Who changes their own oil & filter

Richard53

Grumpy_chap said:

Ebe_Scrooge said:

It wouldn't surprise me if you were spot on there.  Similar to some of these cars where it's nigh-on impossible to get to the headlamps to change a bulb.  Things like that always used to be trivially simple, literally a two-minute job that anyone could do themselves.

Too right (or wrong depending on point of view)

Last time we needed a headlight bulb and, because I was being a lazy so-and-so, I took the car to Halfords to avail of their "we fit" service only for Halfords to decline and say that had to be a main dealer job...

This is a pet hate of mine. I had a Mondeo where every bulb could be changed at the roadside without tools, and the procedure was given clearly in the handbook. No excuses for driving round with a bulb out! I thought this should be a legal requirement for all cars, but it seems to have gone the opposite way. What happens now is:

Youngish female work colleague. Mid-20s, partner, 2 kids. One November I noticed she had a headlight out and told her. She said "I can't do that, I'll wait until it goes to the garage for its MoT." I asked when the MoT was due - March. That's 3-4 months with one headlight, and a rural area with little street lighting. I was going to offer to do it for her, but then I read about the procedure which, from memory, involved jacking the front of the car up, removing a wheel and then a panel on the inner wing to get to the back of the headlight unit. Hmmm, maybe not.

biscan25

I used to change my own oil every 18 months or so
For the last 4 years or so my car has a very slow oil leak on the crankshaft case. This will be a belts off job to fix, so will save it until then. Since my car leaks a litre of oil every 3 months, the oil now basically changes itself!

That said, I also do the other service bits myself. Pollen/air/fuel filter, spark plug inspection etc, plus the non-service DIY items which will make your car crap if you don't address them periodically, such as engine mounts and suspension bits. If I didn't enjoy doing these things, I would just pay someone, but I've always had an engineer's mindset.

I leave the garage to do the MOT failure bits. Typically brakes/gaiters/etc.

biscan25

Richard53 said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Ebe_Scrooge said:

It wouldn't surprise me if you were spot on there.  Similar to some of these cars where it's nigh-on impossible to get to the headlamps to change a bulb.  Things like that always used to be trivially simple, literally a two-minute job that anyone could do themselves.

Too right (or wrong depending on point of view)

Last time we needed a headlight bulb and, because I was being a lazy so-and-so, I took the car to Halfords to avail of their "we fit" service only for Halfords to decline and say that had to be a main dealer job...

This is a pet hate of mine. I had a Mondeo where every bulb could be changed at the roadside without tools, and the procedure was given clearly in the handbook. No excuses for driving round with a bulb out! I thought this should be a legal requirement for all cars, but it seems to have gone the opposite way. What happens now is:

Youngish female work colleague. Mid-20s, partner, 2 kids. One November I noticed she had a headlight out and told her. She said "I can't do that, I'll wait until it goes to the garage for its MoT." I asked when the MoT was due - March. That's 3-4 months with one headlight, and a rural area with little street lighting. I was going to offer to do it for her, but then I read about the procedure which, from memory, involved jacking the front of the car up, removing a wheel and then a panel on the inner wing to get to the back of the headlight unit. Hmmm, maybe not.

On mine, one side is 5 minutes, the other over an hour. WHY DO THEY DESIGN CARS LIKE THIS!

pulliptears

Yep, always have done on all our cars.

Hit a small snag with the XR2 last weekend though because the sump refuses to budge.  Decided to let our friendly local mechanic do it because he's got a few other bits to sort on ramps so be easier.

facade

biscan25 said:

Richard53 said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Ebe_Scrooge said:

It wouldn't surprise me if you were spot on there.  Similar to some of these cars where it's nigh-on impossible to get to the headlamps to change a bulb.  Things like that always used to be trivially simple, literally a two-minute job that anyone could do themselves.

Too right (or wrong depending on point of view)

Last time we needed a headlight bulb and, because I was being a lazy so-and-so, I took the car to Halfords to avail of their "we fit" service only for Halfords to decline and say that had to be a main dealer job...

This is a pet hate of mine. I had a Mondeo where every bulb could be changed at the roadside without tools, and the procedure was given clearly in the handbook. No excuses for driving round with a bulb out! I thought this should be a legal requirement for all cars, but it seems to have gone the opposite way. What happens now is:

Youngish female work colleague. Mid-20s, partner, 2 kids. One November I noticed she had a headlight out and told her. She said "I can't do that, I'll wait until it goes to the garage for its MoT." I asked when the MoT was due - March. That's 3-4 months with one headlight, and a rural area with little street lighting. I was going to offer to do it for her, but then I read about the procedure which, from memory, involved jacking the front of the car up, removing a wheel and then a panel on the inner wing to get to the back of the headlight unit. Hmmm, maybe not.

On mine, one side is 5 minutes, the other over an hour. WHY DO THEY DESIGN CARS LIKE THIS!

Because they are designed for ease of manufacture, not ease of servicing.

Around the last car designed for ease of servicing, because they were aiming at the company fleet market, was the vauxhall cavalier. You could change the clutch in 20 minutes, without removing the gearbox.

Now we have cars that need the entire power unit dropping out on the subframe for a service item.

A rangerover is designed to lift the body off the chassis to do a timing belt change.

I see it costs £500 to change the supercharger oil on a mini!

ColdPensioner

Ebe_Scrooge said:

ColdPensioner said:

Oil to the recycling centre, not landfill. Although one of my near neighbours drains his sump over a street drain 😲

It's actually illegal to pour engine oil into the drains - he could be in a lot of trouble if he was ever caught doing it.

He won't be doing it again 👍

ontheroad1970

The 2012 MY BMW X5 requires a body shop to replace a 50p part because the windscreen wash fluid pipe is hidden away so well.

motorguy

Iceweasel said:

I change the oil-filter at the half-way stage as I feel that 18K miles or two years is too long.
I also change the cabin-filter and air filter at every oil-change.
Some of these extended service schedules are to attract fleet buyers who change the vehicles regularly and to whom running costs are pared to the bare minimum - or less.

+1 on the servicing intervals.

Our main car is every 18K miles, but we get it done every 9K.  Planning on keeping it for a very long time, and i dont begrudge it some fresh oil.

Ibrahim5

It's got to be much faster to do your own. I was always amazed how much palaver it is for someone who is car dependent to take it to a garage. Once you have changed the oil a couple of times on the same car you have all the socket sizes and torque wrench settings in your head. Wriggling under a car is good for keeping the 6 pack in shape.

motorguy

Ibrahim5 said:

It's got to be much faster to do your own. I was always amazed how much palaver it is for someone who is car dependent to take it to a garage. Once you have changed the oil a couple of times on the same car you have all the socket sizes and torque wrench settings in your head. Wriggling under a car is good for keeping the 6 pack in shape.

Go to the motor factors
Queue to get the parts
Drive home
Do the work
Clean up after doing the work
Take the oil to the disposal centre
Dispose of oil
Drive home

OR

Drop car to garage.

For me the latter is literally a mile up the road.  Sometimes he drops it back down if hes not too busy.