i currently pay $26 for an oil/filter change at a shop that uses strictly Valvoline products. How much do you guys spend when changing your own oil/filter? I know it's cheaper than $26, but if you guys pay around $15-$20 on purchasing oil and filter, I think I'll have no problems spending the extra $6 for the labor.
It's also cold outside.. maybe when it gets warm outside, i'll make my first attempt on changing my own oil/filter.

 

I bought like $200 worth of oil and filter once and never need to buy again.


~limsandy

 

It might not always be less money to change your oil yourself. I think the reason that most guys do it around here is because they want to make sure that they are putting the best oil that they can in their cars. Some might do it for piece of mind, that they don't trust the oil change place to do it correctly. Hell people might doing it because they just love the smell of oil and like to get a little dirty sometimes. What I am trying to say here is that saving money shouldn't be the sole reason you change your own oil. Because you really won't save that much, plus you have to deal with oil disposal. You should change your oil because you know that you are putting in a good oil, in the correct amount with a good quality filter... something those oil change places fail at a lot of the time.

Adam

 

About $30 at home. Full synthetic.

 

$5.65 for nissan oem oil filter.
$1.40 approx per qt of castrol gtx * 4.25 = $5.95

$11.60 + Tax.

Ain't saving much here, but it's more convenient for me to get it done whenever I feel like it. I hate having to wait...sometimes it takes 25 minutes at a place, sometimes an hour or more (+ travel time).

...and of course I get the feeling of personally giving my car more life.

 

That is until you run out.

 

M-110 M1 Filter 11.95.
4.25 quarts of Amsoil at like 5.25 a qt

So 34.26.

I do it myself for putting the best in my car w/o tons of markup AND to make sure its done correctly.

To me a little spent up front makes up for a LONG run out back.

 

it depend on what you want to spend
for example if you use the same stuff as the shop is using, you alot safe alot. for example M1 filter and oil will cost you 30. and the shop will charge around 50.

 

I do it myself for $26 in parts. That's 4 quarts (maybe a touch more) of Mobil 1 full synthetic, and an OEM filter. I guarantee you that your shop is not using that stuff. THey're probably using $2 (or less) quarts of valvoline and a $3 (or less) filter. If I did it with that stuff I could do the entire thing for $11-12, so really I"m saving in the vicinity of $15 if I take that approach.

I do want to use a great filter and great oil though. A lot of oil places will take your parts and charge $10-15 for the job, so really that's how much labor it costs. It takes 20 min or so, plus I know I'm doing it properly, plus I can do it in the garage with music on instead of in some nasty quick lube place

 

$19 for a 5qt jug of Mobil 1 at Wally world (1qt gets poured back into an empty amsoil qt bottle), and $5 for a Napa gold oil filter. Every 5th oil change only costs $5, as the 4qts of mobil 1 saved are enough for an entire oil change (on my VE 4qts brings the oil right between the min/max line on my dipstick ) I know that when I do it, that the oil filter seal is lubed, and it isn't screwed on too tight. I also enjoy maintaining my car. As for oil disposal, I use 1 gall milk jugs and/or the 5qt jugs to store the used oil, then I bring them to Autozone (accepts up to 5 gallons of used oil) when I know I am going there.

 

Using an OEM Nissan filter and Castrol GTX, it costs me about $12. I do it at home in my garage. I also rotate the tires and check the brake pads. I collect the used oil until I have a few gallons and dump it in the waste oil tank at work.

 

For non syn I've heard that Castrol GTX is near top of the line.

I also store all of my oil in protein powder containers. I have a bout 4 of them now and little intention of dropping them off anytime soon. They're really piling up from two cars

 

Around $25-28, depending on Walmart's price for the 5qt bottles of Mobil 1 5W-30 SuperSyn... (sometimes it's $19, sometimes it's $22), and $6 for the STP S6941 oil filter.

