car for which Consumer Reports cited 23 MPG highway in the "real world."

was this cost-effective?  it would all depend on how many miles you drove between tuneups.

[J N Winkler]

I also did a twice-yearly tuneup routine that included spark plug replacement (super-easy since the VG30 engine has cast-iron heads), air filter replacement, PCV valve replacement, fuel filter replacement, and spraying the intake manifold with carb and choke cleaner.  One year I replaced nearly all of the vacuum hoses.  This allowed me to wring better than 30 MPG highway out of a car for which Consumer Reports cited 23 MPG highway in the "real world."

was this cost-effective?  it would all depend on how many miles you drove between tuneups.

That is hard to say.  At the time I was following this routine, I was driving about 30,000 miles annually, so the change intervals were fairly close to those the owner's manual recommended for severe service.  I also didn't do everything twice a year; for example, I changed spark plugs once every summer until I moved to platinum plugs, which I think I kept for 60,000 miles before I replaced them with Splitfires to see if they would improve fuel economy (they didn't).

The parts and supplies I consumed when tuning up the car were very cheap, but I am not sure I got my money back in terms of fuel savings because a certain proportion of the MPG improvement would have come from extended hours of highway driving without air conditioning.  (Fuel at the time was also much cheaper than it is now, with prices ranging from about 90c/gallon to about $2.50/gallon.)  There is also a sense of confidence and security that comes from driving a car that is in peak running condition:  it is worth having, but I am not sure how you put a price on it.

[The High Plains Traveler]

I do my own on my older vehicles (Nissan pickup, Dodge Durango) because I can buy Walmart brand full-synthetic or syn-blend (what is in stock on any given day varies) for $18-$20 a 5 quart jug. I reckon the higher quality oil helps the engines last longer, and if I requested this at an oil change place it would cost $50 and up. Both vehicles are easy to get under to do the work. Our new car has a maintenance plan we paid for and so I won't be doing that one for a while.

I once had an experience at a Valvoline Rapid Oil Change where they started the engine and only then realized they had forgotten to put the oil in. It didn't seem to have an impact on the engine, but that only convinced me of the quality of help they employ. I have a backlog of used oil jugs awaiting the next household hazardous waste pickup or a trip to a shop that accepts used oil.

[Scott5114]

I did once at my father's suggestion that I would save money. With the cost of the oil subtracted, however, the savings were certainly not very much. It took an hour of my time since I am not very mechanically inclined. It makes more sense to take it to Walmart and get my grocery shopping done while the oil is being changed.

I have done some other maintenance to my car (2007 PT Cruiser–I know, I know, I'm getting rid of it soon) myself however. I have replaced the camshaft position sensor twice, replaced a tail light bulb (and later the entire housing, which I somehow broke by bumping into it in the garage), and the battery. Tomorrow I am planning on beginning work on replacing the front bumper cover, which was damaged in a collision about a year ago.

[Dr Frankenstein]

I do them myself at my parents' house or my best friend's house, usually with their help/advice since I'm not mechanically inclined at all; they also advise me on anything else that may require attention. I don't like to put my car in the hands of people whom I don't know, so I tend to avoid garages and shops. Same goes for brake pads and rotors, spark plugs, etc.

I also do my own seasonal tire swaps, wiper replacements and bulb replacements with no assistance.

My new car came with two free oil changes, though, so I'm taking advantage of that for now.

[cjk374]

I've always done my oil changes.  The fast-lube places seem to be costly vs. buying the oil and filter myself.  I take my used oil to one of the oil change places, and they take it free of charge.  I have also had bad experiences at fast-lube places similar to what everyone else has mentioned here....especially at Wally Hell!   

I own an '83 Grand Prix, a '98 Ford Ranger, and a 2011 Dodge Challenger.  They are all relatively easy to do maintenance work on, so I pretty much do all of the bulb changing, battery replacements, fluid toppings, starter & alternator replacements & wiper changings myself.

[Rainking75]

I do it myself. I find it strangely therapeutic...

