Do you change your own oil? If so, why?
 

Ever since I learned how to change oil on a car, I've been doing it myself (along with my brother, who taught me). At the time, we were poor and in college so keeping up with maintenance of the car ('95 and '97 240SX, '84 RX-7, '96 Civic, '00 Eclipse) was fun, informative, and most importantly, cost-efficient.

Fast forward 6 years and we both have jobs. I bought a snooze-mobile 2009 Hyundai Sonata and got suckered into getting a "maintenance program". For the first 36,000 miles, all my oil changes were done at the dealer. It was kinda nice not having to worry about carcinogenic used motor oil running down my arm and having a roll of paper towels being totally used up for clean up.

Today I changed my oil and it sucked. Filter removal resulted in oil running down my arm. Oil smell filled the car while I drove to the Advance Auto Parts to empty the damn thing. I didn't want my passengers or my dog to breathe in this stuff. And oil change stuff just takes up way too much room and the shit's hazardous when its not totally cleaned up.

Why do you guys still do it?

Because when you take it to the dealer you just don't know if they've done a bad job... but if you do it yourself, you know! :D

I have always and will always change my own oil. I dont trust anyone else with my cars. I used to work at one of those quick lube places. Its ridiculous what they get away with and the customer doesnt even know.

My question for those with more boxer engine experience is this - with the filter mounted on top of the engine, are there any tricks for replacing it without having oil spill all over the engine?

The best maintenance is your own maintenance! :happy0180:

What better way to get to know your car then to do the work yourself.

QFT.

Plus doing it yourself leaves more money for mods!

Always change my own oil/brakes/filters, as for other repairs its heads or tails since Im a shit mechanic myself and a lazy on at that too.

Because my Father has a hydraulic lift. If I had to crawl around on the ground to do it, I think I might succumb to laziness and pay someone else to do it for me. ;)

Yes, it's cheaper, easy and I don't trust non certified mechanics.

:word:

Easy as hell and as a MAN you should be able to do something as simple as changing the oil. Fathers in the past have done it why can't our own lazy asses do it too.

Yes.

Worked at a oil-change place during late high-school years. Which both renders me competent in the procedure, and unwilling to take my car to a place like that. The dealership is a bit better but they are prone to do stupid things on simple procedures as well.

Didn't put the car on stands last time... everything is reachable from under the front bumper so it's a waste of time.

Yes its messy, yes it smells, yes it can be alot of hassle/work, but I still do it because its just my kind of fun. What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon (other than going for a drive after). Its that sense of accomplishment any DYI'er gets after getting a job done. Ofcourse, I'm just talking about oil changes, any thing other than brake pads or changing fluids, I'd have to go to a mechanic.

Luck I want a lift or enough room to have one or a Father with one. Must make that battle to work on your car in winter that much easier.

I use car ramps lifts the front about 9 inches off the ground so good enough for me


The real question is why wouldn't you?

For the most part I don't. The quick change place does it faster than I can and for right at the same amount of money, and I don't have to hassle with proper disposal of the oil or filters. Plus since they are also an inspection place they also have things like wiperblades and lightbulbs. I also get free washerfluid top off there, and they let me under my vehicles to inspect them. From my door back to my door it's usually around 15 minutes, which is a bit faster than I am, plus I can surf the net while I'm wait there on my smartphone, so for the most part it's a time saver. I can also have it done in effectively no extra time if I need to pick something up at the hardware store nextdoor as well.

I would not do it at a dealer unless I lived very close to one. For me it is at least a 20 minute drive to the dealer, and in that time I could be almost done with it myself.

This is new to Subaru, previous Subarus have bottom mounted oil filters. With that said, as long as you go slow with unscrewing it you shouldn't have a problem. Its also nice that Subaru put that ring around it which will help you avoid spilling down the timing cover.


Justin