Is it worth changing your own oil?

[PhoKingGuy]

Drive to BMW dealer, drop car off, pick up loaner, come back and pick up car later that day.

Total out of pocket = $0.00

 

[ViviTheMage]

I like taking it to the dealer, generally always have. I have the space and tools for it, but no lift, so i'd rather have them do it. My 335 also requires 7qts, so its going to be a lot to recycle.

I also request them to check specific things, like clean the under carriage, this feels odd, etc.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Jiffy lube is doing a 5qt change, topping fluids, AND giving me a coupon for free large papa johns pizza for $20.-. For my hoopty rides it makes zero sense for me to even bother with DIY. The pizza is a bonus.

Well, it would be if it wasn't crappy papa johns pizza anyway. :awe:

 

[7window]

The worst part is if the oil drips on any carpet while transporting

 

[pauldun170]

Drive to BMW dealer, drop car off, pick up loaner, come back and pick up car later that day.

Total out of pocket = $0.00

lol

Person A : I just drop off the car...its all covered under the Maintenance program.
Person B : What do you do when the Maintenance Program coverage is up?

Persona A : I get new BMW!!!

 

[mizzou]

in the long run it might be. Lately it seems it's cheaper to go pay someone to do it for you, but you get recycled oil from who knows where and an extremely inferior oil filter. Also, sometimes you get a knucklehead who strips your pan bolt or overtightens the filter.

 

[pauldun170]

Well, it would be if it wasn't crappy papa johns pizza anyway. :awe:

I got gas pains just seeing the words "Papa John's Pizza"

 

[jagec]

Oh HELL no!!! Just from a perspective of disposing the old motor oil it is not worth it... forget about the time and materials.

They don't have storm drains where you live?

 

[7window]

The worst part of taking to the dealer is the waiting and travel time so the "time" doing it and taking to the dealer is a wash.

 

[ViviTheMage]

in the long run it might be. Lately it seems it's cheaper to go pay someone to do it for you, but you get recycled oil from who knows where and an extremely inferior oil filter. Also, sometimes you get a knucklehead who strips your pan bolt or overtightens the filter.

It's like going to the doctor or dentist; I ask for the same mechanic every time ... I know he does good stuff and is reliable with my cars!

 

[Pacfanweb]

You are going to get many different answers here. I belong to the camp that would never pay someone to change my oil. Not because I'm cheap but I like to maintain my own vehicles. I like to see how the oil looks. I like to give the underneath a quick wipe down. I give the wheels a wiggle to check the tie rods and whatnot. You get to check a lot of little things when you get under the car.

This is the correct answer, and that means IF you know what you're doing.

If someone contemplating changing their own oil has to go buy everything to do it, and is just barely competent enough to get the oil and filter changed, then no...it's not worth it, because they don't know what they're doing.

I'm a pro, so there's no lube shop that I can take my vehicle to that is going to have some kid that knows more than I do changing my oil for me. That kid doesn't exist.

But for most people, it's not worth the effort.

 

[xanis]

I personally take my car to the dealer. It's $55 for an oil change, tire rotation, and multi-point inspection and takes about an hour (sometimes less). I could do it myself for less money, but it's worth the extra cost to me to have someone else take care of it.

EDIT: This is a '12 Chevy Sonic, FWIW.

 

[Leaddog2]

I used to ALWAYS do it myself. Now as my body creaks and groans more I found a local quick lube shop that does it, checks a few things, vacuums out the car while I sit in the waiting room eating popcorn.

It is a family business and the same folks are there every time. At the dealership I see mostly high school age kids who don't give a damn.

 

[pauldun170]

Have a 04 Mini Cooper and I don't know if its because its similar to BMW or if people are like this with all cars but people swear your have to get specific oil from specific places done exactly right etc etc.

Mini dealers charge ~80 bucks for a oil change that comes with an 'inspection' and wash. Full synthetic/high quality oil changes from other random places are still at least 60 bucks from what I've seen... and who knows what kind of job they actually do.

Now if I did the change myself I'd save money but then when would the car ever get inspected? Does bringing it to the dealer actually mean anything real world or do they just make sure the car starts and that counts as the inspection?

I drive over 20k miles a year so I need to get oil changes every few months...

Your car takes 5 qts 5w-30. It doesn't really require any special type of oil

Synthetic was used from the factory to go along with the free 10K oil changes.

Not sure how easy it is to get to the cartridge style filter but overall it shouldn't take much time to do an oil change on the car and I'd probably toss whatever synth blend is on sale in it. You would have to remember to reset the oil light.
The "inspection" in many cases is the tech "inspecting" the work order and writing "inspected" on it.

