Party Of Fore

I've never done it before. In an effort to save a few bucks and make sure the job is done correctly, I'm toying with the idea of changing my own motor oil for my cars. Do any of you do this? I don't imagine it to be too difficult, but is it a worthwhile endeavour? I currently clip coupons and take it to somewhere nearby (Firestone, Oil Can Henry's, or the Vietnamese mechanic guy from my church, it costs between $15-30 each time).

What's equipment would I want to buy, I am thinking a small ramp, wheel chocks, a container for the used oil, a funnel, a filter wrench and a regular socket wrench, then some oil and filters, and the washers that go on the end of the bolt that goes on the drain plug, right?

I've never used a chain saw, I've never mowed my own lawn, I had to pay a guy to kill off the bee infestation in the house. So I figure it's time to start manning up, and what's more manly then oil changes, especially if I save a few bucks.

The very 1st thing I stopped doing when I could afford it was my own oil changes, ( as well as doing my parents cars )

It's a PITA, cut down trees, cut lawn, dig ditches all better things to do if you want to feel manly.

But FWIW, get some gloves, rubber covered cotton lined. Hot oil on hands is bitch

+1

If you're able to get someone else to do it for $15 you are ahead of the game. I change mine, but I have the gear: Hydraulic jack, jack stands, filter wrench, oil pan, etc. I do my own brakes, so my only extra cost for the oil changes was the wrench and pan.

I own all the tools needed to tear a car apart and put it back together. Matter of fact I have torn two vehicles down to the frame and restored them back to like new.

I don't change my own oil.

+1

IMO ain't worth the aggrevation or that one time you miss the pan when draining the oil

wow, thank you. That is really useful information. I'll leave the oil changes to the mechanic.

I wish I could replace brake pads too, since that could justify getting some of the tools, but that's another reason I'm really loving the Prius. Since it primarily uses regenerative braking, unless you're in a panic stop or moving less than 7MPH, it really saves on brake wear if you drive it conservatively. It's a 2006, but with over 100,000 miles on the odo, I was told that the (original) brake pads still have 60% of their pad left. They otherwise work just fine when they are needed.

The biggest deal breaker for me is disposal.

Doing your own LOF's is pennywise and pound foolish.

By the time you factor the cost of parts, equipment to do the job, and your time factor, it is not even close to worth the aggravation.

Of course, since I work at a dealership, it is very convenient for me to take advantage of the service department.

It's easy for me to do it. I slide an empty 5 gallon can under my truck.No jack required. Drain into can. Replace filter. Screw plug back in. Fill with oil. Take 5 gallon can to dump on my weekly trip there. No fee for the oil.

Plus i am now the owner of 40 5 gallon jugs of Delo 400 for my truck. I went in on a pallet with another guy and saved about 8.00/gallon.

I do it. I don't trust Jiffy Lube and the dealer charges $100 for an oil change. It's super easy and it takes me less time than going to the dealer, even if they were to provide a courtesy car, which they don't. I use Mobile 1 every 10,000 miles and change the oil filter with an OEM one every 5,000. I also bought a Fumoto oil valve to make it easier. Buying 5 quart jugs of Mobile 1 at Walmart I probably spend a little more than a 1/4 of the price the dealership charges, it's done quicker, and I know it's done right.

I do it myself after Jiffy Lube drained all the oil, put the filter on, plug in, and forgot to put the oil back in. The had to call me (luckily, I went back home) to tell me not to drive it and they sent someone over to put the oil in.

It's not that big of a PITA and you know that it is done right. There are very few critical elements of owning a car, but engine oil is at the top of the list.

I do it myself a few times a year when I've got too much time on my hands. I live in the Northeast where we heat homes with fuel oil. I've been dumping the used motor oil into my furnace for 20 years & buring it . Works like a charm & reduces the cost of the oil change.

If you're happy using conventional oil, and are happy with Quick Lube oil filters, then you should just pay the $20. As mentioned, you'll come to find that the $5-10 you save isn't worth it.
In my case, I use synthetic. I also prefer to install factory OEM filters. If I paid a shop to perfrom this service, I'd be looking at $60-70. Instead I buy my synthetic oil at Wal-Mart for $20 and a filter at the Subaru dealer for $6. Its worth 30 minutes of my time and a trip to the HAZMAT center to save $30+. Plus, I kind of like doing it

Heres a good oil change tutorial incase you decide to DIY.
http://priuschat.com/forums/knowledge-b ... tures.html


DIY disc brake pads are a definite money saver....assuming you don't [censored] it up. Its actually a REALLY easy process and requires few tools or skills.Easier than an oil change in most cases. I've never worked on a Prius, but I'm pretty familiar with the Toyota/Lexus product thru 2004 model year. Pretty straight forward brake designs- easy to work with. Lifting the car and removing the wheels is, by far, the hardest part.

