The Professional Expert

Where Should I Get My Oil Changed?

Changing the oil on your car is pretty important if you plan on keeping your car for any length of time.

You can take it to a “Quicky-Lube” place, your regular service station, or the dealer. They will all pretty much do the job for you and take care of it for probably $20 or $30.

You can also do it yourself for a little less. But we’ll talk about that on Friday.

When you go in to get your oil changed, they may recommend various other flushes and replacements that they can “take care of while you are there.”  When you are standing in the lobby and you hear the news that “the fluids are low” or “that part needs to be replaced” it can be hard to keep a clear head. Even if you actually need the work done, you can still feel like you are being ripped-off.

So before you go anywhere to have your oil changed, do your homework.  Check the Maintenance Schedule in your owner’s manual for other items that may need to be checked or replaced.  If you are feeling bold, you can also check some of the fluids, like the transmission fluid, washer fluid, brake fluid, and your air filter ahead of time.

Some of the more popular services they recommend would include changing transmission or differential fluid and replacing belts or the air filter.  They could probably even show you how “dirty” the air filter looks, but be aware that they start to look “dirty” after only a few hundred miles. 

For instance, in my owner’s manual, they recommend changing the air filter every 30,000 miles unless I have been driving in dusty, desert conditions. They recommend flushing the transmission fluid every 60,000 if I have been towing something, but they don’t have a scheduled flush under normal use.

These recommendations may not be true for your vehicle, but it gives you a ballpark figure to work with when finding out what is recommended for your vehicle.

If you have done your homework you can confidently say “no thanks” and just have them do what you came in for.  If they seem really pushy, just tell them to write down what you need and that you will have your usual service station or dealer look at it.

Let’s take a look at our different options:

A “Quicky-Lube” type place can do it for you faster than most others – but they will be the most likely to “upsell” you additional services or repairs you don’t need.

If you have a relationship with a local mechanic, this is a good place to go. He can do any other stuff that is needed and will be less likely to do unnecessary work.

The dealer is probably the most expensive and least convenient place to have you oil changed. But they usually go the extra mile, so you will think well of them when you want to buy another car. 

Dealers usually have a “20 point” checklist of stuff they will check as part of the oil change and will just do the scheduled maintenance.  My experience has been that the dealership service department (in contrast to the used car salesman) is the least likely to try to sell unnecessary services.

Regardless of who changed your oil, the most important step is the post-oil-change check.  This is where you start the engine, make sure the oil light is out, and look underneath for leaks.

A “bad” oil change will be apparent once you turn on the car. Check under the car before you leave the parking lot.  If you see a leak or a “gusher,” turn the car off right away and have them fix it. They will immediately recognize their mistake.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about all the letters and numbers on the oil container…

3 Comments »

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

1. This theme is terrific. Good, practical tips. I’ll spread the news to our homeschool support group. For those of us in rural settings, we can also use life skill topics in such areas as running a gasoline generator–an important skill when Hurricane Rita left us without electricity for 25 days.

   Comment by Diana — March 11, 2008 #

2. This is an awesome idea and not just for homeschool students but adults too!

   After car maintance maybe you can tackle some home maintance issues …

   Comment by MzRenaissance — March 12, 2008 #

3. We’ll put those on the list. Thanks!

   Comment by John G.- P.E. — March 12, 2008 #

Leave a comment