You think $70 is too much? Then you don't value your own time much, and you have to safely dispose of the oil, the mess, and wait until your bolt sheers, etc...Damn even when I buy the oil myself it would be more than $70...
They want $70+ to change the oil on my 2020 Minicooper S. No by god, I'll do it! 😁 For this first time I had to buy a set of relatively low profile HD plastic ramps. They were not actually called low profile, but a comment was made that it works on his Mustang which sits low, so I purchased them and they work. I needed 3 wrench sockets, one of which I had, the other 2 for removing the oil drain and oil filter.
So I'm ready to change the oil, which btw I've been doing on my cars forever. I run the car up on the ramps. I get under the car, and the engine spash shield has "tamper resistant" Torx screws, of course I don't have one, I have a T30 bit, but not a socket that works, because there's a security bump that unless the bit is hollow in the center, you can't stick it in. Why would they do that? Anyone who doing something questionable with the car is sure to have one.
Then I pull out the filter I bought online and it's not the right filter. I figure out the screws are T30s so I order a new filter, because the local O'Reilly wants $25 for a $12 filter and a T30 tamper resistant 3/8" socket. Should have those by Wed...
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The Car Thread ... !
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$70 isn't a bad amount for what I assume would be full synthetic. You may save $20 by doing it yourself, maybe even a bit more, but time is money too. The reason they can do it for $70 is because they buy oil and filters in bulk, which the average consumer doesn't have access too.
Walmart is a good option, as mentioned, to get a good price for oil and filters. Back when I had my B7 A4, I would save about $50 by doing it myself, that was where I felt it was worth my time. Also, with the plastic filter canister, it was a ticking timebomb to let inexperienced mechanics mess with it (over tighten the housing cracking it and not draining the canister using a proper drain tool prior to removal).
Walmart is a good option, as mentioned, to get a good price for oil and filters. Back when I had my B7 A4, I would save about $50 by doing it myself, that was where I felt it was worth my time. Also, with the plastic filter canister, it was a ticking timebomb to let inexperienced mechanics mess with it (over tighten the housing cracking it and not draining the canister using a proper drain tool prior to removal).
Nice. Sadly, both Ferrari and McLaren are vehicles I will never be able to afford, so I will never have an issue of a $2k engine oil change bill.
I still have to get one every year. I'm glad it's actually every year now instead of every 3000 miles. One would think over time Oil would have more of a shelf life, but that didn't really start to happen until the 2010s maybe?
Once a year is the bare minimum if you are a low miles driver.
GM's Oil Life Monitor takes time, miles, RPM's, distance driven per trip, temps, etc into account. If the car just sits there with 0 miles driven, it will hit 0% just based on 12 months since last reset. If you drive the car economically, lets the engine warm up, etc it will likely hit the miles limit GM has programmed for that vehicle( for mine, it is 7500 miles). If you only drive it 4 miles each way, or drive the car hard, the OLM may say change the oil by the time you hit 4000 miles on the oil based off the usage.
Ever since synthetics became a thing, oil shelf life increased. The 3000 or every 3 months stuck around as a dealer/shop thing to keep money flowing at that point then the OEM's own recommendations.
Synthetic oil still sealed in the container can last up to 5 years. Once you expose it to air, condensation, fuel, and combustion byproducts does its life begin to degrade. The oil can probably still have a useful life beyond 12 months from the OEM's recommendations, but they have to set the bar somewhere to cover their own butts during the warranty period.
All electric here. So no need to get fleeced annually by the dealer.
I always just keep track of it through the oil life gage or wait for the light to come on. Typically it's been once a year (I have just over 60,000 on the car). I found out about the scam almost when I bought the new car, and I don't get oil changes from the dealer anyway.
Bingo. Disposing is not hard, just take it to a local auto parts store and they will recycle it.
But the mess is something different. Spill a tub of oil on your driveway just once and you will never change your own fluids again. Ask me how I know.
Bingo. Disposing is not hard, just take it to a local auto parts store and they will recycle it.
But the mess is something different. Spill a tub of oil on your driveway just once and you will never change your own fluids again. Ask me how I know.
Or invest in a nice power washer and it should come off, or not.
In the UK we had a product called Gunk for that.
Bingo. Disposing is not hard, just take it to a local auto parts store and they will recycle it.
But the mess is something different. Spill a tub of oil on your driveway just once and you will never change your own fluids again. Ask me how I know.
How do you know?
I spilled some, I had a cat at the time, kitty litter was what helped me get it out.
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I use the “suck it out from the dipstick” with my M3. No lifting the car, no mess, no hassle. I’m doing ever 5k but thinking of moving to every 3k. My 2025 goal is to hit the track. I have a time in a 330 ZHP at Laguna and a GT4 RS time at Sonoma Raceway. I want to see how much up on my time I’ll be at Laguna, and how far off I’ll be at Sonoma!
Having the oil filter up top is nice for this... I did this with my e46. Only problem is, BMW and their oil filter housing gaskets...
$8 for the gasket, a pizza, beer and some patience is all you need! I did one on my M52B28 and the ZHP. It’s not too bad. Get a VANOS line while you’re at it. It’s like $30 in parts - easy enough
Yeah, I no longer have that issue. I've gone full darkside (EV). I haven't had to tinker with a vehicle since I sold my 3 ICEs (B7 A4, e46 325i, and 2015 Ram 1500 Hemi) for 2 EVs (2019 TM3, 2021 TMY). Now I just get in and drive. I have Tesla mobile service change my cabin filter in my driveway.
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They probably got tired of the prior decade's oil consumption issues (my '08 B7 A4 failed under warranty).
A lot of car companies have moved no oil dipstick computer level reporting.
Fair enough. If you have the infrastructure, electric can be hard to beat for the grocery runs and commuting. I personally cannot stand the tablet-dashboards of almost every modern car.
I’m eye-balling a 2018-2020 330i or 330e as a daily, but my heart loves the idea of a cheap beater like a 2011 328i. A weekend of gaskets, another of dynamat to make the car super quiet, and a third putting in a proper sound system just sounds like tone of fun. I love the project.
Exactly. It’s not hard. Our local waste recycling unit takes it. But you’ll have to catch it in a container, then drive to drop it off somewhere and don’t spill it. And yes that initial catch, yuk messy scrubbing my hands 🤣Bingo. Disposing is not hard, just take it to a local auto parts store and they will recycle it.
But the mess is something different. Spill a tub of oil on your driveway just once and you will never change your own fluids again. Ask me how I know.
More expense
Well I’ve got one, but my time to do that I value at much more. And then I’m not even talking about the spill and waste going in the sewage and groundwater.