My buddy's stepdad builds race cars and has the most amazing shop you can imagine. He doesn't change his own oil-he says it's not worth his time to chnage it and deal with disposal.

I figure if he doesn't do it, NFW should I.

The oil disposal part is easy for me. The Autozone at the end of my street will dispose of it for free. Makes that part easy.

Speaking as a former JL employee, you are a wise man. First off- Jiffy Lubes goal is not to deliver a quality product. Their goal is to get your car in and out of the shop in less than 6 minutes (Actually 6:20). They only let about 75% of the used oil out of the car. It saves draining time, but more importantly, cost less to refill ....thats the business model. The only instance where 6:20 does not apply is when they sucker you into buying [censored] you don't really need. Then they overcharge for the useless service and do a half-ass job perfroming it. Oh yeah, because of the dizzying speed in which cars were serviced, mistakes were WAY too typical. In the 8 months I worked there, I saw 2 engines get blown when the hood tech forgot to refill the oil. He left the car running in front of the store for the customers to pick up (X2 same guy). The customers never made it out of the parking lot. Lug nuts left loose after tire rotations. Once a car actually made it off the lot before the wheel fell off. Usually the customer realized the mistake before thay got that far. OH- and my favorite. Dude brought his $60K Corvette in for an oil change, holding a $5 off coupon. Car had less then 20K on the odo. The 16 year old that vacumed the floors and cleaned the glass drove the car into the service pit. We had to get a wrecker to yank it out- really ugly. But hey, he saved $5
I suppose there could be some Quick Lube joints that aren't scams. The franchisee I worked for owned 9 shops, all were snake oil salesmen. The local Valvolines, Grease Monkeys, and Lightin Lubes were basically the same. In all fairness, mistakes and rip-offs can be found all over the autocare industry. It just seems that mistakes and rip-offs are REALLY easy to find at Jiffy Lube.

they test oil here now and if there is any contaminates found in it, they wont take it. Like gasoline, anti-freeze, i guess.
I understand, kinda, but you gotta be careful what container you use.

I have no idea what the next step for disposal is, if they wont take it. Mix it with diesel fuel and seal my driveway, I guess.

I used to DIY, when I was totally broke.

Do it at a shop responsible for recycling the crud.

Not worth my time or effort. I pay folks to do this work for me.

Getting rid of dirty oil is a PITA.. so yes I'd rather pay someone to do it.

I used to when my 4-Runner was newer. It sat so high I could just get under it and change the oil myself. Apparently; I didn't know about all of the other things that normally got lubricated when you got an oil change. So my CV boots cracked and I didn't notice and the front axle dried out and I had to replace an axle.

...on top of that, getting rid of the used oil was a PITA.

So now...I go have it done. I don't want to buy the car jacks necessary to get under my little cars, or get rid of the oil, or spend the time doing it. I will continue to have it done.

Yeah, I don't get that. Advance, Autozone - pretty much all of them take it for free.

I run synthetic oil in everything. The 4Runner has high ground clearance that makes it easy to do the job without anything other than a socket set. I usually run Royal Purple or Mobil 1 but just stocked up on a deal that will last me for the next few years. Wal-Mart has Pennzoil Pure Platinum Synthetic 5 quart bottles for $20, with a $15 cash back offer, so @ $1 a quart my oil is all set. I also found some on clearance @ Meijer that were $3 each, so my 5 quarts from there were free after a different Pennzoil rebate.

The wife's Pacifica is too low for easy access, so I take my own oil and filter to Wal-Mart and they charge me $18 to do the labor only. That 5.5 quart change would cost me around $75 just about anywhere and I have about $30 into it just for doing a little leg work on the oil. The 4Runner costs me $12 to do myself with a good filter.

FWIW, I order my filters online and have read some really good things about WIX brand products from some of the oil sites so recently switched to those. Premium quality, but for example the filter for my 4Runner is $4.39 online. I buy a couple of everything I need and it ends up being about $1 for shipping per filter.

I have a topsider oil pump to change the oil in my boat and I do it when I winterize. Getting to that filter is a back-breaking biatch, but I save $150 over what a shop would charge for the whole service and it takes just about 3 hours if things are right. Changes are as easy as pie on the motorcycles, mower, snow blower, generator.

