Vehicle Oil changes

[Snobdds]

A fool and his money are soon parted. $600 is extremely high for an oil change, does she go to the one with the free use of the cabana boy?

Well it's Lexus. They also pick up the car, do a full service, clean inside and out.

She's paying for the convivence, not the service.

 

[kozal01]

Use a jack and jack stands, Id never take my personal vehicle anywhere for an oil change ever.

 

[WinterDeere]

My car has about 5" of clearance and I can't just drive it up the car ramps or it will hit and push the ramp before my wheels get close.

I have had several cars at 4" - 5", and there are ramps out there that work for them, they just tend to be very long. My present set of race ramps are 72", but they make even longer than that, if I recall.

I also used to have a super-low profile floor jack, which was less than 3" tall at the business end. There's lots of options out there for them today, they were tougher to find back in the 1990's when I had mine. But floor jacks and jack stands are painfully slow compared to ramps, for a quick oil change.

 

[Sprinkler Fitter]

Hi Paul,

My car has about 5" of clearance and I can't just drive it up the car ramps or it will hit and push the ramp before my wheels get close. I have to lift the front of the car up before it hits the car ramps. To do this (on each side) I lead the ramps with some stuff to get my wheels off the ground before I drive up the ramps. I drive over, a 2"x4", then a 3"? red brick. I put the end of the ramp on the red brick. That way I'm able to clear the ramps. When I lived in an apartment, phone books worked well.

Regarding places like "Jiffy Lube"; I've had issues. They are in such a hurry that they forget to replace stuff, like plugs and caps. Always check your oil and your caps/plugs before you leave (I do that no matter where I take it).
Jim

Race ramps

 

[Williy]

For an oil change on a Mercedes or Porsche the price is
high approx $700+ to $800+ how ever all the door seals,
window seals trunk seals are lubricated plus they check all
fluids, clean windows, vaccum etc. so there is a lot more
that they do than just change oil

willy

 

[Racer4]

When using the suction extractor are you leaving the old filter on? If so you should just pay to have it changed. The filter change is as important as changing oil.

Oil filter is in a canister on top of the engine. It gets changed along with the oil.

 

[number two]

Another Great thread where many seldom posters comment.
Nice to see how many people visit here!

 

[1Mech]

Many years ago, I had a side hustle delivering pizza for Pizza Hut. Once they gave me a "bonus" of a free oil change at the local K-Mart; see, it was a long time ago! I normally do all my own automotive maintenance and repairs, but, since it was free, why not let them do it. Well, The "mechanic", I use the term very loosely here, said I also needed a new air filter, it had been a long time since I changed it so I gave the go ahead for a little extra money. When they finished, I got in the car, started it up and it seemed to be quite a bit louder than before. I drive it home, get out and look under the hood. The air cleaner cover was about a half inch higher than it needs to be to seal properly! The dope put the wrong air filter in! So I get on the ground and look at the oil filter and it was the same filter it went into the shop with, they never changed it! I took it back, asked why they didn't change the oil filter and why they put in the wrong air filter? Well, they went ahead and changed the oil filter and put the proper air filter in, but I never went back and never let anyone else do my maintenance, other than tires and alignments! Some bonus, more like a bone us!

 

[1Mech]

$13? In some places you can’t even get a burger for $13!

I can't even buy Walmart oil for $13 anymore. I think it is about $18 now + the filter

 

[1Mech]

I had this happen to a buddy 20+ years ago, and my question for your brother is the same as it was to him: doesn't every vehicle on earth have an oil pressure light that lights up bright red right in the center of your gauge cluster, to tell you there's no oil pressure??? Maybe not everyone looks for this after an oil change, but... a couple of miles?!?

I can be pretty scatterbrained, and always worry I'm going to do this to myself, but I do watch that oil pressure gauge like a hawk on that first start-up after changing the juice.

A friend of my wife had me look at their daughters car when the engine started making a hammering noise, I knew right away it was too late. Her car had an idiot light too, glowing bright red too, trouble was, she had a picture of her boyfriend or someone sitting right in front of the idiot light!
Similar thing happened to a co-worker of mine. He said his car had a loud knocking sound. Went to look at it, it was out of oil and the light was glowing a bright red! I said something like didn't you see the light? He said he didn't know what it meant, dah, red usually means stop or danger or warning, etc!! Just cause you are an adult male with a license to drive, doesn't mean you have any common sense or mechanical knowledge!