- which is better, a privately owned garage or a a Jiffy Lube?
Besides Porsche, I'd be curious what other street cars use a dry sump.Atgard wrote:Totally depends on the type of car. Some use synthetic oil, some use more than 5 quarts, some these days even have dry-sump oil systems that take 11 quartz of synthetic oil and have more labor involved. So they can range from $20 (normal) to $80 (synthetic) to $250 (dry sump).
Same here, I have a Fumoto valve on all our vehicles. Mobil1 comes from Wally World or Costco when on sale (~$26/6qt)Stupendous wrote:I do it myself so whatever the cost of Mobil 1 is at Walmart and a good oil filter from wherever. I installed a fumoto valve on my truck and car so it's easy. Paid $85 for 10 qts of Mobil 1 and a Mobil 1 oil filter for my truck.
Oil will go bad with age. I always change it yearly on my low mileage vehicles. Engine coolant and brake fluid are also fluids that will go bad over time.klw084 wrote:I have an interesting story regarding this topic.
When I purchased my last car, a 2013 Honda Accord, there was an offer for bulk oil changes for 2 years. If you purchased it and, as the salesman said, get your oil changed every 3-4 months, it's a great deal for the 2 years the offer is in effect. Since I normally changed my oil when the dealer told me to, I agreed it was a good deal and so I purchased this option.
After three months, the first time I tried to change my oil and called the service department to schedule maintenance, the response I got was, what does your oil indicator say? I guess more modern cars now have an oil indicator that tells you the percentage of oil life you have left and their recommendation was to not get the oil changed until there was around 15% oil life left. So they refused to service my car.
This was news to me and I realized that I had been somewhat hoodwinked when I purchased the 2 year oil change option. So, I got my car oil changed when the car told me to.
When the 2 years were up the next time I brought my car in for an oil change, suddenly the dealer reverted back to the "you need to get your oil changed every 3-4 months" line.
I hope the lesson I learned that day can help others on this forum. You do not need to get your oil changed every 3-4 months. Most modern cars now have an oil life indicator. There is no need to get your oil changed until the indicator goes off.
I get synthetic oil put in my car so I can go longer without oil changes. I usually go well over a year before I get my oil changed now. Furthermore, I get my tires rotated at the same time they change my oil (at a local garage I trust, no longer at the dealer). The total price is around 80 bucks. This and the major maintenance at 30k is the only thing I do on all my family cars now.
Short term thinking on the dealer's part. They taught me a good lesson and, while I did pay for it, in the long run they wound up saving me tremendously more money at their expense by educating me on not taking their "recommendations" at face value and what actually is and is not necessary.
The coolant is definitely a ripoff as it shouldn't need to be topped off very much and you can do that yourself, its the same as refilling your wiper fluid for most cars. Some cars may not just take 50/50 mix so you may need to buy a jug from the dealer if thats the case. I DIY for around $35 to $40 for synthetic but would expect to pay around $30-$35 for conventional and double that for synthetic from a shop.Small Law Survivor wrote:I live in Massachusetts, and I've had our cars serviced by a local gas station/repair shop. But, the cost of a recent oil change took me by surprise. The total was $96, as follows (numbers rounded):
Filter - $10
Oil - 60
Coolant - 5
labor - 21
Tax - 4
(Discount) - 5
Is this a reasonable cost, or should I look elsewhere, like a Jiffy Lube?
Bonus question
Clearly the dealer is inconsistent with their advice depending on whether they are paying for the service or profiting from the service, be careful what you conclude based on the self interested advice of the dealer! If are were willing to lie to you regarding the need for 3-4 month oil changes irrespective of mileage when they're profiting, doesn't it also seem possible that they are willing to lie about the safety of extended oil changes based on the oil life monitor when they're paying?klw084 wrote:I have an interesting story regarding this topic.
When I purchased my last car, a 2013 Honda Accord, there was an offer for bulk oil changes for 2 years. If you purchased it and, as the salesman said, get your oil changed every 3-4 months, it's a great deal for the 2 years the offer is in effect. Since I normally changed my oil when the dealer told me to, I agreed it was a good deal and so I purchased this option.
After three months, the first time I tried to change my oil and called the service department to schedule maintenance, the response I got was, what does your oil indicator say? I guess more modern cars now have an oil indicator that tells you the percentage of oil life you have left and their recommendation was to not get the oil changed until there was around 15% oil life left. So they refused to service my car.
This was news to me and I realized that I had been somewhat hoodwinked when I purchased the 2 year oil change option. So, I got my car oil changed when the car told me to.
When the 2 years were up the next time I brought my car in for an oil change, suddenly the dealer reverted back to the "you need to get your oil changed every 3-4 months" line.
I hope the lesson I learned that day can help others on this forum. You do not need to get your oil changed every 3-4 months. Most modern cars now have an oil life indicator. There is no need to get your oil changed until the indicator goes off.
I get synthetic oil put in my car so I can go longer without oil changes. I usually go well over a year before I get my oil changed now. Furthermore, I get my tires rotated at the same time they change my oil (at a local garage I trust, no longer at the dealer). The total price is around 80 bucks. This and the major maintenance at 30k is the only thing I do on all my family cars now.
Short term thinking on the dealer's part. They taught me a good lesson and, while I did pay for it, in the long run they wound up saving me tremendously more money at their expense by educating me on not taking their "recommendations" at face value and what actually is and is not necessary.
