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Your math is wrong. You included the price of the cabin and air filters in your DIY, but not the dealer. (And, BTW, you don't need to change the cabin and engine air filters at every oil change.)
Unless you are saying that your dealer changes oil (Mobil1) AND *replaces* your cabin filter AND *replaces* your 2 air filters for $80????? No way. *Checks* the filters, maybe, but replaces???
I can barely get the cabin and air filters *alone* from my dealer for $80.
Nope.
I save a minimum of $50 per change -- Not to mention the few minutes I spend under the car allows me to give it the critical eyeball that the oil change techs couldn't be bothered to do while trying to beat the flat rate and get to the next 8 Malibu's waiting in line.
All that and the confidence that it has been done right -- priceless.
Your math is wrong. You included the price of the cabin and air filters in your DIY, but not the dealer. (And, BTW, you don't need to change the cabin and engine air filters at every oil change.)
Unless you are saying that your dealer changes oil (Mobil1) AND *replaces* your cabin filter AND *replaces* your 2 air filters for $80????? No way. *Checks* the filters, maybe, but replaces???
I can barely get the cabin and air filters *alone* from my dealer for $80.
Nope.
I save a minimum of $50 per change -- Not to mention the few minutes I spend under the car allows me to give it the critical eyeball that the oil change techs couldn't be bothered to do while trying to beat the flat rate and get to the next 8 Malibu's waiting in line.
All that and the confidence that it has been done right -- priceless.
With all due respect to everyone involved, are we really having this conversation? Performing basic maintenance yourself ensures that the products used and the work performed are of the highest caliber. I understand that not everyone can do some or all of these services themselves, but when you can, why on earth would you rely on a dealer to perform this work?!?! Most every post I read on this forum, that involves a dealer, claims their incompetence, but when it comes to a very user-friendly task, we're vaselating over the cost/benefit equation? Come on, guys, pick a camp.
With all due respect to everyone involved, are we really having this conversation? Performing basic maintenance yourself ensures that the products used and the work performed are of the highest caliber. I understand that not everyone can do some or all of these services themselves, but when you can, why on earth would you rely on a dealer to perform this work?!?! Most every post I read on this forum, that involves a dealer, claims their incompetence, but when it comes to a very user-friendly task, we're vaselating over the cost/benefit equation? Come on, guys, pick a camp.
You should read all of the posts. Other than the OP, everybody has picked a camp.
FWIW: I buy mine at Advanced; they have several brands to choose from.
Advanced Auto, AutoZone, O'Reilly, and Walmart were out. I ended up going to another AutoZone for cabin and air filters and Walmart (oil filter) that was about 15 miles from me.
I always change my own oil just to see what the condition is and to take a look at everything underneath the car. Too many horror stories about dealers and oil changes for me.
Hard time finding filters? They have them in stock at every Walmart (Mobil 1) and at every auto parts store I have ever looked at. I feel for you if that is the caliber auto parts stores in your area. Not doubting your story but you must live in an odd area full of minimally stocked auto parts stores. I buy my Mobil 1 oil and filter at Walmart when it is on sale ($22.88 for 5 quart bottle) and change it at home in 30 minutes. If you are willing and capable of doing it at home, you will never convince me that it is better in any way to pay to have it done. Faster, cheaper and done right if you do it yourself.
Yes, a very odd area. Local Walmart, 5W 30 was in limited supply. Other weights and high mileage variant. No air / cabin filter. I went to another Walmart 15 miles away for an oil filter and bought Mobile 1 as well and filters from AutoZone.
Oh, I change the oil in my C6 myself as well as my my other cars/truck and motorcycles. Only difference, I change those in Spring/Summer and not Winter. I was spoiled the last 4 Winters with good warm & sunny weather.
Yes, a very odd area. Local Walmart, 5W 30 was in limited supply. Other weights and high mileage variant. No air / cabin filter. I went to another Walmart 15 miles away for an oil filter and bought Mobile 1 as well and filters from AutoZone.
Oh, I change the oil in my C6 myself as well as my my other cars/truck and motorcycles. Only difference, I change those in Spring/Summer and not Winter. I was spoiled the last 4 Winters with good warm & sunny weather.
