Oil Vey!
10 years ago I could do my own oil changes for $7 a pop.
Conventional motor oil back then could be had for 99 cents a quart. An AC Delco filter was around $3.
Every three months I would take my trusty old 1994 Camry onto my driveway, slide my oil container underneath the oil pan, remove the oil drain plug and oil filter, and let gravity take hold.
The brief pause between the first gush of dirty motor oil, and the last few drips, laid the seeds for my future automotive self-reliance.
All the remaining fluids would be checked in the next ten minutes or so. Coolant, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, and brake fluid. It usually didn’t take much time for me to figure out if there was any type of leak. A slow, studious examination around the engine bay and.. done. Once every few changes I would make a note to change an air filter or scrub off any excess build-up on the battery terminals.
It was all easy-peasy and highly cost effective. 10 minutes of attention afforded me a lot of time to catch small problems before they became big. This was all cheap to do, and by the time I was finished with it all, I often still had time to read a few passages from my old Haynes manual and get confidence for that next big job.
Would it be brakes? Or perhaps that mysterious piece of equipment called a water pump? No big deal once the comfort level was established. I would plan accordingly, buy the best parts I could find, and make them last by performing all the work correctly. Even if it took a while.
The same attitude towards doing it myself became true for virtually everything else that wasn’t electrical or required some type of lift or hoist. Bolts could be turned. The maintenance regimen could be followed, and even to this day, that piece of 1994 technology is still on the road with well over 300,000 miles and not a single warning light on the dashboard.
The car owner of today doesn’t have it so good.
Have you seen the price of motor oil at an auto parts store these days? Prices now regularly range from $4 to over $6 per quart for the conventional stuff. The price of a barrel of oil may has gone up from $31 in 2003 to $106 today, which is definitely a substantial part of the problem. I will give you that.
But that’s not where I would pin most of the blame. Not by a long shot.
I would consider the far bigger problem lies with the discount parts stores, and their Walmart brethren, who finally figured out the ‘elasticity of demand’ for motor oil. Along with a long, long list of other automotive products (click here for a bit more technical detail).
Long story short, folks are usually willing to pay a stiff premium for products that seem cheap, and prevent a high level of potential risks. It doesn’t matter if the cost of refining and marketing the motor oil comes to only about $1.25 a quart. What matters is whether you have a nice enough picture on an oil bottle that spells out a few well-chosen trigger words.
If it looks good, feels good, and seems good, that quart of motor oil will sell for a lot more money.
Some say that it’s because the parts store that provides access and placement for all the brands is the one making the rules. They aren’t making the rules. All they have to do is study your behavior when you shop at their stores and their web sites.
Large auto parts stores such as Autozone and Advance Auto Parts have developed customer relationship management systems that figure out multiple prices for a specific product. Different parts of our country have far different tolerances for the prices of even the most mundane of products, such as motor oil.
Oil change deals reflect this reality. The universal $9.99 oil deals of five years ago has become the $19.99 oil deals of Atlanta, and the $29.99 oil deal of Tenafly, New Jersey. Even though the price of unrefined oil has gone down by over 20% from five years ago, and the cost of refining that oil, has declined substantially as well, none of that matters.
What has increased to a far greater degree, is the need for profit.
So what happens when the aspiring DIY owner sees that it’s no more expensive to get the oil change done for $20 to $30 at the nearby quicky-lube? Well, a few of them who truly cherish their rides may decide to take the plunge. But my bet is that the overwhelming majority of those who aspire to maintain their own rides do a little quick math, and remain on the sidelines.
Profit isn’t maximized when everyone buys. It’s not the sales revenue that matters in the end. It’s the net profit.
Even a few of us who are in the car business can do the oil change math. As a dealer, I save no money by having an independent shop change the oil. If I do it myself, I save maybe $3 at most. So these days, I get the oil changes done in the same development where I get my emissions and car wash. The cost for all three is $40.
Many enthusiasts are doing the exact same thing. Some may go to the franchised car dealer. Others may be going to independent shops or even the Quicky Lube. The outcome is pretty much the same for some; but not for everyone.
There are still plenty of folks who are ‘keepers’ and would rather pay for the quality work that’s needed to make their car drive like near new. They are even willing to ignore the fact that the price advantage for a conventional oil change no longer exists.
God bless em’. As for that novice who wants to become a bit more self-reliant, I just hope he or she makes their decision to take that DIY plunge on a Black Friday. A $7 oil change has a way of bringing out the DIY in most any auto enthusiast.
Is it me, or does the oil stain look like the Grim Reaper?
looks like pee after a long night of beer and greasy onion rings
While a DIY oil change appeals to me, I just hate having to deal with the waste oil. I am on a well, so I have to protect my well field, so the waste oil has to be disposed of immediately. The disposal place is a few miles beyond the oil change place that runs $19 groupon specials. My time is worth more than $19.
Get a used 5 gallon bottle to collect at least 4-5 changes.
Synthetic oil changes are still way cheaper to DIY than going to an oil change place.
But I think it’s the auto manufacturers that are killing DIY.
You have vehicles with no dipsticks, no oil drain plugs, an underbody aero shield with 48 plastic clips you have to undo, oil filters in the middle of the engine compartment, special branded coolant you have to buy at the dealer, no radiator petcock, and engine covers that require me to use a ratchet just to get them off.
I so hate the “no dipstick” idiocy that is sweeping across new cars……
Warning: You are not competent enough to check you own fluid levels. Sensors do not malfunction ever. Please schedule dealer appointment for more details.
No dipstick! When? Which cars?
What kind of crack-addled idea is THAT!
many BMW’s and Audi’s no long have dipsticks.
So instantly obsolete electronic gizmos and no dipstick?
Good to see planned obsolescence is a thing of the past…
Not to mention Mercedes. My ’01 C320 didn’t have one…
If we’re talking tranny fluid, many GM products have been that way for a long time. I was flabbergasted the first time I encountered one (a ’99 Grand Am).
How do you know if the level’s too low? The car no longer moves under its own power. That’s easy to remember.
