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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