# Do You Change Your Car's Oil Yourself? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 21, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-change-your-cars-oil-yourself/603653 "2011-11-21T15:53:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-change-your-cars-oil-yourself/603653/61 "2011-11-22T08:28:43Z")
I no longer change my oil because when I purchased my current vehicle, the dealer agreed to change the oil at no cost for the life of the vehicle. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-change-your-cars-oil-yourself/603653/62 "2011-11-22T09:17:52Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I used to, but as cars got lower to the ground and engine compartments got smaller and more restricted I gave it up. This. Once it became all but impossible to crawl under the car and drain out the oil while having the car’s four wheels on terra firma, I said screw it, and decided it was time to pay someone else to do it. And this: > [@Anaamika](#): > > Hell on the no. I figure, that’s why I make money, so I can hire other people to do this shit for me. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-change-your-cars-oil-yourself/603653/63 "2011-11-22T11:58:16Z")
This thread reminds me, I need to make an appointment to get an oil change Monday. My answer is obviously “hell no.” Even if I knew how to, even if I didn’t hate getting my hands dirty, and even if the rate of error wasn’t likely to be _a lot_ lower when in the hands of a professional, I sat down one day and calculated the cost difference between me tying to figure it out on my own vs paying someone else. The difference was less than $3. Well worth the cost IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-change-your-cars-oil-yourself/603653/64 "2011-11-22T15:29:21Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > A Question for those that do change their own oil. > > You have a grease gun to lube the ball joints and other fittings? I have the same grease gun that I bought in 1982. Works great. Even used it on my uncle’s small tractor a few times. I have a greasegun but I never think about it. It came with a rigid tip that was basically good for nothing, I found a flexible tip for not a lot of money that works much better for reaching hard to reach fittings. For those on the fence about changing their oil, there are tricks like put down an old shower curtain to protect your floor/driveway, wear latex gloves to keep your hands clean, use the same containers your oil came in to carry away the old oil, and putting a ziplock bag over the filter before you unscrew it can help keep a lot of oil from getting on you and the car. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-change-your-cars-oil-yourself/603653/65 "2011-11-22T20:52:11Z")
Nope. I hate doing it and now that I make enough that I don’t have to, I refuse to. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-change-your-cars-oil-yourself/603653/66 "2011-11-23T02:06:11Z")
I used to. Then when I got an F150 I couldn’t figure out how to reach the oil filter. After watching YouTube videos that suggested crazy contortions or working with two people, I decided it was time to give up. ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-change-your-cars-oil-yourself/603653/67 "2011-11-23T02:55:31Z")
Oh _hell_ no. Our son-in-law works for a local Mom n’ Pop oil change and trailer hitch installin’ place. My husband used to, but I put the quietus on it after the used oil from the last time he did it sat around for seven (count 'em-7) YEARS. It even went with us when we moved house. My sister and I took it to the free oil recycle at our local landfill. It took him a year after that to notice it was gone. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-change-your-cars-oil-yourself/603653.md?page=3)