…’cause after all, nothing ever leaks, and transaxles are cheap and easy to replace.
(In all fairness, that particular application did have a check plug, much like tractors did 60+ years ago. But if you’re new to DIYing, you’re probably not going to guess that.)
A friend of mine wanted to replace the transmission fluid on his Beamer.
Went to the dealer who said : No need Sir, life long protected.
That night he found out by scrolling his car and gearbox on the internet , that life long in BMW world means 150000 kilometers, not even 100000 Miles.
I encountered the “lifetime” gearbox oil with a 1995 Dodge Neon 5 speed when he transmission starting to seep drips. (note that the transmission was replaced under new car warranty at about 60k – don’t buy a new model in early production lesson there)
The transmission had the check hole too so I ended up changing the gear oil about every 60,000 miles and saveing the drained oil in a clean tub and then refilled the used oil into the empty bottles from the new oil. There after, every other oil change (6-7,000 miles) which included tire rotation I would check the check the manual transmission and top off the oil with the salvaged used oil via a long plastic tube. The seeping drips would about equal the change schedule to use up the refilled used oil by the change mileage rolled around again.
Since I got 200,000 miles out of that transmission (267k out of the car before selling it still running) with one clutch change, I figured I did well to do that extra maintenance with the “lifetime” gearbox oil.
Okay, my tiny little mind is being seriously boggled here. That makes me think of the old joke about Yugos not needing drain plugs because the car never lasted long enough to need an oil change. But that was a JOKE. How does the MECHANIC check the oil, and how does the MECHANIC drain out the old oil? These things need to happen, no matter who does them.
The non-dipsticked cars (is that a real word?) have sensors and a readout in the drivers info center. It will even tell you how much to add.
I personally don’t know of a car with no drain plug but I don’t doubt they exist.
Fun fact of the night. The new Scion FRS and Subaru BRZ twins have to have their engine removed to change the spark plugs.
Porche Boxter/Cayman are in the same boat. Fortunately their engines usually grenade anyway before the need for new plugs comes about.
Spark plugs, I can see. Between the end of tetraethyl lead in gasoline and high-voltage, no-distributor, individual-coil ignition systems, spark plugs can last forever. On my T&C (55,000 miles) and my 2009 Toyota (70,000 miles) I never, once, had need to change plugs. That’s a far cry from when fouled plugs had to be pulled out and gapped four times a year.
I don’t know how they’re doing it with the oil – perhaps there’s an internal pumping system to get old oil out of the crankcase? Are those engines dry-sump with an external oil tank, that can be drained or pumped or replaced?
We’ve made great strides; but we haven’t gotten to where oil is impervious to crankcase blow-by and condensation.
On the other hand, FR-S and BRZ have a top mounted oil filter, next to the oil filler cap. And they still have a clearly marked and easily accessible dipstick.
I kind of combine the two ideas:
I get the parts & pay my mechanic $10 to do it & have him inspect the car for other problems while up on the rack. He also disposes of the old oil.
An auto parts chain (advance IIRC) is 5 minutes south of him where I pick up the parts (open 24/7). I walk in at 7:30 get the oil change special (full synthetic) 5q for $30-$35 and always ask for the kia filter for my wifes sorrento V6. This is a $30-$40 from kia, or $13-$15 at Advance. Out the door at 7:50, and at the shop by 8.
About 50% of the time the (Advance guy on duty will do the swap and the other 50% of the time he won’t — Depends who is working there) If he does, then the oil is basically free ($30-$40 for kia filter alone, or free filter + $32 5 qt synthetic). If he won’t do the swap, I get a Subaru filter. I have a BOX of free oil filters I keep around that does the job.
My Subaru WRX STI oil change involves removing some huge plastic piece with a bunch of bolts/clips underneath the car to get to the filter. Being a sports car it has low clearance as well. For $10 I’ll pay the mechanic to do it & inspect things underneath, not have to put the car up on stands, not have to figure out where to dispose of the oil propertly, etc etc. It’s a no brainer!
I use the oil change intervals as “overall inspection time.” While the oil is draining, my mechanic inspects underneath the car. He’ll always notice a lot more things than I will. 98% of the time he doesn’t find anything wrong. Every once in a while he’ll show me some suspension part that is broken or something else wrong. I’ll call the Subaru dealership & get a quote. He’ll send one of his guys to pick up the part & then charge me any additional labor to fix it.
Maybe I’m paranoid, but I will not take my old cars to get the oil changed. I feel some jerk will do something just to mess up the car. Like last year, I took my 78 Eldorado to a national muffler shop to get a repair. The resonator broke off, and I wanted just a tailpipe put on. The manager tried to tell the repairman (a kid) to just make a square cut, and fit a straight pipe to the rear. The kid tries to make excuses why it can’t be done, and the boss finally tells him to do it.
A minute later, the kid calls me over and shows me this gaping hole over the rear axle. Can’t be done, don’t have a pipe bender. The manager tells me he can’t fix it. I know the jerk punched a hole in the pipe.
I ended up taking it last week to a local place who repaired it expertly for $ 116, making the pipe.
I take my newest car (11 years old) to the dealer for repairs, oil and inspection. It costs more, but I’ve always felt that they are at least semi honest. At least, they haven’t found “look at this” repairs.
concur. do my own lest an ape break something unobtainium…
I will never, ever take my car to a franchised oil change place again. One time I took the wagon to a frequently-seen chain, as it was right across the street from work. They claimed it needed a special oil filter. I was suspicious but said OK. Then they tried to tell me it needed a new rear wiper and an A/C recharge (yeah right, the car was three years old and had about 56K on it). Um, no, don’t “fix” it…
It wound up costing a fair bit more than the Volvo dealer–like double! The commonly seen chains apparently hire idiots who overcharge customers who don’t know better. Fortunately my local dealership is honest and provides good service. Plus, they have factory-trained mechanics rather than Goober and Gomer going “Duh, a Volvo V50, what’s that? Ooh, what’s this? *snap* Oops…”
Sorry to be harsh but it still ticks me off, over four years later.
