No clue what kind or oil you are buying and where you are. I’m retired, time is not an issue, and the local auto parts store takes used oil, no charge. Historically, I have changed my own oil. 🙂
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The Car Thread ... !
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6.25L of Mobile 1 5w30 Thus you have to buy 7 liters. But yes if you are retired and don’t mind several trips out to do this, and that it actually could cost more when you include everything then why not.
I think $70 is a bargain. If I’m not mistaken your mini engine is just over five liters, so buy six? And takes 0W30. A quality oil would cost like $60 alone. And that is before the filters, nut/wash replacement and disposal.
I changed my own oil with my 2017 Camaro SS and now Corvette.
It's not about saving money for me, but knowing myself to do it right before the oil change idiot at the dealer. Especially with the Z06 being a dry sump system. Reading too many horror stories of dealers overfilling the car because they don't realize it has two drain plugs or you need to check the level with the engine running( at idle) with the engine temps at 175 degrees.
One idiotic dealer when they overfilled it because they only drained it from the oil pan and not the main oil reservoir solution to getting the excess oil out because they had no clue how it could be overfilled was to remove the oil filter and run the engine to drain it through the filter outlet( which is now running the engine dry of oil).
It's not about saving money for me, but knowing myself to do it right before the oil change idiot at the dealer. Especially with the Z06 being a dry sump system. Reading too many horror stories of dealers overfilling the car because they don't realize it has two drain plugs or you need to check the level with the engine running( at idle) with the engine temps at 175 degrees.
One idiotic dealer when they overfilled it because they only drained it from the oil pan and not the main oil reservoir solution to getting the excess oil out because they had no clue how it could be overfilled was to remove the oil filter and run the engine to drain it through the filter outlet( which is now running the engine dry of oil).
The advantage of taking care of it yourself relates about how well you do the work, torque specks, and so on. But $70.00 is not necessarily expensive considering that a quart of synthetic oil costs $7.00 or more depending on the type of oil. If you car uses 4.20 quarts of oil you can buy an oil jug that contains 5 quarts at Walmart for $36.00 or so. And don't forget the oil filter, which could cost from $8.00 to $12.00. The rest of the cost for work at the shop is for labor, resupplying the oil drums, a share of the cost for electricity, equipment, tools, employee wages, and so on.
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...
And yes, the shop buys oil in bulk, and receive a discount purchasing filters locally, but they aren't making a great profit for each service. In this case the profit is gained by performing several oil/filter changes. I take care of my own oil and filter changes once the warranty is over, and let the shop take care of the services required to maintain the warranty of the new car. My Tundra uses a little over 8 quarts of OW-20, and my wife's RAV4 V6 uses 6.2 quarts of 5W-30. The OM Toyota filters for each cost around $8.00.
I let the dealership's shop take care of her 2023 Tacoma because of its warranty. I could take care of the Tacoma myself and keep all the receipts (receipts for the purchase of Toyota oil and filters), but if it has an engine problem and Toyota decides that it was caused by the maintenance I performed, it can turn into an expensive proposition. This is where I would have to do everything by the book. The shop charges $125.00 for a simple oil change of the Tacoma.
The key here is I have 3 cars and can save $ by doing it myself and I enjoy it.
Yes, that is true.The key here is I have 3 cars and can save $ by doing it myself and I enjoy it.
I change my own oil on the motorcycle. Requires jacking bike up and removing a few plastic body parts. Honda manual recommends 8K interval for changes. I use pure synthetic oil which will go even farther. Engine is a high performance V4 redlined at 12,000 rpm, which only hit once in a while if I am feeling frisky.The key here is I have 3 cars and can save $ by doing it myself and I enjoy it.
Since I don't have a garage, only a carport, I take my Mercedes ML350 to the dealer for service and an oil change. I don't drive very much any more, so oil change should last quite a while. Only $180.00 with MB special filter, I was expecting more. Only has 100K on the odometer.
The key here is I have 3 cars and can save $ by doing it myself and I enjoy it.
Nothing wrong with that. Just after I changed the oil in my SXS and then ran over the pan spilling several quarts of oil all over my driveway, I decided no more fluid changes for me. Took 6 months of degreaser and kitty litter to get rid of it.
My new house does have an epoxy garage floor, so I could do it, but at this point, I'll just pay to have it done.
The one thing I will always do myself is brakes. The rotor does not need replaced at every pad change.
I ran into this on my Cooper, brakes that wear down every 30k or so and you have to replace both the pads and the rotors for a damned $900 brake change. First time in my life for this, my Toyota has 70k miles and just the front pads have been replaced for a fraction of the cost. If I had known this, I might have considered another vehicle. My last was a Fiat 500 an economy car, I kept for 10 years. The Cooper is not an economy car, my bad...
but my wife wanted a small car with an automatic and a convertible top. My fate was sealed at that point.I would do the brakes myself. For the price of getting the pads replaced and rotors turned, you can do the brakes AND rotors. I haven't had good luck with turned rotors, they tend to warp quickly, especially if you live in a place with high speeds that rapidly drop to bumper-to-bumper traffic with a return to high speeds.
So are they doing anything special for that $2k? On my Audi I was astonished at the ~$500 cost to change a headlight bulb. Evidently they have to remove the front bumper to do it. Evidently it is even more expensive on a Porche.
