Do you change your own oil?

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

I was always taught that changing your own oil was a great way to save money and have done so all my life. I recently noticed that there are advertisements in my area are listing oil changes for as low as $19.95 which is less than I can buy all the supplies myself. If it's cheaper for me to take my car and have someone else change the oil, is there any reason that I should continue to do it myself? Also, how can these businesses do it for less money than it costs in materials?

I have changed my own oil in the past, my last car before it was totaled in an accident. I would recommend it, but it won't save that much money as you've noticed.

Just don't let anyone talk you into synthetic unless your owner's manual calls for it. Total ripoff IMO.

[ua_guy]

Yes, I do.

A lot of people say their time is worth more to have it changed than doing it themselves. That's fine, but I find that I spend less time doing it in my own garage than driving to a Jiffy Lube type place, waiting in line, or even just waiting for a tech to do it. Plus there's the added expense of a separate trip just to get the car's oil changed. Needless to say, I don't fall into the "time is money" trap because my time, when I'm not working, comes at absolutely no cost to me.

The other personal benefits:

The oil drain plug never gets over-tightened or stripped.
The correct weight and quality of oil is always added.
I don't install cheap oil filters. Good anti-drainback valves are necessary.
The washer fluid gets refilled with actual washer fluid, and not topped off with water.
The pressure in the tires always gets checked and filled appropriately.
If it's time, I'll rotate the tires with the oil change (for free!)
All the other fluids get checked.

Like Tomhole, I have one vehicle in the fleet that's an absolute pain in the ass to work on. It took a couple times to remember all the tools needed and to get into a routine, but I've got it down pat now. For each car I make a little cheat sheet to reference for the correct socket sizes/tools, tire pressures, lug torque specs. It helps organize the effort and reduce time.

[KTP]

I change my motorcycle oil because I don't trust anyone else. If they mess up your car oil change (strip a plug cause a leak, whatever) you usually just break down on the side of the road. On a motorcycle you can die.

[JoeP]

FWIW, I've lived on both sides of the oil change frequency gig.

I grew up going to The Unified Church Of The 3000 Mile Oil Change, and was even an ordained minister there. This belief system was founded in the days when oil filters were an option, and oils were not as sophisticated as they are today.

With modern cars having oil life monitors, oil filters doing a better job filtering, and oils having far more additives, I've officially denounced my faith and put my trust into the oil life monitors. But trust goes only so far; if I don't hear from my little "Change the Oil Now" light within 12k miles, I will change it anyway.

I haven't heard anyone complain that their engine's life was cut short because they didn't change the oil frequently enough. Of course you hear horror stories of people who NEVER change their oil, but that's different. Some will say that it is cheap insurance, but would you ever buy unnecessary insurance?