Still do my own out of habit. I run synthetic so it makes a little sense. I really should do something with the plastic milk jugs full of oil.
Is there a river or lake near by?
Lol
I have long wearied of laying on my back, trying to loosen plug and filter without ruining shirt and driveway. The savings in time and convenience make a professional job worth it – I say “professional” advisedly because yes, there are places staffed by trained chimpanzees who couldn’t tell a drain plug from a tire valve cap and who probably use pipe wrenches to remove AND INSTALL drain plugs.
Yes, I watch, as I feel out a shop I’ve never used. The ones that seem reliable and have the technical data and don’t feel the need to manhandle the air plenum and get their mitts on everything…those, I go back to.
It costs me more. Driving costs; shop oil changes are only a small increase on that.
FWIW…here in this little Wisconsin burg, the dealer I bought my Toy Yoda from, seems to really want to take care of his customers. Free oil changes every 5000 miles as long as I own it. He’ll run it through his car wash whenever I ask, unless there’s a line of customers or other jam-up. So…sure, he’s not giving money away. But I’m getting something for the sales commission I paid; and he’s acknowledging the customer-retailer relationship.
That dealer is smart to offer free oil changes since it gets people back through his store and then gives him a decently maintained pool of used cars as trade ins.
Agreed. Good business is smart business. Building customer satisfaction is one way to continue and grow your base.
I have no problem whatsoever in a shop or other business making money off me; that’s the trade: I pay him money and he does for me what I can’t do or don’t want to take the time to do. What I dislike, is trickery, treachery, gamesmanship…or general contempt for me once he’s gotten one sale out of me.
The retailers aren’t making much off conventional oil they are low margin products just like 87 octane gas at the pumps. Since we are a low volume shop, we just buy quarts from Advance unless the customer requests something else. Our commercial rep showed us their margin report, they make about 8% off their house brand conventional. As for the flavor of the month oil and synthetics, maybe the margin is higher.
I have always attributed the decline of DIY service in cars in general more to the cost and complexity of cars now compared to historically as well as the general decline of the current generation in their willingness to get dirty. Plus, many cars it can be difficult to get to the oil filter without having the car on a lift unless it is a screw top cartridge type that are usually found on top. Case in point, we fixed a guy’s “noisy” Acura by simply tightening the lug nuts apparently the place he got his oil change and tire rotation missed a bolt. When he heard noise he took the car back to them, they said they can’t look at it anymore because beyond maintenance is beyond their scope. So the boy brought the car in, I followed him around the parking lot mimicking the noise, got out his lug wrench and took care of the problem in less than 10 minutes no charge. “But my wheel sounded like it was going to fall off.” This guy was in his early 30s with an advance degree, apparently not in common sense nor did the original quickie lube place bother to recheck their work since it was their negligence that caused the original problem.
So sad, we have raised a generation of pansies that cant fix a damn thing.
Its easy to see how much this whole oil change thing is separating the armchair enthusiasts from the real car guys…
Actually I don’t think changing your own oil has anything to do with being an enthusiast or not…
Nope.
It DOES matter…
Its kind of like being a skiing enthusiast who doesn’t ski, or a gardening enthusiast who pays a landscaper…
Mike: No it doesn’t.
I know plenty of people who love video games but don’t know how to program them.
I know many people who like to travel but don’t know how to fly an airplane
Make up your own example.
With my 1-day a week off, I’d really not like to spend that day washing my car, changing my oil, or doing other maintenance stuff. I’d rather be using it to ride (motorcycle) or take a cruise, etc.
Philhawk: Your example falls way short.
The main point of liking to ski is actually….skiing.
I know people who love gardens (because they love fresh veggies) but have no interest in cutting their grass or trimming trees.
Are you guys arguing that if you can’t tear down a car into a million pieces, that you aren’t an auto enthusiast? Really?
You know, a decade ago, I would have probably agreed with the idea that a car lover has to wrench on his cars but on the downside of life, I have discovered the value of time and what it worth. When I try to appraise my time, I ask myself, “Is the guy doing this job getting paid more than I do”?
For anything to do with car repair/maintenance the answer is “no.” I can work and make money pretty much any time I want. It just doesn’t make much sense to crawl under a car, get dirty and spend valuable time changing oil.
I can respect why people don’t do it themselves.
You have to note that I said armchair enthusiast vs enthusiast.
For a real “car guy”, changing your own oil isn’t really a matter of economics or is my time worth more than the poor slob trying to make a living at a iffy lube, its about enjoying the work put into the car and enjoying doing something to it.
I guess a better explanation, in my opinion, would be golfing vs changing your own oil. You might like to golf, it takes time, your time may be (in some weird way) worth more than the guy taking your money before t time, but you still do it. I enjoy taking the time out of everyday life to work on my cars, tinker, fix, maintain, repair etc. I could take the stance that “my time” is worth more than so and so’s, but if that is how you look at it you just “don’t get it”.
That is all.
I follow my fathers advice. When something around the house broke and my mom told him about it, he said “open the yellow pages. That’s why god created repairman.”
I am just as handy as my dad.
No problem with that, but many repairmen (keeping daytime hours) don’t seem to take homemakers seriously. Like many doctors, they must think women are screwballs who simply make stuff up just to waste everybody’s time.
Example: the appliance guy didn’t “get it” until *I* explained the dryer’s problem to him, even though my wife told him the same thing before. This is why she, though not lacking in mechanical perception, prefers that I speak to repairmen & mechanics. Yet this doesn’t seem to be on NOW’s radar; not political enough for them, I guess.
This is why I believe girls should be taught by dads about cars, enough so they won’t be ripped off by unscrupulous mechanics.
One thing to keep in mind is that most of the big chains, where every store is actually owned and operated by the store, have shifted their profit centers to the warehouse. Makes it easier to justify the poor pay they give their managers and gets them to push what ever they want to move that week to earn their bonus. That is also why they forbid the store from purchasing anything from a local supplier.
However traditionally motor oil has been a low margin/loss leader to get you in the door.
I’ve never had my oil changed by anyone. I’ve never let a dealer or shop or quick lube place do it.