Overall, you can save some money if you do your work up front. But not always by just getting your hands greasy.

Changing oil is a waste of time, especially on newer luxury makes that have a ton of plastic panels to pop off to access anything. Most shops will sell an oil change for cheap to get you in the door. Just pay for it. Its one of those things that you should pay for, like housekeeping, landscaping, taxes, and strippers.

Always have and always will....until I just can't physically do it. It's an engineer thing, I guess. Been running synthetic for 20+ years. I don't sweat the filters anymore. I used to use Hastings when they were available locally. Excellent filters, but hard to find now, except online. Now, I just use Fram extra guard.

Several places take oil around here, so that's no biggie.

Jiffy Lube. I live on the wild side.

This remains me the time when I was sharing the company coffee table with car electronics group. Needless to say, the guys were car enthusiastic and very much DIY. Saabs were popular at the time in Finland; they were made here. The toughest guy tried eight hours (most gave up in an hour or two ) to but the new pads in place before he finally admitted that 1) he doesn't know how to do that, 2) he has to go to the store to ask advice, 3) needs to take a bus there and 4) needs to tell the guys at work about the humiliation. The trick is that for a Saab, the pads are easy to take off, but without the special tool, you can't get them back.

About the oil change: I could do the physical job myself, but why would I want to? Besides, even if I could do the job itself, I have no way of telling the motor computer I did it, so by definition, that's a garage job for my car.

Do my own, unless I am lazy or too busy. If you are fairly capable and use common sense, it's not messy at all.When I do it myself, I know it is done right. That is the main reason I do it.
I do not trust any Jiffy Lube type places.

This is why I carefully watch everything that they do.

I know what is supposed to happen, and I make sure that it happens!

i just get it done every other year on the annual service.

I change mine.

Autozone is always running some kind of package deal - generally filter and 5 quart jug for $12-15. I pour the old oil back into the jug and take it back the next day.

It's only a waste of my time if I'm not already wasting my time - and since it takes all of 20 minutes, I generally have at least that much fart-around time slotted weekly.

I have my son sit on the garage step to keep me company... and to call authorities in case my jack stands fail. (I confess that I am terror-stricken for the entire time I'm down there, especially when I'm trying to twist the filter free.)

Totally your business, but help me understand. Why would you take your car to a shop where you feel it necessary to carefully watch everything they do? No way I would ever take my car to a place that required that level of babysitting. Defeats half the purpose of pawning off the job.
Besides, they are probably more likely to break something with you watching over their shoulder.

Slight thread-jack. Two Jiffy Lube horror stories:

Changed oil at Jiffy Lube just prior to a Yellowstone vacation in the 4-Runner. They cross-threaded the filter and I discovered I lost 4 out of 5 quarts of oil in Rawlins, WY. It was raining the whole trip and didn't notice the oil loss until I tried to wipe, what I thought was, road grim from the rear window...only to discover it was oil. Took 4 quarts to top it off. Had to delay the trip to have a new filter installed a local service station. Luckily...I never lost oil pressure and Toyota said the engine should be fine. 300,000 miles on that truck says they were right.

#2. Same Jiffy Lube. I went to my local Honda dealer to get some work done and, while there, asked them to change the oil. Normally I had that done at Jiffy lube....which I had quit doing after the 4-Runner incident. But the previous, and last, oil change for my 1985 Civic Si had been done at Jiffy Lube. So the Honda dealer call me:

Them: "You need a new oil pan."
Me: "Why?"
Them: "Someone forced an over-sized bolt, with the wrong threads, into the smaller hole of the oil pan. We can not get the proper oil pan bolt to seal now."
Me: (Thinking) "Fock. Jiffy Lube!"

Yep! I called JL and they told me it was standard procedure to stop a leak...they just stuff a too-large bolt in there and never told me about it. They blamed Honda for making inferior oil pans.

I had to get a new oil pan installed on the Civic. Fock Jiffy Lube. Never again.

Same thing...same year Civic...same result for me years ago.

Most owners manuals like my wifes Acura explain how to rest the code. It takes 30 seconds.

'05 Prius, 104k miles. still orignal brake pads. I was told another 20k on these and then get them changed.

tressel sucks as an offensive coordinator and play caller...I'm putting this in every thread I'm so pissed.

He probably doesn't change his own oil, either.

Thereby doubling the savings.

Since I've been buying new, I've used oil-change shops to do it. The one I've been using the past 5 years gives a free car wash with the change.

Nearly 500k miles between myself since '91 and then combined with my wife, the past 15 years. So far so good.