oil change - do it yourself?$

LikeNew02

LikeNew02

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i was wondering how many of you change you own oil.

i have been a long time change your own oil kind of guy. i always figured that i was saving around $10 each time that i did it my self. however, now i am starting to think differently.

i just changed the oil on my girl's jeep cheroke V8. 6 quarts of oil at $3 each, and 1 oil filter at $5. The total was around $24! i could pay jiffy lube $30 to do it, and not have to take care of the clean up or recycleing the oil.
 
LikeNew02 said:
i was wondering how many of you change you own oil.

i have been a long time change your own oil kind of guy. i always figured that i was saving around $10 each time that i did it my self. however, now i am starting to think differently.

i just changed the oil on my girl's jeep cheroke V8. 6 quarts of oil at $3 each, and 1 oil filter at $5. The total was around $24! i could pay jiffy lube $30 to do it, and not have to take care of the clean up or recycleing the oil.
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I hear ya. I feel the same way. I change mine now only because I do synthetic oil. Synthetic oil changes are outrageous. With regular oil, like the wifes car, I take it to a oil change garage to get changed. I pay less with coupons I get in the mail than it would cost me to do it myself. Ive always changed my own oil until these prices started to go up.
 
A word of caution about oil change stations is that sometimes they don't due a full lube job. I lost a front driveshaft in my pickup because it hadn't been greased and the splines rusted and then sheared. It could have been a bad situation because I almost didn't get out of the gravel pit I was parking in with the g/f. Luckily I had enough room to get a good run at the hill I needed to get over to get out. Now I change my oil and grease everything, except on the LS which goes to the dealer.
 
My local Lincoln Dealer does the oil change for $14.95
so I wont be saving much if I do it myself
 
I went to Jiffy Lube and paid around 75 for a synthetic oil change and filter... they offer window cleaning, tire check and some other crap but i said no... just oil and guess what, when i took it to the dealer a 3 weeks later they found it was overfilled. mechanic said it was quote "way overfilled" thankfully it didn't :q:q:q:q up my engine atleast i don't think. needless to say i will NEVER use one of those places again.
 
not any more, just the hassle of putting used oil back into a jug and bringing it to a gas station isnt worth my time.STAY AWAY FROM JIFFY LUBE or any of those quick change outlets!!!! most service stations only charge $20-$40 and they top off all fluids, tire pres etc.
 
I go to napa, buy my full synthetic oil and oil filter, THEN take it to the oil change place and just pay them a labor fee. That way I know I'm getting my full synthetic
 
I pretty much always do it myself. I dont trust other people with my cars.

Not to mention the price. Full synthetic on my grand prix (4.5 quarts) and a k&n filter cost about $35 for me to do. For a quick change place... I would not even get a k&n filter and cost $60-$75

Well worth it IMO
 
i guess if your using synthetic it is worth your time.

i only use regular penziol at about $3 a quart.
 
I use regular oil on my other 97 and it cost $6 for the jug of cheapo oil and $2 for the filter.... $8 total... the LS takes more oil so it would probably be closer to $14

I still wouldnt trust the idiots to touch my car
 
JattGary said:
My local Lincoln Dealer does the oil change for $14.95
so I wont be saving much if I do it myself
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Where you really save is if you want to use a top grade oil such as Royal Purple. It costs me about $40 to do it myself but I get RP in my engine.
 
I used to do all of my own "minor maintainence", until my Lincoln dealer offered to do mine for just the cost of oil and filter. I believe mine is also $14.95. This is what is so great about the open market system that we live in: the price of a product, or service will adjust itself to market demand. With so many businesses offering inexpensive oil change service, usually (not always) your dealer is the least expensive. My dealership knows my car because they sold it to me, they want my repeat business, they keep track of my maintainence records, and in the case of my dealer, I know the maintainers that work on my car - I took the time to get to know them. I also take the time to talk with the parts people, salespeople, finance people and all of the other office workers that can make my Lincoln ownership a pleasant experience. This isn't an infomercial, I really do have a great relationship with my dealership.
 
JattGary said:
My local Lincoln Dealer does the oil change for $14.95
so I wont be saving much if I do it myself
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M<aybe, but knowing that you did it your self brings a good feeling. :cool:
 
I always change my own oil. I don't care if it saves me a penny; when I do it, I know that I have the correct amount of the correct weight of oil in the crankcase. I also know that the filter is properly installed and the drain plug is in like it's supposed to be.

It also gives me a chance to inspect the underside of the car and the engine compartment, to look for leaks and things that are out of place or might become a problem in the future. And there's a certain satisfaction in turning a wrench...
 
I have done oil changes since I was 12 back in the 60s since I obviously didn't have money to pay anyone else. I still do them now but mostly because 1) I like to inspect things. 2) It is one of the few things I can do where my kids and wife will not pester me. And 3) I am still cheap.

The LS is a bit more expensive to do a cahnge on since the filter is outrageous. I think most stores charge between $11 and $20 for a filter depending on brand. I think this was my nbiggest new owner surprise last year. I think Ford charges something like $25. I buy Wix from Rock Auto for something like $11 delivered. Other run of the mill cars cost something like $3-$5 in comparison.

I use Mobil 1 syn which costs about $5 per quart at Costoc if they have it, otherwise $6. I think a good grade dino oil goes around $1-$1.50 if you shop around. Other websites(Ford Trucks) highly praise Chevron Supreme and Havoline. There are some good truck oils too but I doubt they meet spec for our cars.

I don't change oil only because I am cheap, yes I am, but also because I like working on my vehicles and changing the oil gets you under there where you can see if anything else is in need of attention.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson
 
I change my own because its easier than getting in my car and driving down the road and even if its dealer I still would worry if they checked and done everything right. Well I used to take my '03 cavalier in all the time for all of its services but once I got the LS I started doing my oil changes again. I just buy the 6 quarts of motorcraft 5w-20 and the motorcraft filter and its about $24 or so, the air filter is the KKM so that is serviced as it says to be which is another 15 or so every so often.

I have been trying to decide if I should go w/ an oil and filter that could be better like Mobil or Quaker for the "performance" side but the LS seems to do fine w/ what the book says.
 
I go to the Lincoln dealer and get mine done. I would do it myself, but I live in an apartment complex and they frown upon people working on their cars in their parking lot, so I just take it in. Anyway it is too damn hot to do it yourself around here, atleast for me since I'm not fully adapted to the Arizona weather yet.
 
Snowseeker said:
I trust my cars to no one but me.
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Agreed.

Alot of those quick lube places screw up alot and I have never gone to one. And even the FLM dealer can't do it without hand printing my fenders all to heck.
 
[I don't change oil only because I am cheap, yes I am, but also because I like working on my vehicles and changing the oil gets you under there where you can see if anything else is in need of attention.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson[/QUOTE]

Word.... I like to inspect my car too and my truck:cool: and my I hate to say it minivan:shifty: for the wifey:D
 
02LSE96LSC91SE84TC said:
Agreed.

Alot of those quick lube places screw up alot and I have never gone to one. And even the FLM dealer can't do it without hand printing my fenders all to heck.
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i took mine to the dealer yesterday, time for the 115,000 inspection, oil change cost 26$, and they washed it, no hand prints on my fenders
 
TheRebel said:
...Now I change my oil and grease everything, except on the LS which goes to the dealer.
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Sorry to bring up an old thread guys, but I was wondering about this comment on how Rebel greases (lubes) the car himself...

Is there any specific parts or places to lube up????
 
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