The nearest Wally's, Autozone, or Advanced to me is around 20 miles.
And as I mentioned earlier, air and cabin filters do not have to be changed that often.
At any rate, filters are something that's not suddenly needed so you have plenty of time to order them from Amazon or a zillion other places online.
I live within two miles of a dealer. They drive me home and pick me up when it's ready. I specify what's to be done and ensure that 'Mobil One' appears on my work order. I leave them with an immaculate car and expect the same when I pick it up. I visually inspect the car, under the hood as well and check the oil. They also offer a free car wash which I decline. All for about $75 give or take. I change my own air/cabin filters.
Why did you include $36 worth of air filters in the DIY comparison, but not in the dealer comparison? You can't do a price comparison if you don't include all the same parts in both examples, right???
Last edited by buckmeister2; 02-13-2016 at 11:58 PM.
Remember too that the dealer's mechanic in the lube bay is typically the greenest beginner in the shop. It is the bottom rung. Granted, it's not rocket science, but it's not the best and brightest...
$125+ for an oil change?! Did they have an oil refinery in the parking lot?!
My oil changes cost almost that much because my car takes over ten Quarts. He probably has a dry sump like I do. My filter is also hard to find. It seems like they are always out of them. So whenever Im at Vatozone I look and if they have them in stock I buy a couple to have just in case they are out of stock the day I want to change my oil.
Changing my own oil is not a money saving thing for me. And I have no issues letting someone at the dealer change my oil if it came to that, I am sure they would do a fine job. For me, it is simply just a matter of loving to work on cars. My first car was a broken down 72 Super Beetle and I can still hear my Dad saying "if you can get it running, you can have it".
I learned to work on cars at an early age out of necessity. I loved working on cars back then and still love doing it now. As long as I am physically able to work on my machines, I will do so! I look forward to my next oil change!
Since my first car up until recently I always did my own. However, due to a surgery, I now have a few mobility limitations and have to rely on others to do so. Fortunately, I have found a very good dealership that takes pretty good care of all my vehicles ... but I miss being able to do it myself
Changing my own oil is not a money saving thing for me. And I have no issues letting someone at the dealer change my oil if it came to that, I am sure they would do a fine job. For me, it is simply just a matter of loving to work on cars. My first car was a broken down 72 Super Beetle and I can still hear my Dad saying "if you can get it running, you can have it".
I learned to work on cars at an early age out of necessity. I loved working on cars back then and still love doing it now. As long as I am physically able to work on my machines, I will do so! I look forward to my next oil change!
Nothing quite like a nice summer day with the radio on sipping a beer and working out in the garage. It's therapeutic.
My Wife bought my car to surprise me, after telling me no, we can't afford it. Anyway, she bought a package with the car that was good for 4 oil changes. Of course I want Mobil 1 used and I'm sure they would just use whatever bulk oil they had laying around. Besides, I just don't trust them to do it right. Here's a pic of my toolbox, to give you a hint of my skills with a wrench.
I wouldn't let someone change oil on my lawnmower, let alone my hotrod. She kind of screwed the pooch on that one.
I just need to figure out where to jack it up from, so my fatass can get under it.
Or as happened to me after letting the dealer do the first oil change because I wanted an inspection done after buying a used Corvette. A year later I tried doing it myself only to find the filter on so damned tight that I COULD NOT GET IT OFF plus the oil DIDNT EVEN LOOK LIKE IT HAD BEEN CHANGED, 1500 miles and it was black as coal, but that's another matter as the forum had differing opinions on that. So after putting the dirty oil back in I took it to them to complete the job. As I watched along with the service advisor (because I was livid at this point) the tech said the filter was very tight and shook his head when I asked about the oil condition, both admitted it looked bad.
Add to that the service MANAGER had a really crappy attitude when confronted with the findings the next week, A-HOLE.
Moral ==== do it your self and have a beer with music, grunt a lot with satisfaction
NSF
I do all of the maintenance on all 5 cars I own. Brakes, shocks, tunes-ups, oil, transmission, coolant, etc. etc. Of course I can pay someone else to do it, but doing it myself ensures it is done right and I enjoy it. Working on my cars is therapeutic for me.
02-13-2016, 10:19 PM