[wriddle082]

I had been changing my own oil for years when I lived in TN, and can even perform maintenance as complicated as drum brake replacement.  But after moving to a nice neighborhood in SC I felt like I needed to stop.  Found one decent quick lube place that I still use, but not nearly as often now that I put most of my daily mileage on a company work van.

I had also service the car my wife had when I first met her, as well as her next vehicle, but her last one and her current one were sold with dealer service plans so no need.  Last time I had the oil changed in my truck I decided to take it to the same Chevy dealer she bought her current car at.  They have their own quick lube building with Saturday hours, their prices are the same as the other quick lube place I had been going to, they offer free car washes with service, and it's a dealer so I guess they have to know what they're doing.

I have a slight obsession with tire pressure and washer fluid level, so at least every two weeks I will top off all washer fluid reservoirs and add air to all tires parked in my driveway.  My truck that mostly just sits in the driveway these days sometimes loses a couple of PSI in at least one tire so I'm always topping it off.  I've always been able to notice a difference in handling with properly inflated tires versus low tires.

[Jardine]

I've still got a couple free oil change coupons from the dealership  for my pickup and Equinox.  Once that perk is over I won't mind doing it.
My work van has 290,000 miles on it and I do as much maintenance as possible.  I even put in a can of R-134 a while back and the AC started working again.  There can't be too many Delco AC units that have gone 19 years and only needed one can of juice and a new pressure switch.

I rotate the tires, but I usually don't patch flats, that is a sucky job.  I grease it and maintain all the fluids.  I cleaned out the radiator and got the heater working again last year. 

It has very little rust too.  Every spring I jack it up, get the garden hose, and give it an enema to get all the salt out of it.  Really helps that problem.

[J N Winkler]

I wrote upthread almost a month ago that I take my current car to quick-lube places because its oil filter is accessible only from below.  I am about to leave for my Seattle trip in a few days, so I took it in for an oil change this afternoon, and left feeling this will probably be the last time I pay others to do this service.

There was nothing particularly wrong with the job the quick-lube place did.  However, I had gone to some trouble to check and top off fluids and tire pressures this morning, so it was exasperating to watch through a window and see:

*  A technician pumping air in some tires and letting air out of others

*  Another technician adding windshield washer fluid to the tank, which was already full, and then not being able to get the snap cap back on (it is tricky and I could have schooled him, but there was of course no question of allowing me on the shop floor)

*  Technicians using the same cloths for dipsticks belonging to the engine, automatic transmission, and power steering fluid reservoir

I also saw, upside down, the report of this unneeded and unwanted "courtesy service," with a handwritten note saying, "All engine seals leak."  This was work product.  I was given just the final invoice, which was entirely computer-printed, had none of the added information from the technicians' report, and said just "checked" for all fluids--not "full" or any comments on fluid color.

The service was also quite expensive.  The last oil change at the same location, in November 2012, cost just $35.40 including tax.  This one cost $39.65, a 12% increase in just 22 months, during a period when CPI was increasing 1.5% year-on-year.  $40 (more or less) is what these places were charging about fifteen years ago for changes with full synthetic oil, not the 5W-30 dino juice I got.  Bring on the rhino ramps!

[Pete from Boston]

I wrote upthread almost a month ago that I take my current car to quick-lube places because its oil filter is accessible only from below.  I am about to leave for my Seattle trip in a few days, so I took it in for an oil change this afternoon, and left feeling this will probably be the last time I pay others to do this service.

There was nothing particularly wrong with the job the quick-lube place did.  However, I had gone to some trouble to check and top off fluids and tire pressures this morning, so it was exasperating to watch through a window and see:

*  A technician pumping air in some tires and letting air out of others

*  Another technician adding windshield washer fluid to the tank, which was already full, and then not being able to get the snap cap back on (it is tricky and I could have schooled him, but there was of course no question of allowing me on the shop floor)

*  Technicians using the same cloths for dipsticks belonging to the engine, automatic transmission, and power steering fluid reservoir

I also saw, upside down, the report of this unneeded and unwanted "courtesy service," with a handwritten note saying, "All engine seals leak."  This was work product.  I was given just the final invoice, which was entirely computer-printed, had none of the added information from the technicians' report, and said just "checked" for all fluids--not "full" or any comments on fluid color.