3 of the cars get changed once a year just before storage with something less than 300 miles on the old oil, always Mobil 1
The other two go by the oil life monitor (usually between 9500 .and 10000 miles) and also get mobil 1. Usually takes about a half hour per car, add 20 min to rotate the tires, clean the MAF sensor and check the rest of the fluids. Usually costs me about $40.00 per car to do it.
Of course there have been times in the months November through March that I have thought long and hard about doing it outside in the cold and snow. I haven’t given in yet, stupid is as stupid does.
I’d have to lose both my arms before I’d stop maintaining my own rides.
No transmission dipsticks make me upset, but I’m sure to adapt.
About the only thing I can’t do at home is reflash an ECU. Other than that, I’m set for now.
For awhile I took the cars to Tires Plus to get changes, but now I’ve switched back to doing them myself. Saves probably five bucks or so per change on the Taurus and more on the Durango (the hemi engine is pricey to take elsewhere for oil changes), but quick lubes around here are very expensive and the regular shops are so slow that I could have both my cars done at home in the time it takes them to do one.
Besides, my cars are very easy to service the oil. Only have to jack the passenger side up a couple inches, throw the jackstand underneath, chock the other wheel & done in ten minutes.
Everything besides oil and the air filter I take to the shop.
It is pretty easy to change the oil on my Durango too; just enough room to slide under without needing ramps. Mobil 1 every 10,000 miles seems to suit the Hemi very nicely.
I never have not considered changing my own oil. Sure you don’t save much anymore, but at least I know it’s done properly. I like the convenience of doing it at home and not having to sit around at a garage waiting on someone else. My truck has a transmission with no dipstick and I serviced the transmission last year fairly easily. Most still have fill and drain plugs. My truck has a specific procedure for checking the level, but nothing a DIYer can’t handle.
I used to do my own oil/filter changes when I had 80s Mazdas. With newer cars it’s much more difficult to access the drain plug by driving it up on a kerb, and extremely difficult to access the filter under the hood.
I’d rather do it myself, but modern engine compartments make it very difficult.
When I was 16 years old, my buddy from the high school auto mechanics class showed me how to change the oil in my 1959 Pontiac Catalina Sport Coupe. We took our cars outside of town and drove them over a dry sandy ditch, where there was plenty of room to get underneath. We dumped the oil, changed the filter, filled it up, and we were on our way. This was many years ago; we were certainly not aware of environmental issues.
I continued to do my own oil changes over the years, and became much more friendly to the ecosystem. When the quickie oil change places showed up, it seemed like a pretty good deal to me. Until I started having some bad experiences. Like the times when they stripped the drain plug, lost my oil filler cap, and overfilled my crankcase by a quart.
The very last time I went to one of these joints, the guy showed me a sample of the diff fluid in my 1994 Thunderbird Super Coupe. He explained that it should be amber colored; mine was green. I had my tech check it out. He said it was the normal green Ford limited slip fluid, and it looked good. He said that if I’d let them change it, I’d probably be getting the rear end rebuilt.
So, now I make an appointment, and get it done right. It costs a little more, and it takes a little more time, but it’s done right. BTW, I don’t let tire stores touch my wheels anymore, either.
JV
Thank you for being the first, after a fair progression of posts, to point out where, in reality, a LOT of the DIY oil went in the not too distant past. In no means am I looking to pick fights, but I’m also not about to pretend I did not see countless neighbors pour oil into the sewer drain down the street from these DIY oil changes, my own Father included. This has to play into the engineering away from non-Professionals doing home repair in the industry, at the expense of the responsible People, sadly.
My father was guilty of dropping oil into the ground in the past but so were governments as I remember a local government oiling dirt/gravel roads.
To help make somewhat of an amends, I always pop my oil filters by hammering an old screwdriver through the top and internal pressure release valve and then letting them drain into the recovery bottle. You’d be surprised how much oil stays inside the filter until you pop it. Then I wrap the filter in a plastic bag prior to disposal.
Someday we may mine our old garbage dumps for oil filters and other commodities like aluminum cans…
Anyone who’s ever owned a “classic” Saab has surely had some trained chimpanzee who couldn’t get the key out of the ignition. But have you ever had one accidentally drain the gearbox instead of the crankcase? Oops 🙁
Happened with my 1985 Ford Escort.
Had a quick-lube place change the oil just before a long trip, Ohio to Georgia, with the ex. In those days I was agile enough and interested enough to change the oil; but we lived in a high-rise apartment complex. I’d do repairs at her parents’ farm; but that was fifty miles out of our way and there wasn’t time.
So I had the minimum-wage pukes at the ten-minute shop do it.
And all went well…so I thought. Until I started hearing unusual transmission noises on the trip. They weren’t sudden or shocking…just THERE, where they never had been. And getting louder.
Once we got where we were going, I scouted out a Ford dealer in Hotlanta to check on things. What he found…everything was all right…EXCEPT…someone had drained the gearbox about halfway. There was a mess on the case…it was recent and whoever did it forced the drain plug back in while it was still draining.
Topped it off, and – thank God – nothing more came of it. We got about 120,000 miles out of that car before selling it.
But, ever since then…I make it a point to WATCH those people. Unless I know them and know they know what they’re doing.
I’ll echo some of the comments already made.
“Office” clothes and the decline of DIY. . . . .Absolutely. As more of us began to work in offices compared with in the past when more of us worked in some level of production, DIY plummeted.
If you wear office clothes, you don’t want to get them dirty.
(I will say that DIY is once again gaining adherents among the Millennials, who not only can’t find work in officers, can’t find work at all).
My reluctance to hire an oil change is strictly a matter of fear, not economics. Chances are better than even that you are signing up for bigger problems down the road. (This is not that different, really, from entrusting your health to medical professionals. Based on my observations among family and friends, its a 50-50 roll of the dice that you will end up with future complications, not better health).
My own procedure is to do an oil change in the parking lot of an auto parts dealer. They have a disposal tank for the used oil, so it is simply a matter of walking a few steps to take care of your used oil. I use AutoZone (and then give them my business). Others may allow this as well.
