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And what makes you better than that semi skilled person at the dealer are you saying that you’re better then they are and are you a master mechanic and know that you’re better than they are.
Forty years of wrenching on my own vehicles, family vehicles, friends and neighbors cars, work trucks for several construction companies I've owned, while doing everything from maintenance and brakes to total engine rebuilds, for starters. Then there is being a clean, non- drug using mature adult, with a lot of experience and skin in the game, since damaging my own vehicles comes right out of my wallet, not the dealership's or Iffy Lube's insurance company. Next there is the methodical, and technically competent manner in which I perform my own work. The shop is clean, well lit, the correct tools are laid out, and all parts and material used are top notch, including a jug of Mobil 1, the correct OEM filter, and an OEM replacement squash washer (most folks haven't got a clue what that is, but don't worry. If your vehicle's manufacturer calls for a new one, nine of ten quick lube monkeys don't know, and couldn't give a rat's butt, either) There are plenty of master techs, both factory and ASE certified, at work in a dealer, and most should be better mechanics than I am, since I don't do it 40 hours a week, nor sit through technical training to gain those certifications. That is pretty meaningless however, since they have nothing to do with the semi-skilled helper changing the oil on your car. I've personally dealt with several dealer and quick lube screw-ups for friends and family members, including locating a replacement engine for my mother's car, when some dolt didn't think that tightening the oil drain plug was all that important.
Like I said, I hope you never have an issue, but screw ups are common, since oil changes are used as a "loss-leader" to get you in the door, and keep you coming back. As a result, many dealers use semi-skilled, low paid help, but generally use quality materials to do the job. "Quick lube joints use the same poorly paid, semi to unskilled help, but you get the added bonus of the possibility of ending up with the cheapest commodity grade filters that they can buy, and/or the possibility that the bulk oil used is far from the quality and specs. required from your vehicle.
Forty years of wrenching on my own vehicles, family vehicles, friends and neighbors cars, work trucks for several construction companies I've owned, while doing everything from maintenance and brakes to total engine rebuilds, for starters. Then there is being a clean, non- drug using mature adult, with a lot of experience and skin in the game, since damaging my own vehicles comes right out of my wallet, not the dealership's or Iffy Lube's insurance company. Next there is the methodical, and technically competent manner in which I perform my own work. The shop is clean, well lit, the correct tools are laid out, and all parts and material used are top notch, including a jug of Mobil 1, the correct OEM filter, and an OEM replacement squash washer (most folks haven't got a clue what that is, but don't worry. If your vehicle's manufacturer calls for a new one, nine of ten quick lube monkeys don't know, and couldn't give a rat's butt, either) There are plenty of master techs, both factory and ASE certified, at work in a dealer, and most should be better mechanics than I am, since I don't do it 40 hours a week, nor sit through technical training to gain those certifications. That is pretty meaningless however, since they have nothing to do with the semi-skilled helper changing the oil on your car. I've personally dealt with several dealer and quick lube screw-ups for friends and family members, including locating a replacement engine for my mother's car, when some dolt didn't think that tightening the oil drain plug was all that important.
Like I said, I hope you never have an issue, but screw ups are common, since oil changes are used as a "loss-leader" to get you in the door, and keep you coming back. As a result, many dealers use semi-skilled, low paid help, but generally use quality materials to do the job. "Quick lube joints use the same poorly paid, semi to unskilled help, but you get the added bonus of the possibility of ending up with the cheapest commodity grade filters that they can buy, and/or the possibility that the bulk oil used is far from the quality and specs. required from your vehicle.
Well said. Can't rep you again till I spread the love around some more, but well said all the same.
Hard to say if the quality of the filter or the quality of the oil is more important, but safe to say they both matter.
This is pretty close to my own reasoning, I can add that, living out in the sticks, it's more trouble to drive to town than it is to just DIY the job.
Squash washer. Yeah, my old Toyota Camry 87 uses one, and if you don't put a new one on, the drain plug area will drip a bit. More of a messiness issue than the cost of the oil leaked out. Although on that car I frequently use a top-side oil changer, the filter is on the front of the block so if I top-side it, I don't have to lift or get under the car at all. And don't need a new squash washer either.