The service was also quite expensive.  The last oil change at the same location, in November 2012, cost just $35.40 including tax.  This one cost $39.65, a 12% increase in just 22 months, during a period when CPI was increasing 1.5% year-on-year.  $40 (more or less) is what these places were charging about fifteen years ago for changes with full synthetic oil, not the 5W-30 dino juice I got.  Bring on the rhino ramps!

And now you know why I do it myself.

[Laura]

I don't.  I always take it to my trusted mechanic, and he also gives the car a thorough look-over and lets me know if there's something wrong that I'm not aware of.  that information is invaluable, because a) I drive beater cars, and b) I take them on some very long trips, so I need them reliable.

I also do exactly this. I actually bought my car from my trusted mechanic, and I've only ever taken it to his shop.

Husband did all of the routine maintenance on his VW bug when he had it. Amusingly, he went about 200,000 miles at one point without changing the oil (he constantly monitored it and added oil when necessary). That car lasted 263,000 miles. I suspect that now he is borrow his father's VW bug that he may do some work on it himself. 


iPhone

[US 41]

I do. Neon's are very easy to change the oil in.

[J N Winkler]

And now you know why I do it myself.

I used to as well, in my last car, a 1986 Nissan Maxima where the oil filter was accessible from above.  The sticking point with my current car was having to get at the filter from below.  I checked and side access is possible but not really practical--it entails either taking the front passenger wheel off or turning it all the way to the right, and then removing splash shields, which I would consider doing for a major job like the torque strut or water pump, but not for routine maintenance.

Today I learned that I still prefer to change my own oil, even with the hassle of having to lift the car.  The ability to use full synthetic, which I prefer for its detergency and sludge resistance, is a bonus.  I ran Mobil 1 in the Maxima for 160,000 miles and could look through the oil filler hole at one of the camshafts and see it get cleaner and cleaner.

[signalman]

I wrote upthread almost a month ago that I take my current car to quick-lube places because its oil filter is accessible only from below.  I am about to leave for my Seattle trip in a few days, so I took it in for an oil change this afternoon, and left feeling this will probably be the last time I pay others to do this service.

There was nothing particularly wrong with the job the quick-lube place did.  However, I had gone to some trouble to check and top off fluids and tire pressures this morning, so it was exasperating to watch through a window and see:

*  A technician pumping air in some tires and letting air out of others

*  Another technician adding windshield washer fluid to the tank, which was already full, and then not being able to get the snap cap back on (it is tricky and I could have schooled him, but there was of course no question of allowing me on the shop floor)

*  Technicians using the same cloths for dipsticks belonging to the engine, automatic transmission, and power steering fluid reservoir

I also saw, upside down, the report of this unneeded and unwanted "courtesy service," with a handwritten note saying, "All engine seals leak."  This was work product.  I was given just the final invoice, which was entirely computer-printed, had none of the added information from the technicians' report, and said just "checked" for all fluids--not "full" or any comments on fluid color.

The service was also quite expensive.  The last oil change at the same location, in November 2012, cost just $35.40 including tax.  This one cost $39.65, a 12% increase in just 22 months, during a period when CPI was increasing 1.5% year-on-year.  $40 (more or less) is what these places were charging about fifteen years ago for changes with full synthetic oil, not the 5W-30 dino juice I got.  Bring on the rhino ramps!

And now you know why I do it myself.

Hearing stories (or reading in this case) of similar nature from others is why I also change my own oil.  It is a hassle and it is a pain getting rid of the dirty oil, but at least I know the job is done correctly.  If there is a leak due to the drain plug becoming cross-threaded or not completely tight, (which I've never done either) I know who to blame.  I do almost all maintenance myself.  I don't necessarily enjoy working on cars, but I have issues trusting others and I do save a few bucks by only buying the parts/materials.  For major work, I have a mechanic that I know well and trust.  I know my personal limits and don't venture into areas that I know are beyond my capabilities.