How the other half lives (Oil change content)

Sure I can change my own oil. I've never NOT changed my own oil. On the other hand, my 26-year-old Acura has never had the oil changed anywhere besides an Acura dealer. Why break the chain?

Acura of Las Vegas was having a $29.99 oil change deal. They were happy to work on an old Integra.

For $31.98 OTD I got:

4 quarts semi-synthetic 5W30

Genuine Acura oil filter

Genuine Acura drain plug washer

Top off coolant

Top off washer fluid

Top off transaxle

Top off tire pressure

Exterior car wash

Cup of fresh-brewed coffee

Two fresh-baked cookies

Mini Detail Kit (leather/vinyl cleaner, protectant, spot remover)

Free WiFi

And also, the Service Advisor told me that if I give 100% on the Customer Satisfaction survey, my next oil change is FREE.

They also provided me with the 157-point inspection results, along with some ridiculous quotes to fix issues. $345 seems like a lot for spark plugs and wires! But there was absolutely no pressure and no upsell.

You know, there might just be something to how the other half lives...

I never change the oil in my daily driver anymore. My free time is worth more than what the Honda dealer charges and I don't have to deal with disposing of the old oil, cleaning up my garage or getting my clothes dirty. I'm always getting coupons in the mail so it costs under $25.00 and they wash my car and give me something to eat and drink too.

I don't mind having it done when I have time, but I can do an oil change on anything I own in 15 minutes. I buy oil by the gallon and filters 4 at a time. Since that stuff is always on the shelf, it's usually easier and faster to just do it at home.

I've had too many berkeleyups of really simple jobs (oil filter not tightened, oil cap left off, etc) not to do it myself.

Is it more cost effective to go to a dealer when they're having a special? Probably.

But doing it myself gets me into the garage, which usually spurs on other projects. And I know it was done properly.

I'd probably just pay the man if I weren't picky about what goes in. Nobody is going to put 0w40 M1 in my car for $30, or the oversize filter I run.

In reply to calteg:

I hear you, and that's why I DIY rather than taking it to some random shop that's having a special. In the case of going to the dealer, though, they have more on the line (reputation-wise) than it's worth to do a shoddy job on a $30 oil change.

The PO took the car to a quickie-lube once, and they stripped out the pan. She took it to the dealer and they put a new pan in. Then she never went anyplace but the dealer.

There are perks. The dealership I purchased my WRX and wife's Foz from gives lifetime free oil changes any time you purchase a vehicle from them. When I lived less than 1.5 miles from them I'd go there when it was due for service, take a jog bag home, wait for a call and jog back down there. To me I got exercise out of it and didn't have to drive the extra two miles to wal-mart to spend $25 on a jug of oil, drive back, then do the work.

Now that I live further away I do my wife's oil changes in the garage and still take mine in just to have the service records so I can sell my WRX in a few years for close to the same price I purchased it since it will be bone stock and not flat brimmed out.

That and I worked at dealerships long enough to know that so many of the lube/express techs make way too many mistakes. I can't tell you how many oil filters were forgot to be put on at the Honda dealer I worked out.

My FIL has an older Acura and paid extra for the extended free maintenance plan. Hasn't paid for an oil change in about ten years.

I'm a real man... I change my own oil by hand...uphill...in the snow...both ways.

I have a quality and trustworthy shop located 3 buildings away from my work. When the DD needs an oil change I drop it off over there shoot the E36 M3 with my favorite crotchety old-er tech then walk a minute to work. I leave a couple minutes early and pick it up when I am done for the day. I'm know it's done right, they use a good filter, it costs the same as a quick lube shop and I don't have to dispose of old oil.

As a grease monkey at a lube and basic maintnence shop i find the horror stories that pop up in these threads hilarious. Go to a shop with good reviews, that offers a full service oil change and enjoy the wifi.

I'll say this is one area I don't agree with most of the grassrooters. We take our daily drivers to walmart on one of our weekly shopping trips. My time is way to valuable to spend even 15 minutes changing oil.

I used to do my own, but now with the my wife's and my DDs under warranty they go to the dealer.

Besides the benefits mentioned above (time, no hassle, free food), warranty work has been relatively painless.

There were absolutely no questions asked when they replaced the trans under warranty at 65,000 miles or the engine at 90,000.

It would have been much more of a hassle if I had to provide documentation that all the oil changes were done if I had chosen to do them myself.

Sure it's the rare case when that happens, but the the slight cost over doing it myself is cheap insurance.

icaneat50eggs wrote: I'll say this is one area I don't agree with most of the grassrooters. We take our daily drivers to walmart on one of our weekly shopping trips. My time is way to valuable to spend even 15 minutes changing oil.

I took the liberty of taking that 15 minutes to teach one of my daughters how to do an oil change. That was time well spent. Plus I would never let a wal-mart goober touch my car (no offense to any of you if you are one).

I do my own for a couple of reasons: I don't have to trust someone else not to over-tighten a filter or drain plug, I know exactly what oil went in and how much, and it gives me a chance to poke at stuff and notice if anything isn't right.

I change my own oil because I'm lazy. Taking it somewhere takes way more effort.

I'm pretty sure the guy who changed my oil was younger than my car!

Yeah i don't strip drain bolts or forget to put the filter on, but i'd probably be better off letting an idiot at least ATTEMPT to change it on a decent schedule.

With my busy schedule I change my own oil since it is all the car stuff I can manage right now. It makes me feel manly and important.

Always do my own, lest somebody drain my gear oil and double fill the engine, which seems to happen way more than it should.

I DIY. It's therapeutic for me.

And I'm a tech :-p

FWIW we can't work on our own stuff at the dealer I'm at(bummer), so I do it myself at home.

DirtyBird222 wrote:

icaneat50eggs wrote: I'll say this is one area I don't agree with most of the grassrooters. We take our daily drivers to walmart on one of our weekly shopping trips. My time is way to valuable to spend even 15 minutes changing oil.

I took the liberty of taking that 15 minutes to teach one of my daughters how to do an oil change. That was time well spent. Plus I would never let a wal-mart goober touch my car (no offense to any of you if you are one).

I work at a dealership and we get way too many cars in from Wal-Mart that have been horrendously mangled. The local Wal-Mart runs all drain plugs in with a 3/8 impact gun, not joking. Seen a few Cobalts with stripped threads in the pan (it's aluminum). Had a Toyota Vensa we took in on trade where they had never even put the new filter in the housing, just removed the old one and topped off the oil.

I do all my own oil changes, mainly because I'm always playing with oil viscosity and such. Plus, I'm a mechanic, can't be farming out my own work. And if I screw it up, I got no one to blame but myself.

I do all my own. Biggest reason is because when I do it I also check steering linkage, leaks, belts, etc, etc. If I didn't change the oil I would never get under there and check everything out.

thanks for the reminder. its 10 degrees outside and i need to pay someone to change my overdue oil this week.

ProDarwin wrote: I change my own oil because I'm lazy. Taking it somewhere takes way more effort.

This. Hell... I want my own tire changing equipment mainly because having them done at a shop is a PITA.