It helps to have a place to wash up and change clothes. For the past 25 years my daily driver has been a light weight camper truck (23mpg hwy). The great advantage of combining a ‘Japanese Hotel Capsule’, (i. e. minimal sink, stove and cot), with your daily driver has proven such a huge convenience to me in so many unexpected ways, that I now routinely outfit any acquired vehicle this way. (three so far. Minivans and pickups both work).
Synthetic oil is a cost, time, and engine saver.
(I will say that DIY is once again gaining adherents among the Millennials, who not only can’t find work in officers, can’t find work at all).
I sure hope you’re right. Most of the Millennials (as well as many of my fellow Gen Xers) can’t even change their own tires, regardless of employment status. I fail to see how it’s not embarrassing when a man can get to 30 and not even know turn a wrench. Guess there’s no app for that.
I think DIY is much more common among motorcyclists. I know several that do their own brakes, brake fluid flush, chain adjustment/lube/clean, etc.
I do know one or two that take their bike to the dealership every 500 miles (for me that is 1 week or so) to get their chain adjustment, but that would drive me mad.
The procedure is right there in the owners manual!
As for cars:
I do my own oil level check, tire pressure, tire rotation (on my car, not the wife’s as the spare is harder to get to with baby seat(s) installed), and that is about it.
On the motorcycle I do my own chain adjustment, lube, cleaning, tire pressure, and leave everything else to the shop (conveniently located 30+ min away in another state).
I don’t understand the office clothes thing?
You don’t have other clothes? You just go straight from work to a creeper underneath the car?
I have a batch of “work clothes” that I used whenever I am doing anything on a car, it consists of old freebee give away T-shirts with some sort of radio or tv station logo and worn out ripped shorts.
Doing any kind of work other than bulb replacement at an auto parts store is big no no down here, there are signs all over the parking lot prohibiting it.
What passes as “office clothes” today looks pretty casual to me. In my office, people often think I’m interviewing because I still wear a shirt & tie, & shun “casual Fridays” & Hawaiian shirts.
Radical casual reigns even in churches nowadays.
I once found a self serve car wash that was next to an independent auto parts store. I found that I could change my oil in the car wash when it was raining and then bring the used oil to the oil tank in the back yard of the auto parts store. That was prior to stores locking out the oil tanks.
I once (almost 40 years ago) tried to swap a tranny in a self-service carwash, in the rain, at night. The owner – and the cops – showed up just as we had loosened the bell housing and were dropping the transmission. The owner politely waited while we re-installed the tranny, and called a tow truck. The car was my sister’s ’68 Cortina ….
I do it myself and swear by Mobil1. My only vehicles to ever burn oil used conventional oil. I have driven vehicles over 300,000 using Mobil1 and never burned any.
I change my BMW Z4 oil myself and save a ton of money…7 quarts of Mobil 1 0W40 on sale at Pep boys for $5.00 per quart, oil filter mail order for $10.00. Sure beats almost $100.00 at the dealer.
Plus its simple to change…Oil filter is a pleated filter on top of the engine, oil plug behind a plasic shield that has only 1 bolt to turn
same here..I used to have my oil changes done, but the dealers charge too much and I don’t trust the minimum wage help at the quickie places…or the bulk oil they use. Run them up on ramps and at least you know what oil went in and that it was done by someone who actually cares how it was done. 🙂
I’m a ‘Millennial’ and I used to wrench on my own cars, and I rather liked doing it. Eventually, I figured out I was saving almost nothing by doing the work myself. A DIY oil change costs $20 and having it done by a competent (Not Jiffylube) technician costs $26, and they do it while I’m at work, so I’m only investing 15 minutes or so to walk from the shop, to work, and back. Its a good value.
As far as all other repairs go, I found my paid-for used car was consuming $250 per month in parts, and in service charges for non-DIY items because I don’t own a hoist.
For $150 a month, I could have a brand new car with a warranty. The new car’s insurance was the same insanely high price as the old car, and the new one uses 30% less fuel and burns zero oil.
All together, the paid-for used car cost $520 per month to own and operate. The brand new car costs $390 to accomplish the exact same task.
And there you have it. I do none of my own maintenance or service because it costs $130 MORE per month to do it myself.
$3000 per year in work? Did you have a Jaguar or something?
Volkswagen. I contemplated pushing it into Wirth Lake on a daily basis.
Buy a Chevy.
I tried. The Sonic is a great little pocket rocket. The dealers around here are jerks, though. I was told to buy a Cruze LTZ or get lost.
Well, theres your problem right there…..
We had two of them, so I guess I’m a slow learner. The wretched contraption was replaced with a Nissan after it bricked itself inside the Interstate 94 tunnel in Minneapolis.
@jpcavanaugh:
As far as depreciation, I’ll probably be driving the new car until the house is paid for. We shall see. We went ‘new’ on this car because used car prices were insanely high last year for anything in reasonable condition. If I had to do it all over again, I’d have kept the $950 Ford Taurus I had in high school. I let my little brother use it while I was at college and he destroyed it. It was a terminally uncool ride, but it got OK mileage, was easy to wrench on, and parts were dirt cheap. Live and learn.
fwiw, I have gone new the last couple of times too. Both times, crazy-high used car prices (in general or in my particular segment of interest) pushed me there.
Don’t forget to add the cost of depreciation on your new car, though. You probably don’t have that on your old used car, but it may be tie biggest cost with the new one. I will say that some subsidized leases on popular cars will minimize this, but it is still there.
Most people have no idea how much it costs them to drive. All they think of is miles per gallon.
My Acura cost me $3841 to drive last year. Nothing new could even approach that figure.
You are correct.
Not including depreciation & car payment (kia is a 2011), actually operating expenses averaged $0.34/mile on my wifes Kia, My Subaru, and my Suzuki motorcycle. We drove 25k miles = $709/mo!
Adding kia car payment makes it over $1100/mo (more than our mortgage).
“Synthetic oil changes are still way cheaper to DIY than going to an oil change place.”