 

the dipstick on our cars, is it suppose to go in w/ the yellow tip cocked towards the back of the car or towards the front? I hate Maxima's dipstick. I can't never get good oil level reading.

 

It should stick straight up when it's inserted in the hole.

 

My dipstick is 100% useless, I've never been able to get a valid reading, or even anything remotely close to a "pseudo-valid" reading. It's useless as far as I'm concerned, and I am NOT happy about that (can't tell if I'm overfilling it, or if it needs oil, etc.)

 

Sorry that you got a bogus dipstick. I don't have any problem at all reading mine.

 

I wonder if I should try a new dipstick
Or maybe take a pic of mine for comparison...

 

It can be difficult to get a reading, especially if you try and get a reading right after the engine has shut off.

So I suggest this, in the morning after the car has cooled overnight, check the oil. Make sure the car is on a level surface as well. This may require you dipping the stick, then taking it out, and cleaning it, then re-dipping it several times. I normally always disregard the first dip since I know it won't read correctly. I automatically clean the 1st one without reading.

It is possible to get a reading after the car has been shutoff and been sitting for atleast 5 minutes...but you may have to dip anywhere from 5-10 times before the dipstick comes out with a clear reading. Also keep in mind, if the car was recently on...the dipstick may read lower than normal...because alot of the oil is still high up in the engine, and not fallen to the pan. So resist the urge to overfill if you checked the car when it was recently run.

 

Mine doesn't stick straight up. It's bent at the tip. It points either the back of car or the front of the car (depending on which way you put it in). I can't get a good reading

 

30$ with bosch filter and mobil synthetic. do it at home and never really bother with the dipstick, though mine actually appears to read properly.

 

5 x 4.99 a quart of Mobil 1 - $20
1 M-110 filter - $11
New drain plug gasket - $1.89

Peace of mind for $33? I'll take it

 

Do you know exactly how many quarts you put in?

 

Let's see...this is all in Canadian dollars now, so use whatever current exchange rate you'd like...
4 litres of Castrol 0W30 Syntec(the green made in Germany real synthetic, not the other crappy Syntec) is $6.66 (hey the number of the beast) a litre at Wal-Mart so $26.64 X 1.15 (15% tax) = 30.65, (we get raped on taxes here in Ontario but we do have universal health care). Nissan OEM filter is $10.65 (taxes in) so total is $41.30. Holy COW!!!! I'm going to have to extend my drain intervals to get my money's worth.

 

You can w/ Synthetic

 

yup...I go 5,000 miles between changes and it is not too dirty.

I use 4 qts of Mobile 1 Synthetic
1 STP filter= $22-23

There is no need to be getting the OEM filters for our cars, guys. The STP ones are just as good or better quality as OEM, and cheaper too.

CCx, you really use 5 qts in your 5th gen? All of ours only use 4 qts.

Colonel, Amsoil can't be any better than Mobile 1. I never thought I would say this, but compared to that, Mobile 1 synthetic is cheap...ha ha ha. Mobile 1 is the most proven brand of synthetic there is.

Also....10w-30 is plenty...what manual recommends.

 

I go 5,000 miles between changes too and I use conventional oil. If your synthetic is still clean you are pouring your money away. There is a need to use OEM filters if they don't cost a whole lot of money. I pay $5 each for my OEM filters. How much are the STP? The refill oil quantity is 4¼ quarts for the VQ35DE.

 

Naw, I use 4.25 quarts in my 5th gen - can't buy any less than a quart of oil, though, so I buy 5 - plus use some of the extra oil to grease the filter for easy off next time through.

 

I get my nissan filters for 4.50 and I get Quaker state motor oil at Kragens for .69 per quart after rebate. I have a about 60 quarts of oil stored in my garage.

So it costs me about 4.50 + (.69*4 quarts) = 7.26 + tax for each oil change. It's cheaper and faster than having someone do it for me.

 

60 quarts!!! Does the EPA know about this?

 

I spent less than 10 bucks for Fram Filter FR7317 and 10w-30 Penzoil.