Where to do maintaince without a garage.
 

I've always just taken my car in for maintenance. The shop I normally get an oil change at, since it's walking distance from home, just quoted me $100 for an oil change. The place I used to use has gone up to $85. I can get the oil and filter from NAPA for $30 and thought I'd do it myself.

Problem is I live in an apartment and probably can't do maintaince in the parking lot, and my parents won't let me use their driveway. Where do other apartment dwellers do their oil changes?

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Where to do maintaince without a garage.
 

Are there any rules written black on white in your lease that say you can’t? If not I would do it anyway. I have left in many apartment complexes throughout college and a few years after, and I’ve always done basic maintenance in the parking lot. It’s never been a problem. Usually if there is a rule preventing you from working on your car in the parking lot it’s more meant to keep broken down cars out of the parking lot rather than keep people from changing their oil. Just don’t make a mess on the pavement, but the drain valve helps a lot with that too.

You could get a fumoto drain valve and a set of plastic ramps to speed up the oil changes, that way you can sneak them in your parking lot. I’ve literally changed my oil in <10 mins from start to finish. No tools, just a filter and a jug of new oil.

When I had my first apartment, I changed my oil right in my parking spot. Use oil pads to reduce the likelihood of you staining the ground

0w20 synth and filter for $30?? :confused0068:

Yea I’m confused too. $85 is cheap, assuming it’s a quality filter and real synthetic.

Jiffy Lube - :D

Just mark the old filter before you go in then check for leaks and check the oil level after they finish.

Do it in the parking lot at Autozone with everyone else.

Make sure you have the right tools and room to do it yourself. You'll need either low profile ramps as regular ramps will catch on the front lip. Also, if you only have one jack, you'll end up lifting the rear wheel as well as the front to get it high enough to place a jack stand. I'm a bigger guy and I already had two floor jacks. I just lift both sides at the same time and place the jack stands as a safeties if the jacks were to fail. To make things quicker and cleaner I also replaced the drain plug with a Fumoto valve.


NAPA has a special right now on their brand oil (made by Valvoline per their website) and 6qts of Full Synth 0w-20 is just under $20. Add in a NAPA Gold filter and it's ~$28 pretax.

Heard of people doing it in apartment/condo parking lot.



Try Autozone parking lot or walmart too.

I have seen videos of people pulling the dipstick with one bolt and then using a pump to pull oil directly out of the sump. This way you don't need a jack or ramps.

A small pump with a long tube that works off of a drill. Put the long tube down the dipstick tube.

Plan B, drive up on a curb , it gives just enough to reach under to get at the drain plug. Two by fours make a ramp to save the splitter.

Nevermind. Someone already posted what I said.

Yes and at Walmart you do not need a drain pan, they have square grates built into the parking lot for waste oil collection.

I'll see if NAPA will let me use their lot since it's in an industrial park. I'll also check with my rental office, but I think they'll say no.

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Wait, Walmart has waste oil grates in their lot. Will go there if the one down the street has it.

You sure it's not a storm drain? LOL

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If I'm only planning to do simple maintenance, do I need jacks, jack stands, etc? I was planning to put the front on a ramp and block the rear tires.


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You know there are centerline front and rear jack points shown in the owner's manual right? If you need to lift the front of the car, why not just use that?

Also, jack stands are not built to take shock loading, they are likely to collapse as well if either of your jacks fail....

A jack, and two stands is enough for DIY.
Something to catch and dispose of the old oil.

I have ramps, you will need a 2x4 in front(2-3 feet long) to give your self extra ground clearance.

The problem with Walmart is you have to wait your turn for one of the grates.


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5qt jugs are between $20 and $25 at Walmart. Filter is no more than $10 for OEM or other quality brand. And auto part stores often have sales for oil and filter, I used to get 6 qts of Castrol and a PureOne filter for under $35 from PepBoys all the time when I had my STi and ran German Castrol

Maybe I need to go to walmart. It's $50 for 6qts of toyota 0w20 online lol

Definitely. 5qt jugs are way cheaper than buying individual quarts

Mobil 1 is doing a rebate with their oils. I usually buy mine from walmart. around $23 for a 5 qt. Mobil 1 doing rebate $10 and they're pretty quick. I bought 2 and got my $20 cards already.

Is there any DIY garages in your area? Might be worth googling it. The usually offer hourly rates and you can rent their space/tools/lifts. Just throwing in another option. It's quite easy to just do it yourself.

Storm drains? LOL

Toyota 0W20 oil is actually really good stuff so I use that at about $5 a quart there's nothing cheaper and nothing better, if I don't have time to get to a Toyota dealer I use Castrol Edge high mileage. I use the Subaru filter because they're only about $7-8 now. A fumoto valve and a flat place and the whole thing takes about 10 minutes and you don't need to jack it up if you have a thin catch pan so the chances of you being seen working on the car in the lot can be pretty slim. Next time you get your oil changed have them replace the drain plug with a Fumoto valve so you can do it easily and quickly yourself after that.

I think Walmart is a good option if they have the grates near me. I've got the car with the mechanic for other work and asked him to change the oil while it's on the lift. I'll definitely start doing my own next time, though.

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Those used to be the greatest thing! I don't think I have seen one around here since the early 80s though. Apparently the liability insurance totally killed them.
You still have them around?

Oh god I hope you are joking.
You know we were right?

Few and far between. You are probably right, too much liability for too little profit.

Yes there is one north from my location in Ottawa that I know for sure is still open, they charge 30$ an hour for a lift, which is much better than paying 90$ for a mechanic if you know what you are doing.

https://diygarageottawa.ca/

Yeah, let's just say I was joking.

But you seriously just prevented me from asking the Walmart automotive section if they have grates for collecting oil.

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Ya most place really REALLY frown on you dumping oil down storm drain grates! Not that it stops some people, especially at Walmart.

I thought this was funny as shit, but then I starting thinking maybe you're serious.
Back in the day when people really didn't care about the environment and pollution and all that good stuff, it was common practice to pour your used oil down the storm drain. It was also perfectly acceptable to toss your trash out your window wherever you were. Everybody smoked cigarettes and just threw their butts anywhere.

We've come a long way.

Don't dump oil down the storm drain.

We have a country shop near me that burns used oil to heat in the winter. They have 55gl drums and we just dump the used oil in.

Didn't realize there was a front centerline jack point. I'll have to use it next time.

I do get the jack stands to where they are already in contact, just not taking the full load. Now that I know of the front centerline jack point, I can move them to the pinch welds and use them as truly intended.

Fumoto valve, ramps, and a drain bucket. I can get my oil changed in less than 5 minutes. Do it on a sunday morning at 7AM and nobody will notice.

Any street parking (without HOA)
I've used a mall parking before when i needed level ground to adjust suspension but security was hassling me so I never did that again.

While I was working on my degree I did an analysis for the viability of a self service garage. Long story - not really viable without a full service component.

Nonetheless Its a neat concept. I’m personally house hunting for myself and one component in my requirement is a shop. I’d like something with multiple bays so I can help out fellow racers and enthusiasts with work/storage for a little more pocket change for myself.

6 Qts of Mobil 1 0w-20 at Costco for $27 and OEM filter for $6.83. If you wanted, Costco Kirkland brand 0w-20 full synthetic is $24 for 10 Qts.

Dealers are tricky, I found an online parts site that is operated by one of my local dealers and the pricing is always lower than going in person to buy at the parts counter. I buy my filter here and go in person to pick it up, for anyone that lives in the Bay Area: https://parts.diablosubaru.com/oem-p...ter-15208aa130