+1.jbuzolich wrote:That seems really high to me but would also depend on the type of vehicle and how much oil is needed.
I'd be weary of these types of offers. I'd assume many or most times, these offers are for conventional oil, and synthetic is the way to go. More importantly, at these prices, the mechanic is doing the work at a loss to get people to the door. Once you're there, many of these mechanics are likely to recommend unnecessary services to make up their losses on the oil change. It's like taking bait from a mouse trap. I do my oil changes at my trusted independent mechanic because an oil change is an opportune time for him to check the fluids and check to make sure the car is not having any problems (check axle, brake pads, hoses, leaks etc).BogleMelon wrote:I always look for the $19.99 offer. A friend of mine found a $9.99 offer couple of days ago!
Close enough. You could ask them for a container with 0.6 quarts to go if you want to press the issue. LOL.Random Poster wrote:Just had the oil changed on my 2009 Honda CR-V today.
Cost $39.95 for the oil and filter change and the installation of a new washer.
[The invoice states that it took 5 quarts of genuine Honda 5W20 oil --- (ETA: which seems high, given that the oil capacity of the CR-V is only 4.4 quarts or so, but I suspect it is just a round number used on the invoice)]
I noticed last week at the local Walmart that they now carry the new Mobil 1 filters for $10. I had been buying them on Amazon before.Stupendous wrote:I do it myself so whatever the cost of Mobil 1 is at Walmart and a good oil filter from wherever. I installed a fumoto valve on my truck and car so it's easy. Paid $85 for 10 qts of Mobil 1 and a Mobil 1 oil filter for my truck.
Indeed...plus, as I recall, certain parts of the timing chain run off of oil pressure, which is, in part, determined by the oil level. If the oil pressure is low, the timing chain can become problematic. All the more reason to regularly check the oil level and keep clean oil in the engine (I change mine when the maintenance minder hits 30% or at the one year mark, whichever comes first---that might be slightly excessive, but I've never heard my car complain about it).inbox788 wrote:Strangely, I couple of times I got a CEL when I let the oil change interval get a little too long or the oil is a little low (at the low indicator on the dipstick). Once I change the oil, it goes away. Another reason to make sure the oil isn't too low.
Same here, but didn't know about the rebates, thank you.snowman wrote:I do it myself, here are my costs:
Synthetic Mobil 1 oil 5q jug - on sale at Walmart for $23, minus $12 rebate from Mobil 1, equals $11.
High quality oil filter - $4 on sale (Amazon or RockAuto).
Total - $15.
I do it whenever it fits my schedule, it's quick, easy, done right.
Now if you cannot (or don't want to) do it yourself, you can still get better deal than the one you posted. They most definitely overcharged you on oil - $60 is insane if you could get it for $11 yourself. I suspect your car uses 0W-20, which is synthetic, and the shop marks it up 300%.
You can either find good local mechanic and bring oil and filter to them, so all you do is settle on labor rate. That way you know exactly what your cost of oil change is going to be every time.
Or, alternatively, you can go to local dealership, they generally tend to run coupons for $29.99 or less, even for 0W-20 oil. Their business model is to up sell you while there, so just make sure you say no to those efforts.
I would never go to Jiffy Lube etc. Fortunately, there is no reason to anymore.
I edited initial post to provide this -You really need to give us a frame of reference. How many quarts of oil and was it conventional or synthetic?
Np. I didn't know about them until about 4 years ago. They run like clockwork, same time every year - spring and fall. Each time you are limited to 2 rebates, so 4 jugs per year at $11 after rebates. Since the promo runs for 3 months at a time, I only buy when on sale at WM (which also runs like clockwork). It's also easy to upload receipt and fill out form on Mobil website. You do it once, then your browser with a single click fills out all info in the future. It's almost too easy...squirm wrote:Same here, but didn't know about the rebates, thank you.snowman wrote:I do it myself, here are my costs:
Synthetic Mobil 1 oil 5q jug - on sale at Walmart for $23, minus $12 rebate from Mobil 1, equals $11.
High quality oil filter - $4 on sale (Amazon or RockAuto).
Total - $15.
I do it whenever it fits my schedule, it's quick, easy, done right.
Now if you cannot (or don't want to) do it yourself, you can still get better deal than the one you posted. They most definitely overcharged you on oil - $60 is insane if you could get it for $11 yourself. I suspect your car uses 0W-20, which is synthetic, and the shop marks it up 300%.
You can either find good local mechanic and bring oil and filter to them, so all you do is settle on labor rate. That way you know exactly what your cost of oil change is going to be every time.
Or, alternatively, you can go to local dealership, they generally tend to run coupons for $29.99 or less, even for 0W-20 oil. Their business model is to up sell you while there, so just make sure you say no to those efforts.
I would never go to Jiffy Lube etc. Fortunately, there is no reason to anymore.
For me it's more convenient to just do it myself on my schedule than have to wait around some lube joint for hours. Which reminds me my car is flashing -500 for an oil change.
Several recent models of Corvettes (Z51, Grand Sport, Z06) use a dry sump oil system.Jack FFR1846 wrote:Besides Porsche, I'd be curious what other street cars use a dry sump.Atgard wrote:Totally depends on the type of car. Some use synthetic oil, some use more than 5 quarts, some these days even have dry-sump oil systems that take 11 quartz of synthetic oil and have more labor involved. So they can range from $20 (normal) to $80 (synthetic) to $250 (dry sump).
