# DIY Oil Changes on a New Car **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 16, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-oil-changes-on-a-new-car/678977 "2014-01-16T16:50:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-oil-changes-on-a-new-car/678977/1 "2014-01-16T16:50:57Z")
I have recently done something outside the realm of my automotive experience thus far: I’ve bought an honest-to-god new car! I’ve never paid anyone to change my oil before and I’m hoping not to start now, but I’ve also never had a car with the warranty in force. I know in theory there should be no problem with this (Magnuson-Moss and all that) but I’m curious how that really shakes out in the real world. What particularly concerns me is that I bought a Subaru that has one of their new family of engines in it that apparently occasionally likes to develop oil consumption issues (which admittedly isn’t that different from most of their _old_ engine families, but I digress). Their acceptable oil consumption guideline is 1qt/1200 miles, but apparently they will replace engines for somewhat lower consumption levels at their discretion. So far so good with mine, but I’m concerned that I may miss out on getting a new engine if I show up 30,000 miles down the line with a car that’s eating, say, 1qt/1500 miles and only a stack of NAPA receipts to show for maintenance. Even if they couldn’t legally deny a clear-cut warranty claim, will that greatly color their discretion when it comes to a discretionary repair? Anyone have any insight into this, especially the dealership-employed dopers? It’s not a lot of money (it calls for 7,500 mile oil changes, so only 5 until it’s out of warranty), but I would rather do them myself. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-oil-changes-on-a-new-car/678977/2 "2014-01-16T17:09:15Z")
I’ve changed my own oil and did other maintenance such as air filters on new cars. I kept all the receipts as proof. Fortunately I never had a warranty issue where this has come into play. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-oil-changes-on-a-new-car/678977/3 "2014-01-16T17:18:09Z")
New car for me last spring. I changed my own oil last fall. I have the receipts for the oil and the filter. On the filter invoice I wrote the date and mileage at which I changed the oil. That’ll do for me. I’ve followed the same policy over the years with my previous brand-new car and two brand-new motorcycles. I’ve never had to invoke an engine warranty, but I wouldn’t expect trouble just because I did my own maintenance (as long as I actually did do all the required maintenance on schedule, and kept reasonable records). Keep in mind that it’s not in the dealer’s/manufacturer’s interest to capriciously deny warranty service. Customers talk to other customers, all the moreso now that we have the internet. Once word gets around that a manufacturer will do its goddamndest to avoid honoring a warranty, people will be much less excited about buying cars from that manufacturer.