Ivy says:
I need to preface this by saying I was an assistant manager for an auto repair shop for over 3 years. So I really do know what I’m talking about, I promise. Many lists I have seen on how to save money include changing the oil on your car yourself as a way to save money. That’s bollocks. Let me tell you why.
Most auto repair shops that also do other work like brakes, tuneups, and tires use oil changes as a loss leader to get you to come to their shop for more major repairs and maintenance. The regular price for an oil change at the shop I used to work at is currently $18.90. You can often find coupons for $14.90, and occasionally they have coupons for $12.90. They are set up to do oil changes very quickly, with an oil pit down below or at least on a lift. The guys that worked the oil change bay frequently could complete an oil change in about 5 minutes most of the time. Now, even if you have several cars in front of you, that’s still pretty fast timing. If you can hit the shop when there’s nobody in front of you, you can be in and out in about 15 minutes, most of the time.
Compare that to changing the oil yourself. You have to buy ramps to drive your car up on, an oil wrench, plus you have to buy the oil at about $2.50 per bottle (I’m not 100% certain on this. I haven’t bought oil by the bottle in over 7 years, but my husband who drives a car that has a slight oil leak says this is what oil costs) and an oil filter for between $6 and $10. Consider that the average car requires about 5 quarts of oil and just the oil and filter is going to run more than the coupon price.
Plus, it takes time to change the oil yourself on your car. And, if you mess up and strip the threads on the oil pan bolt, it’s you that has to deal with fixing that. If the repair shop does so, they have to fix it, not you. And then you have to take the used oil for recycling- seriously, it’s more time than it’s worth.
You’re not going to save money if you don’t go to the right sort of shop. The shops that do oil changes only are typically more expensive, charging between $25 and $30 for an oil change. And I have no idea what dealers charge for their oil changes, but I expect their prices are in line with the rest of their prices. That is to say, expensive. The type of shop you want to choose is the sort that does all kinds of work. Watch out for coupons that come in the mail and take your car in to try the place out.
A bonus of taking your car to one of these shops for regular oil changes is you get to know the shop before you have to bring your car in for more major work. There are many unscrupulous shops out there. It drives the honest shops and auto technicians wild because people tend to assume that all shops are shady, based on the actions of a few shops. But you can get a good feel for what a shop is like based on how they handle oil changes. If they explain things carefully and tell you how seriously you need an item (I always instructed my technicians to make sure to differentiate between an item needing replaced by mileage/time vs. actual need), then you can assume they’re probably an honest shop. But if they act like everything is needing to be replaced on your car, unless everything really does need to be replaced on your car, they’re probably unscrupulous. Keep shopping around until you find a good shop, and then recommend them to your friends and family as well. Good shops get a lot of business by word of mouth.
Some maintenance items that are totally worth doing yourself is the air filter, PCV valve, and, with some technical knowledge, tuneups, plug wires, and distributor caps. Air filters, especially, are ridiculously easy to replace and are overpriced in every shop I have ever been in. If we ever get a warm, non-rainy day and I remember to, I may do a tutorial on how simple it is to replace your air filter.
Happy motoring!
Random Goodness from Heather and Ivy
Tags: 15 Comments
Sound advice for US readers, but not so for European readers. A dealership recently ran us back €125 (approx $195) for an oil change. Would much rather let hubby do it at a fraction of the cost! Oh how I long to be back in America!
o.O Whoa, that’s ridiculous. Yeah, if you don’t have non-dealer auto repair shops and they’re charging nearly 200 bucks for an oil change, by all means, change it yourself!
I usually have pretty good luck with the drive-in oil changing places.
The secret is to ignore every single upsale they try and put on you. New air filter? Synthetic oil? Transmission flush? Baloney. Let your mechanic handle that stuff during regular maintenance and just get the basic oil change. You can get out of there fast and relatively cheaply.
Honestly? It really depends on the vehicle. With a wife and three teenage sons, I’ve got junker cars the way some old ladies have cats. Some of them I can whip through an oil change in a few minutes, cheaply. Others, I might as well be changing the head gasket.
If I can get an oil change for less than $13 at a lube shop, I do it. Most around here offer specials at about $20. I figure a DIY oil change costs me $12 to $15, depending on what kind of oil I buy and the cost of the oil filter, which varies by vehicle.
The trick? Don’t buy oil by the quart. Buy it by the gallon. If your junker leaks oil, buy the cheap stuf ($10 gallon)f; if it’s still pretty tight and has more than 100k on in, buy the expensive synthetics. I don’t know that there’s much difference between oil filters, and they’re generally pretty cheap.