Yup. Wally-wald will sell you a 5 qt jug of Mobil 1 for less than $25. For whatever reason, the synth premium is only a few bucks extra when you buy your own, but almost double at the kwik-lube.
^^^
Same here. Mobile 1 (usually) at the Walmarts, and a K&N filter at whichever national chain has them on sale that week. $40 bucks once a year on the Tercel.
And I dump the old oil in Camine’s lawn.
I’ve always done my own work on my cars. Unless I physically couldn’t perform the work or lacked the facilities, I always did it. Oil changes, transmission rebuilds, didn’t matter. It was done in my driveway.
Granted, as of late, my employment at a GM dealership has greatly reduced my parts costs. For my ’81 Riviera, it was only $6 for the filter. Spark plugs were cheap too, even if they had to be shipped all the way from Woodstock.
While there are mechanics there that I trust (I take my parent’s Mercedes there, since that’s where I bought it) I prefer to do the work myself. I would never take my car to a quick lube because I know what will happen to it. At least if I strip my oil plug I can fix it.
Funny thing here in CT the auto parts stores and oil change shops are both raising their rates. I go back in forth on DIY oil changes, for a while, I would pay some one to change it for $25.00 bucks or so. Than last year I could get 5 quart jugs of oil for $13.00 bucks on sale so I did it myself. Now they are back up to over $22.00 on sale here so I looked at the oil change shops and they have all raised their rates over $30 with the exception of Jiffy lube. So I guess I will stick with roll your own changes and stock up when I can on the oil. This is just for oil changes thou, I do all other maintenance and 95% of repairs myself.
I just bought a case of oil at Costco for $24. So with a $3 filter that’s a $15 oil change. About what it would cost to take it somewhere, but it’s actually faster for me to change it plus I can do the other checks.
So yeah, I still like doing it myself, but the math is quickly going the wrong way.
Oh, and when I was living in Germany a qt of oil was almost $10. Talk about sticker shock.
4 quarts of Mobil 1EP:$20
1 genuine Toyota oil filter with drain plug washer:$7
Tell me where I can get a 10,000 mile oil change for $27.
I enjoy changing the oil in my truck. Doesn’t take too much time, though I do need to actually reserve 60 minutes for the whole process so I can check the other bits. I’ve used a Topsider since I got my Benz nearly 10 years ago & I rarely even get dirty.
To me, it’s not a chore, but something useful and almost “fun” to do on one of the few nice days we get up “heah”.
The local autoparts stores take the used oil for free, so once the ol’ Topsider is filled, I chuck it in the back of the Ranger & bring it the 4 miles down the road and dump it into the AdvanceAuto oil tank. Quite “easy-peasy” to me, and I get a brief connection to the inner workings of my vehicle.
Every three months, I used to buy all the stuff I needed, back all three cars out into the driveway, start ’em all up to warm the motors, then proceed to change the oil & filter!
Alas, almost exactly ten years ago, my left eye went bad and that was the end of all that…
Now I visit my friendly dealership whenever the Impala’s oil life monitor gets down to 20% oil life remaining and everything’s good. Wifey takes her CR-V to her dealer down the road near where she works and takes care of that.
Funny – I’ve had my “new” 2012 Impala for exactly a year now, and it already has almost 24,000 miles on the clock! I hate my l-o-n-g commute.
Life is good.
For the record, I only recently got rid of my oil drain pan. It’s too big to fit under my lawn tractor! I still change the oil in that, so that’s what it comes down to: Maintaining the Craftsman and cleaning the cars! Oh, well…
I feel your pain Zman
Although I’m not as attached to my Chevy as you are, I noticed that I just hit 60K miles yesturday and it hasn’t been two years yet. We’re in that long distance road warrior club I guess…
100 miles a day for me. I use my car for almost nothing else. I drive Wifey’s CR-V if I have to go somewhere during the week, she drives my lazy butt in it on the weekends…
Sometimes getting older isn’t so bad, after all.
I think I’m kidding myself, somewhere, just haven’t figured it out, yet. 😉
Se habla Spanglish? In Texas, at least, our brothers and sisters from the south do a good job of keeping it real. Money is tight, esp. in the immigrant community, so you can still buy cheap motor oil, get a good used tire, and all the other stuff that matters when trying to coax another year out of a nearly worn out piece of machinery.
Rich Anglos? Not so much.
es verdad en SoCal, tambien
Still makes financial sense for me, here in the great white north. I wait until Canadian Tire has a sale on Quaker State oil, $16 for 4.5 litres then I buy a few. I live near our local waste transfer station (my high taxes at work!) so it’s no problem to drop off the used oil.
So with a bit of planning ahead it costs about half of what it would at a quicky lube type place, and I don’t get some guy taking my car apart and saying, “Uh, your gas cap is dirty mister, better get a new one”
For my truck and Chryslers I look for sales at Crappy Tire or Walmart on 20L pails of Rotella 15W40. Way cheaper in 20L pails, and my truck uses it 10L at a time.
I am ashamed to admit that I recently took my wife’s CR-V to a shop for an oil change, serp belt change, brake and clutch fluid change, and rear brake service. It was due, we were taking it on vacation last week, and my to-do list was so long that I never got to it in time. 🙁 Also, I have only one set of ramps, and one of my Big Old Chryslers is on them with the gas tank removed right now.
It is a mom-and-pop local shop and just about the only place I’d trust to put a wrench on my vehicles if I can’t do something myself. I think the owner cringes on the rare occasion that I walk in the door, because if I can’t do something, it must be a real PITA.
I would never take a vehicle to Monkey Lube or a chain like Crappy Tire. Never. I’ve heard enough horror stories. I also didn’t want to take it to the dealer because they’d insist on installing the factory-recommended 5W20, while I always put 5W30 in it.
Its not really a question of cost, one quick story. Had my oil changed and went for the free tire rotation. On the way home heard a unusual grinding noise. Turns out that the lug nuts were loose on all four wheels. It does not seem possible to screw up an oil change but they seem to find a way.
