I don't personally, but another pinhead friend of mine is my mechanic.

I do a lot of the maintenance on our cars, including pads and rotors, minor repairs, etc.. but don't do oil anymore.

The savings of doing it myself have dwindled and I got tired of the mess and having to dispose of the oil.

Not for years. Greasamonkey with a coupon, you can't even do it that cheap yourself. Plus they have popcorn...

My last couple vehicles came with full maintenance up to 100k. Haven’t changed oil in a car since I owned my Jeeps and Mustangs, i do miss being more hand-on with my vehicles.

I was a auto mechanic in the 80's so yes.I don't trust other people working on my cars.

I do it myself also. I would not trust what the oil change places put in. I'm sure they buy the cheapest they can find.

I do, getting to be more of a pain nowadays due to funky filter placement and having to take off plastic panels covering the bottom just to get to the drain plug + taking the used oil back to the auto parts store. Bought a new car a few years ago and the dealer had a free first oil change, wife did it and when she got home I noticed oil under the car - they finger tightened the drain plug AND the oil filter was also barely tight = WTF

I can do a synthetic change for just over 30 bucks and my truck is around 40 because it's 6 quarts. It's actually more convenient for me since I can bring the old to a friend down the street who heats his shop with a waste oil furnace.

What's nice now is you only have to do it once a year with these synthetic oils.

Been changing the oil in all of our vehicles since 1985.

Used to change every 3k miles. But with advancements in oils that changed to 5k miles, then 7.5k miles now it's 10k miles using full synthetics. More expensive but changing less often.

I do for three cars. It probably costs me about $25 each time per car (oil and filter). Once I have accumulated about 30 to 50 quarts in 5 quart containers I then drop it off at the county recycling facility at no charge.

Did it a few times years ago when I had an older car, but it just wasn't worthwhile. It took a good chunk of the day to actually complete, not to mention that it was one of the messier maintenence tasks on a car. It wasn't really saving me anything. It is just easier and quicker to take it to an auto place (but it's good to be aware who is good and who is a bit shady).

I rotate the tires on all 4 of our cars also at 5000 miles in the driveway.

I do all the maintenance and repairs on my 2000 Silverado. 219K on that one. Great vehicle. 2016 Tacoma came with lifetime oil changes. That one is serviced by the dealership.

Exactly. My neighbor went to a quick change place and the tech grabbed the wrong drain plug and cross threaded into the pan.

I've always changed my own.
The dealership I bought my Wrangler from provided free oil changes for the first three years. Tried going there a couple times -- by the time I waited in line, waited for everyone to go thru all their checks, and paid for the synthetic upgrade it was still cheaper to do it myself.

Oil and brakes are simple tasks that can save some money (especially brakes) if done at home -- although I can understand why some folks might find it too messy of a job. We have an oil burning furnace at the shop so disposal is not a problem.

I had a friend in college that had his oil changed at Walmart, and they forgot to refill the engine with oil! He ended up getting a new engine out of the deal.

I change the oil in both my vehicles. Both are used to commute 100 miles a day to/from work so the 10k mile synthetic oils are a great idea.

I tried to get Walmart to remove and replace my tires and they broke off two pressure sensors.They tried to tell me they were broken before I brought the car in but that was bullshit. Their insurance ended up fixing them for free.

As far as mess goes, I have gotten it down to a science. Not a drop of oil gets on the floor of the garage (just use a 5 foot square piece of cardboard for any stray drops) and I only end up with a little on my hands and wrists which comes off easily with orange hand cleaner. It also helps tremendously to have a mechanics jack and the appropriate filter wrenches.
It takes me about 30 minutes, taking my time, and letting it have plenty of time to drain all the old oil out. A rushed oil change is going to leave more dirty oil in there than optimal for the health of the car.

Amsoil once in year in our 4 cars. But I do have my own little shop and lifts at house. I trust no one but myself to do most anything car related.

Understand the cost for most isn’t even worth doing themselves, getting rid of oil, time, etc.

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Also I always use a torque wrench to torque oil plugs.It's so easy to strip them.

It's all about convenience for me and changing my own oil is terribly inconvenient. Disposing of the old oil is also a tremendous pain in the ass.

I use a socket wrench by hand and have never had a problem. I guess some people don't know their own strength or perhaps they use a breaker bar added on for more torque which is definitely not needed?

Fuck no!

I change my own oil every 3k miles. I rotate the tires myself every 6k.
I do not do it to save money as there really isn't much of a savings.
I do it myself because I know it is done right. I also take the opportunity to look at other things while I am set up to change the oil: check front end, brakes and under carriage.
The oil change places never grease anything. They put in one flavor of oil regardless of what the manual calls for and they make all kinds of horrible mistakes.
Not a job I like to do but the people who work at oil change places simply do not care and they are not paid to care.

