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13 July 2007
Do you do your own oil/oil filter changes? Do you know how?→[More:]It suddenly occurred to me that most people do not have the skills to survive outside an urban environment.
I don't own a car, so I couldn't change its oil even if I knew how. Which I don't.
On the other hand, I *do* have a very good working knowledge of the public transport system, including its general etiquette, which is seems eludes most suburbanites. So there's that.
I know how and am capable of doing it, but it isn't even really cheaper anymore to do it yourself, once you figure in the products and the recycling fees and stuff. Plus, the quickie places top off all the other fluids, so that's a bonus.
I know how, and if I'm changing oil in my mowers, and have the drip pan out, and the car or the truck needs an oil/filter change, and I remembered to pickup the filter, sure, I'll do it. But there's a place over in Arlington that does $13.95 10 minute oil changes, and uses Fram filters, so I go there, mostly.
I know how to, but I haven't done it in years. The place I was living for the last five had banned it in their parking lots (which makes sense, since they drain to streams, and even though I would generally be responsible, I can't say my neighbors would be), and over that time I also became more, shall we say, full figured than I had been prior. It made fitting under the car handily a pain in the ass.
I know how, and used to take pride in doing it, but quit for the same reasons s_r and mudpuppie cite. It only takes the first time you kick over the gallon jug full of used oil that's been sitting by the back step waiting for you to take it to the dump before the cost-benefit ratio starts to look skewed. It's worth $17.95 to have Dana the mechanic do it, especially because he always does a few other useful things, too, and lets me know what I need to worry about next.
I don't know how and have never needed to since the last two cars I've driven have come with lifetime oil and filter changes. Even if they didn't, I don't really care to learn because I'd rather pay someone to do it for me then get my hands dirty. And yes, I'm a princess when it comes to stuff like this and proud of it! ;)
I know how to, but I don't, since it costs almost as much to dispose of the oil as to have Jiffy-lube do it for me.
After my last oil change, I realized that it would have been much cheaper to replace my own wipers and air filter than to pay the mechanics to do it. Wipers and air filters are ridiculously easy to replace.
Interesting responses. Didn't realize so many people lived where they don't have their own driveway; and I've never heard of paying to get rid of oil.
Up here you take it to Mohawk or Canadian Tire, for free. Both of 'em sell it back to reprocessing plants (I think Mohawk owns a few), so they actually make good money off it. I hope they never start asking for money, 'cause that'd just be damn greedy of 'em.
muddgirl, most brakes are also damn near pop-off/pop-on. On my last few cars it's never more than a 15m job (remove tire, remove bolt, swivel holder, pop out, reverse procedure).
I know how to do this but most of the time I take it somewhere to get it done. I also know how to change my tires, replace air filter, replace wipers, flush the antifreeze, check fluids, and a bunch of other stuff that my dad taught me when I was a teenager.
Back when I had more time than money, I used to, radiator flushes too, sparkplugs and wires, distributor cap, brakes, just about everything in reach of a do-it-yourselfer. Now, I'd rather pay someone else to do it and spend the time on my other hobbies. There's a great shop within easy walking distance of my office, so it's little to no hassle, even.
Never bothered. I'm sure some book around here has the instructions for doing so if I really felt like it. It can't possibly be any more difficult than building an Ikea bookcase.
Why would I want to? I have better things to do with my life than spend it lying down on the ground messing with grease. Shit, just sleeping is a better use of my time than that.
That's a goofy example for surviving outside an urban environment. If you really didn't have access to the full set of industrial-society services, changing a car's oil would be as useless a skill as C++ programming because there wouldn't be any gas to make them go.
I think it's a better example of consumer demand. Getting an oil change at SpeedyLube is cheap and easy now. Before there was a market for it, though, it was probably less cheap and easy. It's sort of like fast food. The service costs less than the product would, as it were.
Oh, when I got a flat tire recently (stupid potholes), I knew HOW to change my own tire, but I hadn't thought to buy the right tools, namely a good lug wrench. The wrench provided with my spare was not up to the task. I'm glad my fiance had AAA, so we could call up a tow truck with a REAL lug wrench.
In all honesty, it has never occurred to me that it might be cheaper to have someone else do it. Because, y'know, for the fifteen minutes it takes, I'd just never bothered to find out...
The last time I got a flat I happened to pull into my mother's driveway right after the tire went completely flat...when I'd gotten new tires a few months before they'd tightened the lug nuts way too much and no human in the house could get them loose. My mom and her husband used their AAA membership and a nice cute guy came out and used his air compressor loosenermabob and freed the tire. (He also made sure all the other tires weren't too tight so that a human could loosen them should a tire go flat in the future.)
And also: I know a lot of the quicky oil change places here will accept old oil that they dispose of for FREE. We also have an agreement with the next county over so that we can drop off hazardous materials (oil, batteries, household cleaners, turpentine, etc) at one of their recycling centers...in my case it's only a ten minute drive so it's pretty easy. I only have to take a current copy of my sanitation bill in order to make use of those facilities.
It is a better deal -- they can get their oil and filters more cheaply. I can get the whole deal done for $17.95. Doing it myself requires 3 quarts oil at around $2, one filter at around $6, so we're up to $12-something without even counting in my time to buy the stuff and time spent laying on my back choking on the dusty crap filtering down from the engine. It's worth the $6 difference to me in that additional time saved.
In my experience, it's not a better deal if you're willing to buy in bulk (say, a case at a time), and it's not a better deal if you want premium oil. Besides, when you consider travel time and waiting-around time (my least favorite kind of time), I can do it myself quicker than I can get it done at the jiffy-lube. Your mileage, of course, may vary.
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