Forty years of wrenching on my own vehicles, family vehicles, friends and neighbors cars, work trucks for several construction companies I've owned, while doing everything from maintenance and brakes to total engine rebuilds, for starters. Then there is being a clean, non- drug using mature adult, with a lot of experience and skin in the game, since damaging my own vehicles comes right out of my wallet, not the dealership's or Iffy Lube's insurance company. Next there is the methodical, and technically competent manner in which I perform my own work. The shop is clean, well lit, the correct tools are laid out, and all parts and material used are top notch, including a jug of Mobil 1, the correct OEM filter, and an OEM replacement squash washer (most folks haven't got a clue what that is, but don't worry. If your vehicle's manufacturer calls for a new one, nine of ten quick lube monkeys don't know, and couldn't give a rat's butt, either) There are plenty of master techs, both factory and ASE certified, at work in a dealer, and most should be better mechanics than I am, since I don't do it 40 hours a week, nor sit through technical training to gain those certifications. That is pretty meaningless however, since they have nothing to do with the semi-skilled helper changing the oil on your car. I've personally dealt with several dealer and quick lube screw-ups for friends and family members, including locating a replacement engine for my mother's car, when some dolt didn't think that tightening the oil drain plug was all that important.
Like I said, I hope you never have an issue, but screw ups are common, since oil changes are used as a "loss-leader" to get you in the door, and keep you coming back. As a result, many dealers use semi-skilled, low paid help, but generally use quality materials to do the job. "Quick lube joints use the same poorly paid, semi to unskilled help, but you get the added bonus of the possibility of ending up with the cheapest commodity grade filters that they can buy, and/or the possibility that the bulk oil used is far from the quality and specs. required from your vehicle.
I appreciate your concern but I’m 64 years old my laying on the ground to change my oil are over, and my vehicle is a lease, so if that unskilled oil changing kid screws up a simple oil change it’s on them to fix since the vehicle is under full warranty, and all maintenance work is on their system. I don’t keep my vehicles forever every 3 years i lease another one.
I have noticed since buying new I have stopped touching the car, not even oil changes. I have to follow the scheduled service and everything is taken care of. Ok, so I pay $250 every 5000 miles. Not bad.
I have noticed since buying new I have stopped touching the car, not even oil changes. I have to follow the scheduled service and everything is taken care of. Ok, so I pay $250 every 5000 miles. Not bad.
Hoping that's not for only an oil change, but yeah having them get it up in the air, fresh oil (hopefully full synthetic) rotate and balance the tires, top off fluids, and however-many-point inspection where you know at least how much brake life you have left, identify any fluid leaks before they become part failures, etc.
Again, $250 is a punch in the gut for a do-it-yourselfer, but de rigeur for a Land Rover owner
You can drop off the used oil for free at any automotive section of Walmart....Hmmmm....I wonder...
You still have to store it until you are able to take it in. It still spills in your car or bed from time to time, or it gets kicked over in your garage because you forgot to take it in or got too busy. You still have to wear crappy clothing because you will undoubtedly get some oil on you somewhere in the process.
The closest place to dispose of oil for us is 30 minutes round trip and the closest Walmart is 40 minutes round trip (just driving). Add in storing, loading, unloading, cleaning. Suddenly that $8 you saved by changing the oil yourself is costing you a couple of hours. An hour to jack up the car, change the oil, remove the jack-stands jack it back down put everything away and clean up, and an hour to collect the oil, try to put it safely in your bed or trunk, drive to the disposal place, empty the containers, drive back, clean up. If, somewhere in there you have any kind of spill, you are going to add a lot more time. Not related to chaining oil, but I once had some oil spill in the rear passenger compartment of my truck. It took me more than ten hours to gt it out and I had to throw away the carpeted floor mat (which costs $350 to replace). Even if you only spill a little oil in the bed or trunk, cleaning it out is going to be an ordeal. Oil is awful stuff.
Or you can spring for the $8 and spend five minutes watching the guy change your oil to make sure he does things correctly. There is very little they can do wrong if you are watching them. Besides, you can also do something wrong. Unless of course you are one of the multitudes of perfect people on CD. It may be I am the only person who uses CD that ever makes any mistakes, it is amazing how many perfect people there are here. None of them could ever under or over tighten the drain plus or forget to put oil in, or put in too little or too much. Not the prefect people, but me? I am perfectly capable of making any of those mistakes myself. I haven't yet, but I am certainly as capable of making such a mistake as is a high school drop out who does 50 oil changes a day.