What this doesn’t consider is the cost of materials for the DIY fleet manager. I’ve got $30 invested in stands, another $10 in a close-up-and-transport drip pan container, plus a large plastic drip pan, PLUS more oil filter wrenches than I ever thought I’d own.
Generic filter wrenches SUCK. What you want is the band wrench that fits YOUR SPECIFIC FILTER. Each costs about $6, but I swear you’ll get the money back in saved aggravation the first time you use it.
I’ve got one vehicle that I simply refuse to change myself because the filter is so poorly positioned, but another that’s almost fun to change because it’s so logically set up.
Thanks for this- my dh was wanting to learn how to change the oil on our car, but I wasn’t so keen on having him do that. I forwarded this to him so he can see other things he could/should do himself. He’s figured out how to change filters, light bulbs, etc.
We got to Wal-mart for our oil changes. I have had a VERY bad exerience at a quick change place called “Uncle Ed’s”- the cheapest I could have gotten out of there was $30 but somehow I got caught up and ended spending $60… they charged for extra labor, I couldn’t belive it! (It was the day before a trip, I didn’t have time to run elswhere.)
My brother-in-law didn’t know what he was doing and killed the engine in his car because of a badly done oil change. Now he’s making payments on a car that’s junk. Ouch.
I agree that most shops provide oil changes as loss leaders. We had a great relationship with a shop when we lived in NC that provided oil changes for $20. Well worth it. The customer service was amazing.
That being said, most shops will try to find other things wrong with the vehicle to make more money. My husband and I call this an “up sale”.
Believe it or not in Austin, TX we tried to take our vehicle to very good repair shops only to have them charge us $45 because their techs are ASE certified. The impression we were given was as though oil changes are beneath them.
To avoid the up sale, and save on $45 oil changes at a shop we were trying to establish a business relationship with, we decided to change our own oil and have never looked back. The headaches are gone.
I’ve got one vehicle that I simply refuse to change myself because the filter is so poorly positioned, but another that’s almost fun to change because it’s so logically set up.
Does it happen to be a Nissan pickup truck made after 1987? Those are the worst to change of any vehicle I’ve ever seen.
That being said, most shops will try to find other things wrong with the vehicle to make more money. My husband and I call this an “up sale”.
This is true. The key here is to talk to the technician to find out if the item needs to be done by mileage or time, or if it actually needs to be done. The only items I do by mileage/time are fuel filters and timing belts, as a general rule. Neither one is something you can look at and determine whether it needs to be done, and timing belts are generally such that if it breaks, it could mess up your entire engine, so I always replace my timing belt on time.
Sometimes the dealerships you buy from have deals if you go to them for service. My guys will change oil for free, their only charge is the filter. So what’s that? $5 bucks for the pros who deal specifically with my make/model changing the oil and checking the car. Good deal. And good post!
You’ve eased my conscience over not wanting to do this job myself or nag my husband about it. Don’t write off the dealers until you’ve checked their prices, though. Our closest dealer’s quick-change bay is competitive with other places. They have to be, because it’s so easy to shop around. Plus, they throw in a car wash with the service, and will often do little stuff (like my burned-out brake light) gratis. So shop and compare!
What a useful post!! Thanks, Ivy!
We just last week realized we need to get our oil changed and are mourning the loss of our long-time honest mechanic (he moved). So we’re out on the free market looking around for deals. I’m going to keep all this advice in mind.
And please do a tutorial on air filters. I LOVE learning about simple things that I can do cheaply.
By the way, one of the main things I look for in a mechanic/car service shop is respect “even though” I’m a woman. The ones that automatically call my husband to discuss repairs are ones that we unanimously agree not to go back to. Am I the only one that runs into this? Maybe it’s the traditionalist area I live in. . .
I just had mine done yesterday. I now go to those car wash places that charge $28.50 but include a pretty good car wash.
Since I was going to pay $12 for a car wash anyway, I figure I’m paying $16 for the oil change.
No, it is cheaper for me to change my own oil and i can use superior products. Oil change shops around me charge $70 for the Mobil 1 oil and M1 filter. I can do it for $30-$32. Last oil change I used Royal Purple 5w-30 + M1 filter for $45. I also get the security of knowing the oil change was done right. Some oil change shops say they are putting in M1, but they use conventional and they just wipe your filter with a rag and call it new.
I really don’t do the oil change myself. I always bring my car in the car mechanic. let them do the job. lol
Oil change yourself? nah… never did that.