QOTD: Where Do You Change Your Oil?
We, along with Quaker State, gave away some oil this month.
That got me thinking about something -- not what oil you use (that might be a future QOTD), but where you get it changed.
I am sure some of you do it yourself. But for those who don't, where do you take your car? The dealer? An independent shop? A quick-lube chain like Jiffy Lube? Your cousin Vinny's house?
There's not much more preamble required here, so sound off below.
[Image: Ensuper/Shutterstock.com]
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Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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Been changing my own oil since I my first car in '75 - originally at my grandparents farm outside of town, and since I've moved farther away now in my carport. The local shop that does a lot of my service work (I don't have many tools and they are quicker than I am on most stuff) takes my used oil (even provides the container for it) as they use it to heat their building. Heard too many stories, like some here, about quick change places messing up. I'd rather do it myself. Easiest car to change oil I've owned was the 84 Shelby Charger - although my 2013 Charger is easy too. The 2.2 was very easy to get around with the oil filter within easy reach at the front of the transverse mounted engine. Only had to be underneath for the drain plug which also allowed me to check the CV joint boots at the same time.
I have been using Valvoline for a few years, but recently I noticed an oil leak that turned out to be a loose oil filter. It had been several months since the last Valvoline service; not sure if I can rightly blame the Valvoline tech - but otherwise it's a mystery.
For most TTAC commenters, the answer to 'where do I get my oil changed' is 'right outside the cave.'
For most of my life I have been changing my own oil. I tried using a oil change place for a bit, but that place changed hands and lost my trust (Tried upselling my wife on a trans flush, on a vehicle with 15K miles on it).
Since then, it's been me, a driveway, a pair of ramps, a WIX filter and 5-6 Qts of oil.