While I can stop on my way home from work to have them change the oil and not need to change out of my suit, taking oil in for disposal requires a special trip and appropriate clothing.
Where it will save significant money or time, or it is fun, I will work on a car (brake jobs, rebuild engine or head, replace trans etc). I am not about to waste two hours (possibly more) doing awful unpleasant dirty work to save $8. My time is more valuable than that.
You still have to store it until you are able to take it in. It still spills in your car or bed from time to time, or it gets kicked over in your garage because you forgot to take it in or got too busy. You still have to wear crappy clothing because you will undoubtedly get some oil on you somewhere in the process.
The closest place to dispose of oil for us is 30 minutes round trip and the closest Walmart is 40 minutes round trip (just driving). Add in storing, loading, unloading, cleaning. Suddenly that $8 you saved by changing the oil yourself is costing you a couple of hours. An hour to jack up the car, change the oil, remove the jack-stands jack it back down put everything away and clean up, and an hour to collect the oil, try to put it safely in your bed or trunk, drive to the disposal place, empty the containers, drive back, clean up. If, somewhere in there you have any kind of spill, you are going to add a lot more time. Not related to chaining oil, but I once had some oil spill in the rear passenger compartment of my truck. It took me more than ten hours to gt it out and I had to throw away the carpeted floor mat (which costs $350 to replace). Even if you only spill a little oil in the bed or trunk, cleaning it out is going to be an ordeal. Oil is awful stuff.
Or you can spring for the $8 and spend five minutes watching the guy change your oil to make sure he does things correctly. There is very little they can do wrong if you are watching them. Besides, you can also do something wrong. Unless of course you are one of the multitudes of perfect people on CD. It may be I am the only person who uses CD that ever makes any mistakes, it is amazing how many perfect people there are here. None of them could ever under or over tighten the drain plus or forget to put oil in, or put in too little or too much. Not the prefect people, but me? I am perfectly capable of making any of those mistakes myself. I haven't yet, but I am certainly as capable of making such a mistake as is a high school drop out who does 50 oil changes a day.
While I can stop on my way home from work to have them change the oil and not need to change out of my suit, taking oil in for disposal requires a special trip and appropriate clothing.
Where it will save significant money or time, or it is fun, I will work on a car (brake jobs, rebuild engine or head, replace trans etc). I am not about to waste two hours (possibly more) doing awful unpleasant dirty work to save $8. My time is more valuable than that.
If I could give an award for the most whining about nothing, in a post, you would be receiving a four foot tall trophy shortly. That said, you have a gift. You have taken a clean, easy, inexpensive DIY task and managed to create the delusion that it's a bit more onerous than giving a rectal exam to a very unwilling Rhinoceros, while dressed in a white business suit.
I'll take this down, point by point, as I'm a big fan of reality, and can't just let this bovine spew stand, unaddressed.
#1, Storing and delivering oil to a willing recycler: A competent DIYer owns a reusable, durable container that holds used oil, until enough volume has been collected to make it worth expending the effort to take it in. I use a very durable, five gallon jug that had previously been used in a commercial kitchen. It's a cube, with a large (3") screw lid. It cannot roll, and doesn't soil your vehicle, dress, or panties, when transported. It was free. If you are trying to refill a five qt. oil jug, or using old milk jugs, you are doing it wrong, and deserve to be dealing with kicking them over in the garage, or spills in the car.
#2, The long, and arduous trek to the oil recycler, This can be a pilgrimage, as they are frequently located a day's journey, and several states away. (Bonus points if you ride a mule and wear a hair shirt) Stick with me on this one, since it's complicated. Recycling oil should take less than five minutes of your life, IF you make it a dedicated process. The reason is that most of us humans now multi-task. I need to do grocery shopping, and notice that it's time for the once, or twice a year, dumping of my oil jug. I put it in the car, do my grocery shopping, and stop at one of the tens of thousands of auto parts stores, here in North America. Conveniently enough, my favorite is located in the parking lot of my grocery store. Now it really gets complex, and heading toward Astrophysics level thinking, as we take this whole concept up a notch, but it's possible for this task to take no additional time out of your poorly planned day, once you learn and really dial in this whole multi-tasking deal. You get your groceries, and stop at the parts store to actually buy new oil, since you are due for a change. While doing so, you head into the store, used jug in hand, and ask them to dump it WHILE you are purchasing new oil and a filter. WOW, this is really a wild concept, eh? Suddenly your "forty minute trip" has been magically reduced to "no minutes". Mind blown. Given the fact that every state in the union has thousands of places, Wal-mart, Advanced Auto, NAPA, etc..... that will accept your used oil, I'm pretty sure that you can turn this little forty minute drama of yours into a non-event, if you devote ten seconds of thinking, and actually plan ahead.