Unless the oil is special, most of that is usually labor because it is probable they have to take apart enough of the engine bay to get to the plug(s) and/or filter(s).
Many new cars are all LED. There will be no more “changing bulbs.” There won’t even be “changing projectors.” There will just be changing the entire $3k headlight - or whatever they are. That’s at least the case with BMW, Porsche and likely any other brand that has some form of adaptive LEDs
I ran into this on my Cooper, brakes that wear down every 30k or so and you have to replace both the pads and the rotors for a damned $900 brake change. First time in my life for this, my Toyota has 70k miles and just the front pads have been replaced for a fraction of the cost. If I had known this, I might have considered another vehicle. My last was a Fiat 500 an economy car, I kept for 10 years. The Cooper is not an economy car, my bad...
It’s like this with many things though. Consumables like Brake pads and tires are not all created equal.
There is an inverse relationship between tire wear rate and braking (overall grip) performance. A Toyota will likely come with a 500-600 or even 700 Treadwear tire. A mini cooper or otherwise may have a 300-500 treadwear tire. That tire will get you better stopping performance and better temperature handling (from heat generated from more use), but it’ll cost more. It also likely has a more performance orientated alignment. Steering feel can be enhanced by a larger tire scrub which wears tires down more, but considered a reasonable trade off to reach their customer’s primary goals
Brake pads are a little less black and white but still the same. Brake compounds on appliance cars are built to do things their customers care about: last a long time, work in a wide range of cold to hot days and work in an emergency brake. So when they engineered the pad, that’s how it was built.
BMW/MINI (same company) likely had different priorities. Good temperature performance from repeated use, consistent feel at any speed and low brake fade. A pad that achieves that goal costs more.
While I do know you can buy tires for a Mini Cooper with over 800 treadwear, I don't know about different brake compounds.
I do know that I had a 2008 Cooper that would go through brakes about every 30k miles, and now have two Jettas that can go over 100k miles before new pads.
In reference to tires, I was referring to general standard equipment. When it comes time for replacement, pads and tires, you are of course free to go with whatever fits you best and whatever you prioritize most.
I was just saying a Mini Cooper buys and equips tires and brake pads that best fit the type of buyer they expect. As does Toyota. Those customers are just quite different.
Yes there are so many brake compounds it makes my head spin
. And unlike tires, it’s hard to get feedback on brake pads as people’s usage change is drastic between cars. I hate my current pads - they’re so dusty, but I’d hate to spend $800 on pads and hate the new option too :/
This is the way to go. I have an EV for my daily driver and besides less maintenance, it’s just so much better.
You’re only saving money if it’s something you like doing. Around where I live it’s about $30 cheaper to do it yourself. Sometimes I do it myself but other times I’d rather be lazy and let someone do it for me.The key here is I have 3 cars and can save $ by doing it myself and I enjoy it.
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I so rarely use the brakes on my EV. So pads last a long long time. Zero dust as well. I don’t miss that!In reference to tires, I was referring to general standard equipment. When it comes time for replacement, pads and tires, you are of course free to go with whatever fits you best and whatever you prioritize most.
I was just saying a Mini Cooper buys and equips tires and brake pads that best fit the type of buyer they expect. As does Toyota. Those customers are just quite different.
Yes there are so many brake compounds it makes my head spin
I believe it’s the case with most cars these days with LED headlights. My Volvo XC60 requires the entire headlight assembly to be replaced- I just looked it up- $1800 for the part alone. It’s not just premium cars either- Toyota, Mazda, etc have the same design and there’s very few cars still using halogen bulbs.
That said, I’ve never seen a modern car with a burnt out LED headlight. Obviously it’s not impossible, but generally speaking seeing cars with burnt out headlights seems to be increasingly rare- it’s not like it was say 15 years ago before LED headlights were around, especially when the weather got cold.
I suspect these fixtures are intended to last the lifetime of the car. If they commonly burnt out within 10 years (and manufacturers still wanted $2-3k to replace them), it would quickly turn into a NHSTA issue and class action lawsuit problem because it’s clearly a safety related issue.
This is all true. Even HIDs lasted WAY longer than halogen bulbs. LEDs (at least OEM) don't typically go out from use, they go out because of a defect, as they should last a lot longer than the rest of the vehicle. But they can fail.
Tesla goes in and out of availability of the LED reflector housings but always have their global (LED Matrix) projector housings. If they are out of the reflector and that is what your TM3/TMY (old body style) came with they will require you change BOTH sides. In warranty they replace both, out of warranty they usually charge you for 1 side ($1,700 parts + labor) and take care of the other side for you. It requires coding to let the vehicle know that it is now matrix vs reflector.
These things are NOT cheap...
I got a quote from Audi to replace my HID bulbs on my previous B7 A4. They wanted $2k+ at the time (they replace both as pairs). I ordered better than OEM bulbs for <$200 and changed it myself. It did require bending a bracket to gain access to the back of one side housing, so I could avoid removing the bumper and putting the radiator in service mode.
There is a long term upside to this though. When the government relaxed regulations requiring sealed beam headlights it made things worse. Add LED bulbs and it’s blind city for drivers. Newer designs like on the Tesla deactivate portions of the headlight when traffic is oncoming. This is really helpful.