According to your maintenance schedule, your 20K a year = 2 oil changes a year.

As for oil....its pretty hard to find crappy oil nowadays. Even the dino oil are really good. Paying top dollar for oil, for a car that does not see track duty seems wasteful. Whatever synthetic or synth blend is on sale should be fine.

 

[SparkyJJO]

I prefer to do my own oil changes, though I don't have a good spot to do so. Typically I'll do them on a weekend that I'm visiting my parents as they have a concrete drive I can do it on.

Disposal isn't rocket science. Drain oil into pan, then either dump pan into the large jug (you aren't really getting a bunch of 1 qt bottles are you?) or get a pan that is a tank with a spout. I take the capped pan over to Autozone and they take it for free. What's so hard about that?

 

[Auric]

The worst part of taking to the dealer is the waiting and travel time so the "time" doing it and taking to the dealer is a wash.

This. Plus, one of the few times I had the dealer change the oil (since a TSB or something needed doing as well) they overfilled it. I corrected it rather than spend even more time going back, and to avoid additional potential damage from running it. Perhaps it could have been towed/hauled at their expense but then it is just more hassle and potential for other damage. Throwing money at something does not necessarily solve it nor same you time. So, it comes down to "If you want something done right, do it yourself".

 

[Meghan54]

in the long run it might be. Lately it seems it's cheaper to go pay someone to do it for you, but you get recycled oil from who knows where and an extremely inferior oil filter. Also, sometimes you get a knucklehead who strips your pan bolt or overtightens the filter.

Or worse, the one my brother sees come into his shop.....the old oil filter gasket sticks on and gets "missed" by the grease monkey doing the oil change and screws the new filter on top of it. Guaranteed big leak. His shop replaces an engine or two every few months from the screw ups at the nearby Jiffy Lube, like clockwork. He says Jiffy Lube is good for his business.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I prefer to do my own oil changes, though I don't have a good spot to do so. Typically I'll do them on a weekend that I'm visiting my parents as they have a concrete drive I can do it on.

Disposal isn't rocket science. Drain oil into pan, then either dump pan into the large jug (you aren't really getting a bunch of 1 qt bottles are you?) or get a pan that is a tank with a spout. I take the capped pan over to Autozone and they take it for free. What's so hard about that?

Last time I bought car motor oil it was in cases. Motorcycle oil I buy in 4L jugs.

 

[ghost recon88]

$4.50 for my Wix filter and I can get 5.1 qt jug of Pennzoil Platinum for $12, so its definitely worth the time and cost doing it myself.

 

[Fritzo]

$4.50 for my Wix filter and I can get 5.1 qt jug of Pennzoil Platinum for $12, so its definitely worth the time and cost doing it myself.

Where can you get oil that cheap? Synth 5 QT is usually around $25.

 

[ThatsABigOne]

Dealer for now and maybe for as long as I own a car. My dealer does a great job at taking care of vehicles. Their ratings on google maps, yelp, and other local review sites reflect their job.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Dealer for now and maybe for as long as I own a car. My dealer does a great job at taking care of vehicles. Their ratings on google maps, yelp, and other local review sites reflect their job.

I have no complaints whatsoever about Lexus dealer service.

 

[Vdubchaos]

I do my own on all cars.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Or worse, the one my brother sees come into his shop.....the old oil filter gasket sticks on and gets "missed" by the grease monkey doing the oil change and screws the new filter on top of it. Guaranteed big leak. His shop replaces an engine or two every few months from the screw ups at the nearby Jiffy Lube, like clockwork. He says Jiffy Lube is good for his business.

When I was an advisor at a dealership I was very familiar with the local regional Jiffy Lube manager. At least once a month he'd call me with something like this.

Engines, transmissions, transfer case once, axles.....something his guys didn't check, usually.
Someone would take their car there for every oil change, and all the fluids they claim to check but really don't....and then an axle or something would leak out its fluid and shell itself and they'd pay for it because if they had checked it like they were suppose to, they'd have either at least kept fluid in it or informed the customer they had a leak.

Now doubling the filter gasket...that usually shows up the second you start the engine, I've never seen one leave the shop like that. I've actually done that myself once, in my rookie days....sprayed oil all over my bay. That's just normal for an oil change shop...you do enough volume and something like that will get by every so often.

 

[Yourself]

I regularly get coupons from the dealership for $24.99 oil changes. I have a Dodge Ram that takes 7 quarts, so there is no way I could come out ahead by doing it myself.