#3 Saving the magical eight bucks, "five minutes at the quickie lube" and taking two hours for a DIY oil change, while being covered from head to toe in used oil, AND ruining the interior of your car: The closest quick change to my house is about a 15 minute ride. I then have to wait my turn for the work to be done, get the work done, and return to my home. If everything is perfect, there is a possibility that this could be done in an hour. Possible, but unlikely. I just looked, and none of the closest three facilities have over a three star google rating. I don't do business with a place like that, and the review comments made me cringe. I do the work, in my garage, in twenty minutes. I wear disposable gloves, and can report that the building, the vehicle, and myself are never covered in oil, when the job is done. Very little cleanup required, quite tidy actually. I literally couldn't turn any DIY oil change into a two hour job, unless I drained it, then walked to town for oil and a filter. As for saving eight bucks. My time is money. I can do the job correctly, in twenty minutes. That's at least three times faster than going to a local Iffy Lube, that just happens to be totally empty and waiting for me to pull in. When it comes to actual dollars, five quarts of synthetic, and an OEM filter costs me $28.50. Synthetic changes in this area run $49.95 to $70. Savings are, in reality, in the $20-$40 range.
#4 Finally, your BEST comment of the entire post: This is serious comedy gold! "There is very little that can go wrong, if you watch them". LMAO. Seriously? Walmart has a cutting edge program in place, to try to limit the carnage. They use cameras to watch, record and archive every move in the engine bay and under the vehicle, as the work is being performed. They require management to physically double check everything the shop monkeys do. You want to guess how many times a week they end up with a blown engine, or a wheel falling off a customer's vehicle? You think that YOU have control of the situation, with your nose pressed up against the glass, as a $10 hour monkey blasts your drain plug with 125 LBS of torque while reinstalling it, or double gaskets the filter? Poorly paid, low skilled workers, in a fast paced, low margin environment, screw up all the time. It's how the game is played. Pretending otherwise is not going to make it so.
As I stated previously to another poster, If you have the work done, great. Hopefully, you will be among the majority who never has (or fails to discover) a major issue. Discovering the damage is an interesting issue, BTW. Personally, I have been involved with a Corolla that had nine changes in a row without the cartridge filter changed. The shop did it since the car was owned by a female college student, and they knew they wouldn't get caught. As stated previously, my Mom needed a new engine since a shop didn't tighten the drain plug, and wouldn't take responsibility for it. I've found an engine air box lid loose, since the shop was trying to up-sell an engine air filter, and was denied. They couldn't be bothered to put the old filter back in correctly. I've been under a six liter Chevy motor and found a filter that was installed by a quick lube. It was roughly a third the size of the correct one. I've seen quick lube "commodity grade" filters cut apart for inspection. They are better than not having a filter at all, but not by a wide margin. That's just stuff I've casually run into. Talk to any competent tech. who works for an independent shop, and they can go on for hours about the crap they find, and how often they replace engines, since somebody in the quick lube really screwed up.
Not sure where do you guys come up with they aren’t making money? I personally can buy a 55 gallon drum of Sunoco syn-blend 10-30 bulk oil for $300. And if I was driving the way I was believe me I would have one in my garage. And that’s just a quick online search not actually setting up a account and shopping around with my resale license.
That gives me a $1.36 a quart price point. Which I can probably get closer to a dollar if I’m shopping around. . I have personally ordered factory filters as low as $1 on clearance on rockauto and I bought 10/30 of each as the filters are interchangeable between two of the vehicles. I mean one factory filter runs $15 bucks. The other two use the same filter. . Again this wasn’t really shopping around. I just got a email with a bunch of clearance items. So I bought them. Lots of filters interchange that’s why they make the typical plain white bulk filters. My Kia and Infiniti have the same size thread and gasket sealing circumference. The Kia filter is bigger and fits my Infiniti so I use the Kia filters as they are bigger.
