My dad's advice about changing my own oil was actually terrible

My dad always told me that changing your own oil saves you money and you can trust the job. So for years I did it myself in my driveway in Phoenix, sweating my ass off and dealing with hot oil spills. Last month I finally ran the numbers after I dropped a drain plug and had to buy a whole new set of tools. It cost me $47 in oil, $8 for the filter, and I spent 2 hours doing it when Jiffy Lube down the street charges $65 and takes 20 minutes. Plus I realized I was over-tightening the filter every time because my dad learned his technique in the 70s on cars with way different engines. Has anyone else found that following old family advice just doesnt make sense anymore with how cheap and fast the pros are now?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_charlie27d ago

Hang on, I gotta push back on this one. You lost money on the drain plug mishap but that's a one time mistake, not the norm. I've been changing my own oil for 15 years across three different cars and my total cost per change is usually around $30 with good synthetic. Plus you know exactly what's going in there. Those quick lube places use the cheapest filters they can find and half the time they leave a mess or cross thread your plug. I bet if you add up the lifetime cost of your dad's way versus paying someone else, the real money saved is in knowing the job is done right.

price.tara27d ago

Honestly, I feel you on this one. I had a similar wakeup call when I tried to save money by fixing a leaky faucet myself after watching a YouTube video. Ended up flooding my bathroom and had to call a plumber anyway, cost me triple what it would have if I just called them first. But @the_charlie makes a good point about knowing what's in your car - my buddy's brother worked at one of those quick lube places and said they'd mix leftover oil from different containers all the time if the customer wasn't watching. Still though, some of us just don't have the patience or the right space for it. I'd rather pay the extra $20 and not have to deal with the mess.