I do my own oil changes to avoid the risk of specifying synthetic but getting dino resulting in my thinking that I’m good for 7.5 thousand miles when in fact, I’m only good for 3 thousand miles.
This is a big concern of mine (incompetence and fraud are commonplace – hard to detect – significant ramifications) and yet, I never hear anyone else say they’re worried about it happening.
Added later…I know to never put synthetic in a rotary engine, I’m referring to my two Explorers.
I do all mine. The newer a car is the nicer it is to change the oil. No leaks, no broken fasteners, the bottom of the car is just plain clean. The most expensive one was probably my V wagon, but that's literally just like my truck. Same oil, same filter, same basic motor.
The only time I thought I screwed up was changing the oil on my Focus for the first time. My very first brand new car and the filter was on tight enough that I had to poke a screwdriver through it to get it off. On a car that I had made one payment on. 
Since then everything has been simple.
i do my own, but i work in a lube shop so it would be really akward to pay someone else to do it. I do most of the weird and hotrod stuff that comes into work because old car guys are picky.
I do my own not because it's cost-effective, but because I can have a quick look around while I'm doing it.
New cars under warranty you could make a case for having the dealer do it, IMHO.
I've started taking my newer cars to the dealership. It is cheaper than the quick lube places and faster than doing it myself (and not much more expensive).
Oil changes are one thing I always do myself. It's more of a PITA to get the car to the shop and wait for it than it is to just change the damn oil. Plus, I know what goes back in the car, and if I strip the drain plug I have only myself to fight with.
On another note, calling a 5-year-old Fit with 80,000 miles on it a "high value car" is hard core GRM.
Because I never need one when everything is on sale, I let a shop do mine. For a whopping $5 price difference between doing it myself and taking it to a shop, I won't bother screwing around on gravel.
Has the added benefit that if they screw up one of my Clunkers, they're responsible.
I never understood something though, when I first started driving I used Wal-Mart because it was like a $10 change. I'd meet people in the waiting room who claimed Wal-Mart had forgotten oil, drain plugs, not changed the filter, etc. Why the hell would you go back with another vehicle if they already broke one of yours?
I do my own. It often costs me more than taking it somewhere, but I save time not making the special trip and waiting for it to get done. I usually am working on some other project at the same time, so even if it's 20 minutes of work (including drain time) it feels more like 10.
Meh, I let the dealership do it. It's worth it, to me, to hand them the keys while I hook up to the WiFi and do some work. Or if I do need to be in the office that particular day, they just give me a loaner and I pick my car up later.
I don't have to spend time jacking up a slammed BRZ, I don't have to crawl around on the garage floor, potentially clean up any little spills or mishaps, and I don't have to deal with wrapping up the pan multiple times to make sure I don't get oil inside the car when I have to dispose of it.
EvanB said:
02Pilot said:
I've been going to Walmart for the oil, but I recently had the minor epiphany that I can order it from Amazon and have it on my doorstep in two days.
I can't believe I never thought of that. I'm definitely buying my oil on Amazon now.
you unboxed my oil out of a amazon box when we did my swap....
I do everything myself, any time I've ever jobbed out work, it gets berked up. Even paint.
HonestSpeedShop said:EvanB said:
02Pilot said:
I've been going to Walmart for the oil, but I recently had the minor epiphany that I can order it from Amazon and have it on my doorstep in two days.
I can't believe I never thought of that. I'm definitely buying my oil on Amazon now.
you unboxed my oil out of a amazon box when we did my swap....
For some reason I just thought it was in a random box.
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