Wife's SUV, since it's under warranty...I let the dealer do it in case of a problem. No finger pointing issues.

All my trucks...never once paid someone in my almost 45 years of driving. Always synthetic too.

I can't get under our Corvette, so I let the dealer do it, but it's only once a year, so it's not expensive w/a coupon.

One of my cars costs $150.00 at the dealer or 110.00 at an indy for an oil change. I do it myself. costs me aboot $75.00 for material.

Also, to avoid a mess, old pizza boxes work greta in addition to newspapers etc. I recently bought an oil extractor but not sure if I'll use it on every vehicle.

These fumoto oil drain valves are amazing. Connect a hose to one end and put the other end into your collection vessel. No mess and you don't have to fish your drain plug out of a puddle of oil.

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What kind of gnarly driving are you doing where that remotely makes any kind of sense? Are you putting canola in there or something?

Lol heck no.
$8.18 is the labor charge at our local dealership - why bother cheaper than a fast food bill.
Last time I bought oil and a filter to do it myself (good oil and filter) it was 24.95 plus tax.
That is synthetic blend oil and a Fram filter.

Normal oil change at our dealer is $29.95 or $8.18 if you bring your own oil and filter.

I used to when I was younger and only owned one vehicle.

Naw. With my set up it isn't worth it.
I like doing brakes/rotors for real savings but oil isn't cost effective enough for me.

Air cooled VW’s have a 3000 mile change interval. Valve adjustment every 6000 miles. The oil is definitely shot at 3000 miles as it gets cooked.

I change all oil and general maintenance. Starting to have less want/time to do big work but the cars are still “newer” so nothing major yet....

When I brought the RS into the dealer they wanted $85 for an oil change, that is easily worth my time. I assume non dealer places are 20-40$?

In the last 20 years (except tires) I let someone work on one of my vehicles once. Big mistake.

You know the saying if you want something done right, do it yourself.

Have you seen the idiots working at the oil change places? I had buddies that worked at those places and they would tell me all of the stories of how they screwed up cars. I change my oil on my own just for peace of mind that it was done correctly.

I do it with the fumoto oil valves linked above, and more for the experience and to know what is going in and coming out.

I drive my personal car so relatively little (~1500 miles in the last 3-4 months) that I change my oil early by mileage, but don't want to leave it in there as long as it takes to get to ~3K miles.

I use quality oil and filters, but still feel an extra oil change in a year is cheap insurance against engine damage.

summer months yes, winter no.

I always wanted to love working on cars, but always hated it. The last straw was when I went to change the oil in the wife's SUV and found skid plates covering everything. That was about ten years ago. I don't even look under the hood anymore. Luckily our neighbor is a service manager at a local dealership. We just drop off the cars, get a loaner and let him do whatever he wants.

I would but I'm limited on room and don't do enough to warrant the cost. I've been on and off looking for a few years but finally gave it up as I haven't been able to do heavy labor like I used to. But I do know how to use a machine and balancer!

What is the primary reason for the lack of trust for other people working on your car? Concern that they use substandard parts or materials or more a concern they create an issue to need to repair it later?

I’ve been having my oil changed at the dealership where I bought my vehicle. I think they are doing a good job but my goodness it takes almost an hour and half to get it done.

Wow, nice garage!!

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.
After having one shop double fill my 2000 Civic in 2001, and fighting their insurance company for 90 days before they finally agreed to have a new engine installed, I now check the dip stick in front of any shop that does it for me. (Word to the wise keep every service document for your vehicles, I even document windshield wiper changes.)
They always look at me funny until I tell them about the shop that did "twice as good" of a job and state its for both our peace of mind.
Fyi later sold that Civic in 2005 and did not have to drop my price one cent based on the documentation level, every dent repair, every tire rotation, every oil change including the double fill document went to the new owners.

I take it to the dealership. It may cost a little more but they use the proper oil. Not worth the $10.00 savings to do it myself. My time is worth more than that to me. I also have my mechanic change my oil if my vehicle happens to be in for repairs. Never a quick change oil place, from what I have seen those guys don’t care.

I change my own oil. Not to save a few $$, but at least I know it got done right and I know what kind of oil is in my engine. At Quick Lube you have no idea what they put into your engine.

I change my own. I have six cars, it is more convenient and faster to it my self. Only takes 15 minutes to do if that. I save the oil for a friend that uses it in his furnace.