5-minute oil change is a lie. The car ahead of me has been in there for over half an hour. I cannot leave because there are cars behind me, blocking me in. I think this lady has seen more filters than an AC repairman.
Update: Car ahead of me took 50 minutes. I pulled into the bay and sat for 10 minutes. They did nothing and I finally left.
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Never use those quick lube places. Find a reputable mechanic and get it done there.
I had started changing my own oil about 10 years ago and my wife had a fit that I was spending $70 on oil and filter plus some supplies here and there compared to the $50 oil change.
We took the car there next time with the coupon. Wife came with me so she could make sure.
Oh, I only use synthetic, it says so in the manual. That was an extra $30.
The car takes 6 quarts, not 5. +$15
The filter wasn’t included. +$20
No, that’s not my air filter. I just replaced it last time.
Can you please deflate my tires back to 32 psi? 60 is too high. It says so here on my door frame.
+??? & Tax came out to $130.
5 minute oil change took like 30-40 minutes.
I still do so my own oil changes.
The fact that these places always exclude the filter from their price and treat it as a “gotcha” add-on is deeply hilarious.
You have to replace the filter when you change the oil. That’s just how it works. It’s not special and it’s not extra. It’s literally the intended procedure.
The reason I do it myself is because they’ll use a generic crappy no name filter and oil with no additives for older engines or anything.
K&N Air Filters would like to have a word…
I literally never change my air filter during oil changes because once a year I take my K&N out, treat it and put it back in. They work better, they produce less waste and they pay for themselves after a year.
The oil filter. Not the air filter.
Then I misunderstood because I do see them charging extra for air filters too.
Oh, I’m sure they do. And charge eight times more than what they’re worth.
I’m actually okay with someone charging an extra $15 to swap an air filter… if they are only charging a few bucks for the filter. It’s labor cost and I have fought with stupid air filter clips enough to know it’s not for everyone.
They also use shit oil, you’ll be lucky if it’s the right weight you were even supposed to have, and you don’t have to look very hard before finding someone who’s left one of those places with no oil put back, or the oil cap left off, or a leaky filter or drain bolt, or stripped drain bolt threads, etc.
I’ve always changed my own oil.
Also, a special shout-out to Valvoline Restore and protect oil. It really does make your engine cleaner and free up piston rings. My 08 Prius has 272,000 miles on it and the last 16,000 miles I’ve been using that oil (lots of vehicles around those years were using low tension oil rings) I’ve gone from burning a quart around every 2,800 miles, to burning a quart every 5,000 miles.
Yeah, I heard the stories and couldn’t bear to be at their mercy.
If you care at all about your car please follow this advice.
Quick lube places survive off of up sells like wipers, belts, and filters. Plus they’ll impact on your oil drain plug which will strip and stretch the threads. The oil filter will go on with no oil on the gasket, and every single ugga they can dugga will be used to tighten it on there. The oil they use is the cheapest they can find.
Find a good mechanic that won’t try to sell you every minor repair your car needs.
That’s assuming they remember to put the drain plug back. My brother lost an engine that way
I’ve been using Valvoline, but I bring my own oil and filter, and they actually do use a torque wrench on everything I can tell. It’s $60 (with coupon) for my 6.7 that I also have them rotate my tires, I’m in and out in 30 min, and I don’t have to dispose of the oil. Just turn down the the other services, especially the air filter (that I typically replace while I’m waiting in line), and they’re not too bad. I just wish they’d do my fuel filters, but LiAbIlItY.
I don’t have to dispose of the oil
You do see how that’s a terrible idea, right?
I mean, they pull oil from the ground, only makes sense to put it back from where it came. 🤷🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
I’m pretty sure it was posted as a joke.
I used to go to a quick change place until yep, they did indeed strip the threads of my drain plug. The next oil change I got was at a nicer place and cost less. They replaced my drain plug. I just had to drop it off for a couple hours.
It’s important to use a regular shop for routine maintenance because you’ll build a relationship for when something major goes wrong. The extra cost is worth it.
Plus, imagine what kind of “mechanic” works in these places. Accepting low wages implies they can’t get a job at a real shop because they suck, or because they have no experience.
Yup, I used to hit up those places because quick and cheap are my favorites!
But, sure enough, one of them screwed everything up so bad, the next place refused to even attempt it.
The dealership where I bought my last car offers free inspections each year, so I just have them do the oil during that.
The 10-minute lube place I use really only takes 10 minutes for an oil change. And if they are performing other services, they have a whole different set of bays to use so the quick lube line isn’t stuck behind someone getting their entire engine tuned up or someshit. It’s still cutting it close, while using a tool to blow the oil out quicker than gravity, too. So just hearing a place say they can do it in half the time sounds like a lie and a half.
The reason that an oil change should take time is that it takes a while for all of the used oil to drain out. That’s why commenters are recommending you do it yourself, because you can leave the car for 20 minutes to just drain. Then you remove the filter, and don’t be surprise if more oil drains out. Replace the filter and then refill with oil.
Quickie Lube places that promise a 5 minute change are either lying about the time or lying about changing the oil. You would also control how frequently the filters are changed. You don’t have to change the filter as often as the oil, but certainly every other oil change. I replace mine every time, but I recognize that’s probably unnecessary.
