Worth it to change your own oil?

[mfuller]

On the Honda and the Madza, I have a shop do it. It's too much of a pain to get at the filter and it makes a god-awful mess. Plus they use oil that is readily available.
The Alero I do myself since the oil I use is not stocked in any shop (Valvoline VR1 20W-50 for summer and VR1 10W-40 for winter storage), and the filter is so easy to get to.

[AaronGTR]

Originally Posted by Nick-G

I would never go to a small shop/oil change place to get it done. In the past I would be on the same boat as most of you but if you have a reputable GM dealership do it you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

I work at a GM dealership myself and our oil changes are dirt cheap with quality oil and filters. We have $14.95 oil changes and offer free vehicle inspections at no charge.

If your a regular customer you will occasionally get 9.95 oil change coupons also. On top of all of that if you purchase tires through us you also get lifetime free rotations.

Really while doing it yourself is great, finding a reputable GM dealership and having it done regularly by them has it's perks and any decent dealership will bend over backwards to keep you happy so on the rare occasion you do have a problem with their service it should be taken care of by them.

They aren't going to use synthetic oil for $14.95 though. And some dealerships might do good work, but I worry mostly about those "free" inspections... I've heard too many stories of people taking their car in and the dealership mechanics are told to find something to fix to bring in more profit, whether anything is wrong or not, or if they have to break something on purpose. Like the time I took mine to the Pontiac dealer for an alignment and got home and found there was a hole in my CV boot and grease all over my wheel well that hadn't been there when I took it in.

[Smithkid21]

Originally Posted by DrFabulous

You're not kidding. The first time I looked up how much oil I'd need to do it myself and saw that it was 6.3 liters or something, I was floored.... 2 liter engine, 6.3 liters of oil. God damn turbo.

Same thing here. My 2 liter engine takes 6.5 quarts. And my internal filter is a royal PITA to get to because the supercharger sits practically on top of it.

[2000 GT Coupe]

I change my own oil, I also use synthetic and a good filter, I change oil once a year about. With conventional oil that amount of time alone would break down the oil.

Yes there is reasonably few miles for one year but then I have 3 cars to drive so I do not usually use one for lots of miles.

[bricooper78]

Good God!!!! My 5.4 Triton only holds 7 quarts!

[xxbackhillxx]

9.5 quarts in mine homey. $100+ changes every 5k.

[bricooper78]

Well, IIRC the fire truck holds 2.5 gallons, so I can use that to win if need be


but seriously, why does a car need 9 quarts of oil??? that is insane

[xxbackhillxx]

4.2L V8? I don't know. Nothing wrong with overlubricating

[sleepyalero]

Its audi. What do you expect for a german engineered car.

[2000 GT Coupe]

actually the more oil the more cooling effect as well. I dont know about you but I would rather buy the taller oil filter and have more oil in the system

[AaronGTR]

Originally Posted by bricooper78

Well, IIRC the fire truck holds 2.5 gallons, so I can use that to win if need be


but seriously, why does a car need 9 quarts of oil??? that is insane

My buddies 03 porsche holds about that much. I changed the oil on it for him once. Wasn't cheap. Needed like 0w-30 synthetic or something and an expensive filter too. From what I've heard boxer engines typically have large oil capacity, and then it's a Porsche too. More oil can hold more heat and doesn't get dirty as fast too.

[bricooper78]

Surely they don't recommend a 3K mile then, right? Guessing 5??

[2000 GT Coupe]

Originally Posted by AaronGTR

My buddies 03 porsche holds about that much. I changed the oil on it for him once. Wasn't cheap. Needed like 0w-30 synthetic or something and an expensive filter too. From what I've heard boxer engines typically have large oil capacity, and then it's a Porsche too. More oil can hold more heat and doesn't get dirty as fast too.

I think your correct about the boxer engines, mine is 3.3L 6cylinder, it only holds about 6.3 quarts though.

[xxbackhillxx]

Audi recommends 10k per the manual. I do every 5 along with most on the Audi boards.

[AaronGTR]

Yeah, I heard some of the guys with newer BMW's the manuals were saying they only needed changing every 12k or 15k (something like that)... were supposed to have super high mileage oil in them... but then after having problems and doing tear downs they found sludge in them. We changed the oil in his 3 series every 5-6k miles.

[DrFabulous]

Originally Posted by xxbackhillxx

9.5 quarts in mine homey. $100+ changes every 5k.

Damn. Dealership? I think Saab used to charge $120 when they still had one around.

Originally Posted by xxbackhillxx

Audi recommends 10k per the manual. I do every 5 along with most on the Audi boards.

I think Saab recommends 10k as well for my 03, but they changed that to 12k I think in 04 (or something like that). The oil life sensor seems to go about 10k miles, but I don't pay attention to it at all.

I just get it changed every spring and fall, regardless of mileage... but I only put on about 10k miles a year anyways.

[ItsMeScottG]

Originally Posted by AaronGTR

Yeah, I heard some of the guys with newer BMW's the manuals were saying they only needed changing every 12k or 15k (something like that)... were supposed to have super high mileage oil in them... but then after having problems and doing tear downs they found sludge in them. We changed the oil in his 3 series every 5-6k miles.

Yeah I know it's not necessary but I change my cars oil exactly ever 3k. I change the oil every 3k in order to prevent sludge. I live in Houston and I believe the hot weather also contributes to oil breaking down sooner so I stick with the 3k just to be on the safe side.

[xxbackhillxx]

Originally Posted by DrFabulous

Damn. Dealership? I think Saab used to charge $120 when they still had one around.

I think Saab recommends 10k as well for my 03, but they changed that to 12k I think in 04 (or something like that). The oil life sensor seems to go about 10k miles, but I don't pay attention to it at all.

I just get it changed every spring and fall, regardless of mileage... but I only put on about 10k miles a year anyways.

No $115 and it's DIY, but I would guess it's not too much more at a dealership if they use Castrol Syntec 5w-40. I buy in bulk 10L of Motul X-Cess 5w-40 ($8-9 per liter), oil filter, and new crush washer end up running ~$115 shipped.

[SikMindz]

Agree with my German brethren. By the time I've bought enough oil and a filter the difference between DIY and taking it in are fairly negligible. No reason to get my hands dirty.

[AaronGTR]

Originally Posted by ItsMeScottG

Yeah I know it's not necessary but I change my cars oil exactly ever 3k. I change the oil every 3k in order to prevent sludge. I live in Houston and I believe the hot weather also contributes to oil breaking down sooner so I stick with the 3k just to be on the safe side.

temperature doesn't really have much to do with it. It's more about miles and how long the additives in the oil last.I lived in Florida which is just as hot and I could put 6000 miles on my car with Castrol GTX in it (verified by lab test). If you're changing every 3000 miles you're wasting money.