Do you change your own oil?

I prefer doing it myself, but living in the city without a driveway makes that a pain. I use Valvoline and have never had a problem (to my knowledge) with inferior oil or the old oil filter scam.

notmuchtimetotrain wrote:

For those saying their time is more valuable, do you realize it takes less time to change your own oil than it does to drive to an oil change place and wait for them to do it?

And how much time does it take you to make the round trip to recycle your used oil?

Ufail wrote:

notmuchtimetotrain wrote:

For those saying their time is more valuable, do you realize it takes less time to change your own oil than it does to drive to an oil change place and wait for them to do it?

And how much time does it take you to make the round trip to recycle your used oil?

3 minutes

...more about my car than the staff of any dealership or quicklube place.

I enjoy working on them so I do as much as I can. On my current car that includes everything from oil changes to the timing belt maintenance which included the water pump, thermostat, pulleys, tensioners, etc.

Having a garage and the right tools helps significantly. Our curbside recycling takes used motor oil too.

Always have changed the oil in all vehicles I've owned (F-150, Camry, Accord, and Sienna). Nowadays I just buy the filters and oil on Amazon. Prices are as low as anywhere and shipping is free. The city dump takes the used oil, and I am there at least once a month or so anyway with other stuff to throw away, yard debris, etc.

I enjoy changing the oil. I have my children help, and we usually put the ball game or car race on the radio while we work.

I have no idea what Jiffy Lube would charge for 6.4 quarts of low viscosity full synthetic, but I really doubt it's $19.99 or whatever they advertise.

Yes and no

The vehicles we drive everyday are serviced at the dealership.

The collector cars (and tractor) I do myself

Ufail wrote:

notmuchtimetotrain wrote:

For those saying their time is more valuable, do you realize it takes less time to change your own oil than it does to drive to an oil change place and wait for them to do it?

And how much time does it take you to make the round trip to recycle your used oil?

I use the old oil in my chainsaw as bar lubricant. I cut a lot of wood because we own 4 acres of wooded property and have a wood stove for auxiliary heat.

notmuchtimetotrain wrote:

For those saying their time is more valuable, do you realize it takes less time to change your own oil than it does to drive to an oil change place and wait for them to do it? And you can do other stuff while the oil is draining. I pay $25 for 5 quarts of full synthetic with a filter. That would cost you $50+ at Jiffy Lube. They are cheap because they use crappy bulk oil. Half the time they don't even drain all the old oil out.

It depends on where the oil change place is. And this is a shocker, but you can do other stuff while the oil change place is working too. It absolutely doesn't take less time for me to change and dispose of my oil than it does to go to drive to/from the oil change place.

Ufail wrote:

notmuchtimetotrain wrote:

For those saying their time is more valuable, do you realize it takes less time to change your own oil than it does to drive to an oil change place and wait for them to do it?

And how much time does it take you to make the round trip to recycle your used oil?

There's an O'Reilly's next door to my daughter's day care. They recycle my oil for free. Takes about one minute to get it done.

UsedToBeKnowItAll wrote:

notmuchtimetotrain wrote:

For those saying their time is more valuable, do you realize it takes less time to change your own oil than it does to drive to an oil change place and wait for them to do it? And you can do other stuff while the oil is draining. I pay $25 for 5 quarts of full synthetic with a filter. That would cost you $50+ at Jiffy Lube. They are cheap because they use crappy bulk oil. Half the time they don't even drain all the old oil out.

It depends on where the oil change place is. And this is a shocker, but you can do other stuff while the oil change place is working too. It absolutely doesn't take less time for me to change and dispose of my oil than it does to go to drive to/from the oil change place.

Fair enough. Closest oil change place to my house is NTB. It's 3.5 miles away, and it usually takes them 1-1.5 hours to get it done from the time I drop it off. It also takes about 12-14 minutes to drive there and back. There's also a Valvoline about 4 miles from my house, but they cost twice as much and don't do the extras like rotate your tires (although I've found that NTB rarely rotates your tires even when they say they did). Both of those options are pretty inconvenient. That's why I started changing my own oil about three years ago. Now I can do it any time I want without waiting and without an appointment. And I can get both our cars finished within 45 minutes (could probably do it in 25 if I bought a second drain container). The most time consuming part is waiting for the oil to drain. I usually do yard work or something else productive while it's draining. Actual working time to change your oil is less than 5 minutes. Of course, if you don't have a garage, it's pretty inconvenient to change your own oil (especially in winter).

notmuchtimetotrain wrote:

For those saying their time is more valuable, do you realize it takes less time to change your own oil than it does to drive to an oil change place and wait for them to do it? And you can do other stuff while the oil is draining. I pay $25 for 5 quarts of full synthetic with a filter. That would cost you $50+ at Jiffy Lube. They are cheap because they use crappy bulk oil. Half the time they don't even drain all the old oil out.

Someone comes to my office and does it in the parking lot. Or if I go to the lube place it's about five minutes from my house and I answer emails. I don't have to go to the store, buy stuff, actually do it myself then go drive the old oil back.

Unless the filter is put on wrong it's a hard job to screw up. Even whatever you call bulk synthetic oil seems to work fine if you change it regularly. As for being upsold, just say no, not really that hard.

Yay a car thread! I have a 99 Lexus ES300. Check engine and TRAC OFF both came on randomly. What's up???

I make just under $200k/yr and change my own oil. I use the cheap Wal-Mart brand because it is API certified and that's good enough for me as a petroleum engineer. DIY is worth it to me because I have friends who have had "fake" oil changes and also where the garage forgets to put oil back in. I also hate the "suggestive selling".

I change brakes, differential fluid and troubleshoot problems with O'Reilly's computer code help.

I don't rotate my tires because I live in a very windy, hilly, mountainous road. I just replace the front tires before each snow-season.

I'm a human being, therefore do not have oil in me that needs changing.

notmuchtimetotrain wrote:

For those saying their time is more valuable, do you realize it takes less time to change your own oil than it does to drive to an oil change place and wait for them to do it?

I take the cars to the oil change at lunchtime, and run while they change the oil.. takes no time as such.

It costs the same after coupons etc to get it changed, as the oil and filter alone would cost me. Changed my own oil for many years, but the quickie oil places are so cheap now it's not sensible anymore.

Still rotate tires myself, that is as quick as taking it in for rotation, plus it's free..

Do most other work myself, but still outsource things like transmission rebuilds and timing belt changes that require special tools.

Ufail wrote:

notmuchtimetotrain wrote:

For those saying their time is more valuable, do you realize it takes less time to change your own oil than it does to drive to an oil change place and wait for them to do it?

And how much time does it take you to make the round trip to recycle your used oil?

I recycle my used oil by pouring it back in the ground from which it came.

The difference between me changing my own oil and taking it in to get changed equates out to about 20$. So unless a friend needs used oil for their burn barrels, I take pay someone to do it.

I get it changed at the same time as the annual service. Not much point doing one small part of the job myself especially as it sounds messy.

I wash the car myself which is more than most do at least in UK. It makes me laugh when people drive some heap of junk then pay money every couple of weeks to get it washed.

automaton wrote:

I think all the jiffy lube places overcharge, don't use the quality of oil you pay for, and do other sorts of fraud.

I have changed the oil in my car for the past 20 years.

Do you change the oil in your car?

What other mechanic work do you do on your own car?

I have taken my car to Oil Can Henry's for 10 years. If I tried to do it, I would screw something up and it would cost me more to fix it.