Back in “the day” I brought my Fiero GT to Sears to have an alinement done. Of course they had to do the whole brake check and suspension check while they were at it.
Went back to pick it up and the steering wheel was not even close to centered, but the real kicker was that they had put one of the rear wheels on the front.
This wouldn’t be a big deal expect for the rear wheels are and inch wider and have wider tires on it from the factory, and even have an inch “lip” so they look different than the fronts.
The conversation back at the service desk was quite comical when the guy didn’t believe me (I was some dumb kid) even though anyone who took one casual look at it could see it was done wrong. They wanted to charge me extra to fix it because I didn’t have “factory wheels and tires” on it. Sure, I bought aftermarket rims that say Pontiac and have a Fiero logo n them just to confuse them…glad I had the owners manual to point out their mistake.
My mom got an oil change at a Kmart, she got about 5 miles away, the car starts making weird noises, and running hot. I meet her by the side of the road, and the dipstick is dry. Apparently one guy drains the oil, another is supposed to refill, the second guy apparently never got around to doing his job, and sent my mom on her way with no oil in the car at all. We have it towed to her independent mechanic, he fills it with oil, and it was good to go, no permanent damage. This was one of the unstoppable 1990 Accord’s by the way. We put another 50k miles on that car with no issues before a wreck took it off the road.
I personally used to use a quick lube place in town only because I could stand there in the stall and watch the guy do it, but the new manager put in a waiting room and put a stop to that, so I’m back to DIY…
I have four FoMoCo products in my “fleet” (’11 Focus, ’12 Mustang V6, ’88 Thunderbird LX 5.0, and ’91 Mark VII) and the cost of a 5 quart jug of synthetic plus a Motorcraft filter is $30 around here. I can go to the local Ford dealer and for $29 they will do a synthetic oil change, rotate the tires, do an inspection of the brakes and suspension, and top off fluids. On my cars under warranty (Focus, Mustang) they go to the dealer for their oil change. It actually costs me less ($1) to have the dealer do it than to do the oil change myself, plus they do other things at the same time. The Thunderbird and Mark VII I do at home. I’ve got a case of Motorcraft FL-1A filters so the cost for their oil change is what ever 10W-30 Mobile 1 is at the Walmart or the parts store.
I know “Car Guys” look down on Jiffy Lube, but I have never had a problem with them in 20+ years. Used oil needs to be disposed properly, and I remember spilling a few quarts in family garage. Dont miss doing it.
I will change my filters, wiper blades, etc, but no oil mess.
I used to change oil myself, but as my career became increasingly demanding, my DIY has become practically zero. I rarely even wash my car anymore since I can go to a hand car wash and get the car cleaned out for $19. It’s going to take me at least an hour to do that wash job and my time is worth waaaaaaay more than $19 an hour. The whole process is about 15 minutes. I in fact make money having someone else wash my car
Same goes for oil changes. Synthetic oil for my car costs about $30 a jug here and the filter is $8 or so. I am fortunate to have a trusted garage, which charges me $50 for a synthetic oil change. They also do a safety inspection and top up all fluids. Getting dirty and having to dispose of the old oil and filter, not to mention all that time, saves me a grand total of $12. Again, my time is worth A LOT more than that.
Spark plugs will easily last 200,000 km on any modern car using decent fuels. In the case of a FR-S, the first owner won’t have the car that long.
Right now, I’m looking at a Sears Auto Center VIP members coupon my wife got from shopping at Sears months ago. It says for $4.99, you get a conventional oil change, ($29.95), or $25 off a synthetic change, plus a free tire rotation ($15). A $3 shop fee applies. So we’re looking at $8 plus tax. Offer expires 12/31/13.
You KNOW they are going to do something to your car so they can tell you that you need ball joints, or a brake caliper leaking, or hole in the muffler, etc.
It’s like a few years ago. The wife’s Oldsmobile battery went dead at 8 pm. The plastic at the battery terminal just cracked, leaking acid. A triple A tow to Sears to get a battery. Dark and winter freezing temperatures, the repairman tells me that I need to pay $ 29.95 installation, due to a cross member which had to be loosened to fit the battery. I told the guy I was in no position to argue with him.
Anything I can do myself will always be done by me. To paraphrase, they can pry the wrench out of my dead hands.
I brought a turbo Grand Prix to Sears for a battery once. It also had the front core support brackets (3 bolts total) over the battery. After waiting 45 minutes the service guy came to me and said they need to take my turbo out to change the battery and it would be an extra $29.99 for that. I just about freaked out on the spot.
Went out to the minimum wage tech they had working on it who was all ready to take the turbo out. I pointed at the 3 bolts, told him to please just do that and not take the turbo out. Both tech and service guy had that palm on forehead look.
I always change my own oil that way I know its done properly petrol engine oil for my Hillman is under $20 for 5Litres diesel oil for my Citroen is anywhere up to $50 for 5L but since all maintenance takes place in my carport including assembling the Hillman from a bare shell changing oils is childs play the old oil goes into the recycling tank at the refuse centre, job complete.
I recently started doing my own oil changes again thanks to the Topsider oil pump. My car’s filter is very easily accessible, that combined with a topsider to drain the old oil, means I can do the entire oil change without getting under the car at all. I can’t recommend it enough. I can do my own Mobil 1 change for about $27, versus $65 at a quick lube place.
The oil-filter location has always my pet peeve with Hondas. Why can’t they put in front like Toyota does? I had to maneuver my Accord onto a ramp, roll under it, & then try to avoid brushing against the hot exhaust (must drain from a warm engine) to unscrew the filter, & often get oil all over my arm in the process. This is why I took my wife’s advice & let our specialist mechanic do my Civic now for $30, in probably less time than it took me before. Okay, so I’m a wuss.
A question: Is the oil-life indicator on my Civic merely a function of mileage, or does it take driving patterns into account? And what percentage should matter? Natch, the Owner’s Manual is no help. I consider 5kmi good enough since I don’t drive it like a taxi, & 5K is easy to remember. At this distance the gauge says 50%.