I guarantee you that you can be looking at less than $6 or less in cost for a typical oil change with syn blend. Paying some dude $10 a hour and they are turning out 4 cars a hour...they are making money. They may not be raking it in but that “$35 oil change special” isn’t meant to prop up the dealer. It’s either meant as a hook to get you in or a cherry on top of the other reason you were there. For every “just a oil change “ customer there are 10 people there for various reasons and the upsell of a oil change gets thrown out there. Most do it because it’s already there, it’s cheap and they aren’t gonna sweat saving $5.
As far as the chain oil change joints....they could rake it in the money on oil changes alone. The problem is they are most likely forced to buy their stock from corporate and can’t shop for better prices. I had a buddy who owned a Quiznos. He said the overhead was killing him and corporate sold you everything.
What you pay in the store for a filter and fluid is nowhere near what the dealer pays. I had friends who worked for dealers. They would get 5 gallon buckets and fill them up at work with oil or transmission fluid from the bulk containers. Their cost was like $10 to the parts guy
As far as doing oil changes at home ....the most I ever spilled was a few drops when I did it on the ground. With a lift it’s very rate tat I spill. Either way I can grab a rag and clean it.
As far as the storage...I have two 5 gallon buckets with lids and pour spouts. I have yet to Exxon Valdez my garage truck or anything else. I do my own oil changes because it costs around $100 for my cars and $200 for my trucks at a shop.
Last edited by Electrician4you; 04-20-2019 at 08:38 AM..
Not sure where do you guys come up with they aren’t making money? I personally can buy a 55 gallon drum of Sunoco syn-blend 10-30 bulk oil for $300. And if I was driving the way I was believe me I would have one in my garage. And that’s just a quick online search not actually setting up a account and shopping around with my resale license.
That gives me a $1.36 a quart price point. Which I can probably get closer to a dollar if I’m shopping around. . I have personally ordered factory filters as low as $1 on clearance on rockauto and I bought 10/30 of each as the filters are interchangeable between two of the vehicles. I mean one factory filter runs $15 bucks. The other two use the same filter. . Again this wasn’t really shopping around. I just got a email with a bunch of clearance items. So I bought them. Lots of filters interchange that’s why they make the typical plain white bulk filters. My Kia and Infiniti have the same size thread and gasket sealing circumference. The Kia filter is bigger and fits my Infiniti so I use the Kia filters as they are bigger.
I guarantee you that you can be looking at less than $6 or less in cost for a typical oil change with syn blend. Paying some dude $10 a hour and they are turning out 4 cars a hour...they are making money. They may not be raking it in but that “$35 oil change special” isn’t meant to prop up the dealer. It’s either meant as a hook to get you in or a cherry on top of the other reason you were there. For every “just a oil change “ customer there are 10 people there for various reasons and the upsell of a oil change gets thrown out there. Most do it because it’s already there, it’s cheap and they aren’t gonna sweat saving $5.
As far as the chain oil change joints....they could rake it in the money on oil changes alone. The problem is they are most likely forced to buy their stock from corporate and can’t shop for better prices. I had a buddy who owned a Quiznos. He said the overhead was killing him and corporate sold you everything.
What you pay in the store for a filter and fluid is nowhere near what the dealer pays. I had friends who worked for dealers. They would get 5 gallon buckets and fill them up at work with oil or transmission fluid from the bulk containers. Their cost was like $10 to the parts guy
As far as doing oil changes at home ....the most I ever spilled was a few drops when I did it on the ground. With a lift it’s very rate tat I spill. Either way I can grab a rag and clean it.
As far as the storage...I have two 5 gallon buckets with lids and pour spouts. I have yet to Exxon Valdez my garage truck or anything else. I do my own oil changes because it costs around $100 for my cars and $200 for my trucks at a shop.
You live in a expensive state for anything, we’re i live its not expensive and since it’s the automotive capital of the country never had any problems with the dealers here because mechanics all have to be licensed to work on vehicles in the state of Michigan.
Or you can spring for the $8 and spend five minutes watching the guy change your oil to make sure he does things correctly.
Can you though? Aren't there insurance restrictions against letting customers in the garage work areas?
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