Oil change cheaper at quick lube place than DIY?

[Crono]

I did the last two oil changes for my car (2014 Mazda 3i) myself. $44 for 5 quarts of Royal Purple SAE 0W-20 oil and a K&N PS-1008 Pro Series Oil Filter off Amazon. Hadn't done any car maintenance myself before that, but I have both a set of ramps (used it for first oil change) and a floor jack (Torin T82751 Pro Series 5500) plus jack stands (also Torin) now. I don't know if the jack is actually safer than the ramps, but I feel much more comfortable using that and the stands.

I haven't really saved any money since oil changes run about $30 (average, can be as low as $20) around here for synthetic oil change, though I could probably go with cheaper oil or wait for sales and it wouldn't be much more. I'm supposing that the oil I am using is probably better just going by what I'm reading online, but I don't know enough about cars or motor oil to say for sure.

 

[NutBucket]

Honestly you're wasting your money using Royal Purple unless you're going with long change intervals. Most synthetics at Wally World are under $30 for a 5 quart jug....more than adequate.

 

[C1]

After finding my drain plug cross threaded into the pan, I do my own oil changes. No matter who it is that does this work over tightens drain plugs & oil filters.

I once had work done by the local Toyota dealer who is so proud of their posted quality awards. Well, when I tried to change one of my wheels, I couldnt get the lugs off. Went & bought a giant T-wrench and with me on one side & my wife pulling on the other we together couldnt budge the lugs. Took it to the dealer who did the rotation & turns out the lugs were cross threaded on. Nice eh !

Also I have found that often mechanics working on vehicles will actually cause damage to adjacent components not directly related to the repair at hand (eg, required adjacent part removal necessary for component access). The resulting damage shows up as problem later on a seeming new unrelated issue requiring another servicing.

Have many more car repair horror tales, but the advice is to try to keep other people's hands off your vehicle as much as possible. When you work on your own vehicle, notice the amount of time it takes you to do the job. It is significant because of the care, thought & considerations which are put into the task. It is not cost effective for mechanics to be too careful/spend too much time particularly when it comes to exceptions.They do not have your vested interest at heart. Their interest is in getting the job done as quick as possible.

 

[JEDI]

Honestly you're wasting your money using Royal Purple unless you're going with long change intervals. Most synthetics at Wally World are under $30 for a 5 quart jug....more than adequate.

$17.50/5quart jug for walmart brand synthetic 5w20

 

[NutBucket]

I wonder who makes that stuff. Someone must know!

 

[CA19100]

Scissor jacks are generally cheap and wobbly. They can topple over (I had to rescue a friend who was changing a tire in a parking lot when a scissor jack failed).

A suggestion when changing a tire on a jack: After jacking up the car, lay the spare tire under the frame of the car, near the wheel you're about to remove. When the bad tire is off, and you're ready to put the new/spare tire on, swap the bad tire under the car in the same spot until you're done securing the new wheel onto the car. Like so:

By doing that, you have a cushion if the jack slips: the wheel will be there to catch the car instead of the brake rotors. You'll probably have enough room to slip the jack back in and try again.

 

[BUTCH1]

I wonder who makes that stuff. Someone must know!

IIRC it was Warren performance products", they also make other "house" brands like NAPA, Advance, ect.