Many of the oil life indicators are purely mileage and many you can set it to a percent of the factory interval. I know the older Hondas were purely mileage. I’m surprised, OK not really, that they don’t have the info in the manual and info on how to reset it and possibly modify the interval.
I’ve never set my cars to the recommended interval if for no other reason than having a cushion so when the wife says “oh yeah the car has been saying oil change required” I’ve got time to make it to the store if I don’t have the filter and oil in stock and do it when it is convenient.
I do my truck but it’s hard getting up and down anymore so take the cube to the local pennzoil place. Last time I did the cube I drove to a friends house and when we were done visiting I saw a batch of oil on the drive. Cap was laying on the engine and was a quart low. Oil everywhere.
The dude got a real “deer in the headlights” look when I went back the next day. Cleaned the whole compartment and promised the world. I didn’t want the world and he did no damage so I let him off the hook. I liked doing it myself better but with increasing years and decreasing sight I think I just have to check better when the job is done.
I’ve been an enthusiast for years but in recent years I have developed a taste for appliances and cheap service.
I used to change it myself, and then it became easier to take the cars in every 3000 miles to have a change done with conventional oil for $20 or $25 at the local lube place. It’s no faster than doing it at home, but it’s a lot cleaner.
Then I read the owner’s manual and realized I could push my interval out to 7500 or 10K miles if I used a quality synthetic and filter. Synthetic oil changes around here start at $80, and they don’t necessarily use the fancy VW 502 spec oil or a decent filter. I can get the appropriate Mobil1 jug at Walmart for about $22 and can get a nice Mahle filter for another 6 bucks or so.
So I’m back to DIY. I have it down to a science; there’s no need to jack up the car and not a drop is spilled on the garage floor. And I can get it done faster than it would take me to have it done somewhere.
One thing that makes it much easier is that used oil and filters here are collected curbside, along with the other trash/recycling. Also, I’m in California, and if you take your used oil in here there is actually a small deposit that you’re supposed to get back.
I was scared about the long intervals’ damaging the motor, but it’s been about 40K miles so far with no adverse effects. The car is a mid 90s Jetta with 225K miles and doesn’t need any oil added between 10K oil changes. I do check the dipstick, along with the tire pressure, about once a month or so, just to keep tabs on it.
Some other cars seem much less DIY friendly, and that’s something I’ll absolutely consider when it comes time for me to replace this one. I changed a headlight and taillight on a friend’s Versa hatch recently and couldn’t believe what a PITA it was. Also, the owner’s manual had no explanation of the procedure whatsoever. Is this all part of some plan to ensure the economic viability of the dealer network by forcing people to bring their cars in for simple repairs?
With my Dad being a (retired) mechanic with a service pit in his carport at home, all my servicing used to be done there. Both Dad and I stopped doing that as it got too difficult to dispose of the used oil, and is easier and cleaner to get it done at a garage. But at least I know I could do an oil change if I needed to. Brake pads too if pushed.
Wow, the comments keep coming, so I guess I’ll chime in. I did my own oil changes for years. Then I got lazy and went to quick lube places. After one of them insisted that there were no grease fittings on the upper ball joints of my Club Wagon (which I had paid good money to replace) I discovered how inexpensive most dealers are on oil changes. I don’t get dirty, I don’t have to dispose of oil.
Canucklehead reminds me of what an old lawyer used to say to me: I’ll let service people do what they do, while I will do some lawyering and try to stay ahead of them. Even my uber-thrifty college-age son decided that for the meager savings, the DIY job was an awful lot of work and mess.
As for disposing of the old oil, I still remember a Popular Science magazine piece from the early 70s where we were told that putting old oil in jugs and throwing it out in the trash was so much better for the environment than pouring it into the ground. I put waste oil in the trash for years, patting myself on the back for how environmentally responsible I was being. Duh.
I would probably still do my own oil on a hobby car – that would be something you do to commune with your car. On my “appliance cars”, however, I am happy to pay the $25-30 and let someone else do it.
I still change my own oil, plus most other maintenance and repairs. But I have mostly stopped washing the cars myself. $15-20 including a generous tip, and a job that would take me longer than an oil change, is done in 15 minutes with usually no wait. A worthwhile investment two or three times a year.
I always wanted run timer for vehicles which some of the newer digital vehicles have so you could relate run time versus mileage to show how the vehicle was driven.
That and oil testing would tell you alot about the oil viability.
Commercial truck lines often oil test in order to extend the oil change miles/times of the tractors which saves big money across a fleet of hundreds of trucks with gallons of oil in their engines.
I’m a big DIYer and do as much as I can. However I’m currently driving a 2012 Sportwagen which is at about 14000 miles and has VW’s Carefree (/careless) maintenance until 30000 miles. It pained me to take it in for the 10000 mile change but I figured that since I had already paid for it, I might as well let the dealership do it. However, I’ve already purchased 12 quarts of the QS Euro Ultra L oil, ready to go in when my “free” maintenance is done. Total cost for the oil and a German filter will be about $50 per 10000 miles.
I use a Pela extractor and oil changes sure are easy with it. The local shop where I get my inspection stickers done takes the used oil and he burns it in his waste oil furnace to heat the shop. We still have a 2000 Jetta for the wife but we’ll likely be replacing it in the next 6 months. With 2 new cars that won’t require much maintenance I won’t know what to do with myself. Oh well, the house does need a new roof and siding…
Performing repairs and maintenance on you own vehicle will save you money. I am 63 and continue to perform all repairs and maintenance on Corvettes, Boxsters, Buick, 1st gen diesels, and Toyotas. The Toyota dealership will charge you 250$ plus for an O2 sensor that only cost 131$ online and is as easy as putting in one spark plug. Gather you waste oil and take it to an Advance Auto to be recycled for free. They also take the used filters, trans oils, coolant and other fluids. One of the reason I do my own is I can lean my car on wooden ramps and allow my Vette to drain for an hour, thus replacing all of the old oil. I purchase professional filters and quality lubricants, and I don’t have to be worried that an inexperienced technician will strip the threads in my oil pan or other issues. Plus there is around a 40$ savings per change on synthetics.