The OPs dealership price for an oil change seems low to me... I expect it is a bate technique to get you in and then find and talk you into doing more work... I'd think, depending on the location (urban or mostly rural), an oil change should be between 30 and 50 dollars.

It's about 30 bucks to have them change the oil, air up tires if needed, and vacuum my vehicle. I used to change it myself all the time until I realized that after buying the stuff myself and the time/hassle to do it, I was really only paying $5 for someone to do it for me - my time is worth more than that, the absolute longest I've ever had to wait is 15 minutes. No brainer.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BamaJeepster,

1. Read the warranty and figure out what it actually covers. I've read a number of them that came with vehicles I was interested in purchasing and the list of things they covered was very specific. The failures that were covered were unlikely to happen.

2. Do shops use ASE certified mechanics to do oil changes or do they use the lowest guy on the totem pole?

3. $14.95 is most definitely to get you in the door. My local Ford dealer will rotate my tires for that. Last time they recommended new front brakes and an air filter. They were correct on both counts. The air filter wasn't bad according to the air flow indicator on the filter housing, but it is supposed to be replaced at 45,000 miles. At $45, I said no thank you. I had a new Motorcraft one at home; $17 from Amazon. Brakes were $300 and I did them for $120.

4. Oil and filter alone for my truck is $75 (13 quarts of Valvoline 5w-40 synthetic), so if I were to pay someone else to do it, I'd guess it would be north of $100.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: trapper189,

I always changed my own oil and did all of my own repairs until 2014 when I bought my newest Toyota Tacoma. The dealership has free oil changes for life and I don't need any repairs so it doesn't get much better that that.

I pay myself a couple of beers for a job well done.

I've paid for one oil change in 47 years of driving, and I'm not sure they even did it. My wife's new 2001 Honda Accord had an oil leak, and during warranty repairs, I requested an oil change since it was due and 5W20 was hard to find. They put dye in the oil to find the leak and the oil was a funny color when they were done.

I got 3 free oil changes as a result of checking a box that said the financial guy was rude when I declined buying extended warranty when I bought my Silverado. I took it in since I wasn't familiar yet with how to verify axle fluids and transfer case. They didn't even check them. They touched one bolt, the engine drain plug and didn't tighten it. Luckily I caught it when I looked to see if they checked all fluids.

I can change the oil much faster at home than the trip to and wait at the change shop. I really like knowing it is done right and what oil is installed. I also like complete freedom in determining what oil and filter I use, and I use good stuff.

The 2001 Accord is now my son's and he loves that car and the adventures had with it. It has 310K miles on it now and has likely had around 75 oil changes.

One place, and one place only, is authorized to touch my vehicles. My personal friend and mechanic works for Christian Brothers Automotive, so he really looks out for me if someone else's hands other than his aren't physically on the car.

For an oil/filter change with their gratis "32 point check", they charge $40.60. They use 5w30 synthetic blend in all vehicles...not sure what brand.

Ford did mine for free while the vehicle was still in warranty. I let them still do it as I bought an extended warranty from them.

About $35, depending on where I take it.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

quote:

I was handed a sheet with the original owner's information on it. They didn't give a shit that they had exposed all of his personal info to me, and just hand wrote down my information. I walked out with the original owner's information on the receipt.

In this state the dealership is required to give any potential buyer the previous known owners info.
Kind of pisses me off. I traded in an Audi years ago and out of the blue some guy called me on my cellphone asking all these questions about the car.
Asked the fella how he got my number and he told me that dealers are required to give folks the info of the previous owner. I looked it up and sure enough that is the case.
Some dealers put a state issued sticker on the windshield of vehicles for sale denoting this.

You think I gave this dealer my cell phone number now that I know this??? Nope, nope, and nope again. Should have done a google voice number to dump when all is said and done.

I should’ve written that better. It contained none of my info on it.

The service tech scanned my VIN when I showed up and it wasn’t linked to the update I made to the dealer database, appointment database, or the Nissan database. He called me the wrong name the entire time but it was close to Todd so I thought it was Hispanic accent. It didn’t dawn on me until I received the receipt with previous owner’s info on it and none of my info on it.

quote:

Originally posted by Ridgeway:
$300 & $200 respectively for my cars.

I've seen as high as $400.

Ok l ask.... WTF are you driving? Porsche?

~$35ish, with tax.

I almost always used the Honda Dealership on my Honda. The oil change intervals were typically tied to other recommended maintenance.

I'll have to see if my new Subaru is the same way, and see what the Subaru dealership charges for an oil change.

I used to change my own oil on some of my previous cars. But nowadays it's not worth the hassle just to save ~$10.

I still do a few of the easier maintenance items myself. For example, I replace my own engine/cabin air filters, which takes 2 minutes, and saves quite a bit over having the dealership do it. I also do my own power steering fluid (partial) changes, using the "turkey baster" method. Plus all the really basic stuff like windshield wipers, wiper fluid, and light bulbs.

(Yes, I know people who take their cars to the dealership to have new wiper blades put on... My mother in law, for example.)

With my extended family we have more vehicles than you can shake a stick at.
Several years ago when I built my shop building I put a lift in and have been doing almost all the minor maintenance on all the vehicles since.
It's nice to be able to get a good look at the underside of a vehicle and make sure everything is as it should be.
We also installed a small fridge for after the work is done!

It's not so much the cost, but the knowledge that everything is done as it should be. You can only be 100% sure everything is done right and inspected right if you do it yourself. Not something I am willing to delegate to someone else.

About 30 dollars give or take five is the average around here. I'm at the mercy of wherever I take it as I no longer get employee discounts since I retired and got out of car dealerships the middle of last year.

I have been going to a local Jeep dealership and will probably continue. So far they have not buried me under "sales events", phone mining, etc. A little snafu last week, I showed up for my appointment for an air bag module recall and they did not have the part. Happens, had it happen to me when I was in the business too.

Nicest part, the last two oil changes I had neither time was I pressured for "wallet flushes", you know,the "You need this battery service, if not you will probably have your brakes fail and you will hit a bus full of nuns taking homeless kittens to a shelter. How will you live with that?" In fact, I complemented the writer on that fact. She knows I came from the dealership world, don't know if that has a bearing on it or not.

High profit margin for the dealership, spiffs for the service writer and the tech that do them. Know how that game works.

I buy the oil and filter, and the little shop I use charges me $10 to change the oil. You can't beat that with a stick. The time it would take me is well worth $10.

While it's pretty cheap to have your oil changed, if you want to do it yourself it should not void your warranty:

https://www.ftc.gov/enforcemen...ion-improvements-act

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/a...-routine-maintenance

quote:

Originally posted by Joe123:
It's not so much the cost, but the knowledge that everything is done as it should be. You can only be 100% sure everything is done right and inspected right if you do it yourself. Not something I am willing to delegate to someone else.

This has been my motto after seeing so many bad outcomes with friends, a near miss with my own '87 Maxima back in the day, and the endless stories here.

I have one car I'm still having the dealer do just to build goodwill under any possible (expensive!) warranty claims, but will come back in house with that too once out of that coverage.

quote:

Originally posted by DMF:
While it's pretty cheap to have your oil changed, if you want to do it yourself it should not void your warranty:

https://www.ftc.gov/enforcemen...ion-improvements-act

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/a...-routine-maintenance

That is for new car factory warranties.

My powertrain warranty is offered as a perk by the dealer on some used cars. So pretty sure they can require anything they want.

The works here is $40 when they send a card.
I usually do it myself.
I put Amsoil in my truck and 1 car as well as my motocycle.