All in, the process will take you about an hour, maybe longer the first time you do it. A pro with all of the equipment laid out and a proper garage can cut it to 30 minutes at best.
Don’t forget to pre-fill the new filter with fresh oil, otherwise bearing surfaces will run metal-to-metal for maybe 5 seconds before getting oil when you start the engine.
It’s a good idea to do that where you can, but some engines mount their oil filters sideways or even upside down.
In these cases, some cars have a “clear flood” mode that will let you crank the engine without it starting. You can use this to pump oil though the engine for 5-10s and help prime your oil filter. For instance on Subarus you can hold the accelerator to the floor while you try to start it to engage this mode.
Yes, good call out. It’s also good to get some oil on the gasket before installation.
Also ensure the previous gasket has left the scene as you only want one and for the love of Pete, DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN the filter!!!
Hand tight and just a smidge more. That’s it.
I do mine every time. I don’t like trying to figure out where I am on the cycle and $7 is cheap
If you have the space, I would recommend learning how to change your oil yourself. It only takes some basic tools and can save you a lot of money in the long run.
No luck in that department. Garage is too tight and sloped enough to make me worried about getting under the car
My driveway is uphill to the garage. I point up hill, use ramps, chock the rear tires, and only slide in from the front.
But I do hate doing oil changes. Oil gets everywhere on the tools, everywhere on my hand when I get the filter, everywhere on the ground when it splashes, and everywhere on the outside of the containers. Then it lightly oils everything between my garage on the disposal site. But, once I stopped getting $45 employee pricing on dealership synth blend changes and started getting $120+ normie pricing, I got fed up. I liked having a professional, trusted mechanic have eyes under a lifted car rather than my casual eyes laying under ramps, but shit, prices are absurd. Hello Kirkland oil.
I also hate splash shields. They’re mildly infuriating. I got the harbor freight Maddox oil filter socket set and now can generally avoid removing splash shields on my fleet
Get good enough and wear a pair of disposable gloves. After some practice you don’t get oil on anything
I don’t have any stat points left to git gud :( automotive has fallen from beloved hobby to strictly necessity
Get yourself something like this https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/garage-guard/tools---equipment/garage---shop/clean-up/oil-absorbent/8e58b6d289f2/oil-dri-garage-guard-3-x-5-foot-oil-absorbent-rug/oil2/l90693?pos=9
Nitrile gloves are your friend!
Some oil filters you let drain for a little bit before removing. My frontier even has a little drain channel so I can drain it into the drain pan with the filter loose. Then I take it off. There’s a lot less mess than if I just rip it off fast! Not sure it that applies for you or not!
I’m not sure what the rules of your disposal site are, but I use a 3 gallon (I think) waste oil container that I take into O’reilly Auto when it’s full. I just put it on some old cardboard or something during transport to keep it from getting oil on other stuff.
For tools you can clean them with pretty much any degreaser from brake cleaner to dish soap. I don’t recommend the brake clean lol. For the most part I have dedicated oil change tools since all I need is a 14mm and a 15mm wrench to do all 3 of my vehicles.
You make good points. Truthfully, I only got back into doing it myself within the last 2 years. I haven’t done any vehicle more than twice. Somehow I always think I’m too good for the gloves and today will be the day I do it cleanly - only to use the same value in paper towels. Unfortunately, I know at least 3 filters are bottom-mount vertical. They have oil sitting in the galleys above it and spill more as they wobble off. I’ll have to check the drain plug sizes and see. I’m sure there’s repeat sizes, all being metric. I do use brake clean for the final spray since I’m not aware of any other nogrinse degreasers (also haven’t looked)
I do kind of enjoy my 300cc motorcycle. The drain plug is on the kickstand side (good with the lean) and the filter is a cartridge type that lives high on the block and on the not-kickstand side. Basically all the drip is from playing operation with the cartridge on the way out. And it only takes 1.4qt.
I also hate splash shields. They’re mildly infuriating. I got the harbor freight Maddox oil filter socket set and now can generally avoid removing splash shields on my fleet
Probably the worst part about oil changes on modern cars. Engineers don’t put a lot of thought into making them quick and easy to take off and put back on, from my experience.
Small screws, unsure c-clip nuts, plastic/plastic panels that flex away, mystery grime, and too many screws. I’d have no qualms if the nuts were rigid in the body and used machine threads.
I did at least eventually have an epiphany and realize that it’s not a 5.5mm hex on my strictly-metric Fords, but rather a 7/32in or some bullshit.
What do you do with the used oil? When I was a kid my family would dump it in big barrels, then we’d bury them once they got full. Obviously not something I want to do now. But I’ve asked the oil change places around here and they charge a fee to take the used oil.
Check auto parts stores, they should take it. However, they won’t take it if it’s contaminated with anything, like coolant. So instead I take it to my local dump, they have a place to dispose of oil and other fluids for free. Maybe that’s an option for you as well.
If they sell oil they have to dispose of used oil. Never heard of anyobe charging a fee. They re refine it anyway
How do they even 5min those car with fully covered engine splash guard? I usually take 30min to do oil and filter change and then check the fluid and air, 5min mean they did none of those, and the oil isn’t even drained.
They typically intend (and indeed, try to) use their machine to suck all the oil out of the dipstick tube and replace it via the same. That’s generally doable within the 5 minute allocation but it’s also only half of the job since that inevitably involves not replacing the oil filter.
