LOL, just trying to keep the price accurate!
I still change my own brakes and some other small stuff (changed a ball joint on my son’s car a couple of months ago), but the mess I make isn’t worth the money to me for changing oil.
Couple days ago, needed to buy a quart of oil. Auto parts store price was $10.00 per quart for a name brand synthetic oil. Know that I could have gotten it much cheaper at a Walmart. Surprised at how expensive the oil was.
I agree the mess is less than ideal. I don’t think retail oil changes are an unreasonable expense, given inflation over the years and the increased mileage interval due to higher quality oils and engine parts.
In fact I’d bet most Americans are spending much less on retail oil changes as a relative percentage of their income than previous generations.
I’m just cheap and I enjoy doing it. I’d also rather do as much on my vehicle as possible, to preclude errors by the min wage-paid mechanic that I’ll have to deal with later.
If I fuck it up, at least I can’t blame anyone else.
The auto shop was going to charge me $500 to change the ball joint on my sons car.
We only paid $2000 for it. I was damned if I was going to pay 1/4 the price of the car for something I could do (though it was a royal pain in the ass).
This is why I refuse to buy brand oil or quart-size.
Prices may be historically comparable considering inflation, but good grief, it is so much cheaper by alternative means.
$10/qt feels like bending over & spreading the cheeks wide.
Its not that bad but inconvenient for sure. I estimate I have about 50 gallons (not quarts) of used oil to take in. I use 5 gallon buckets. I have a lot because I do a lot of oil changes. Easily 12 per year (every other month) in our daily drivers plus all the other things. The local mechanic takes it because he has a waste oil heater that he uses to heat his shop in the winter. I need to take it in because I need to change the oil on the tractor. The hydraulic and engine oil will be about 10 gallons. I also need to change the ATF and gear oil on my F350. This will probably be another 10 gallons.
I got some really nice oil dispensers on clearance so I bought 4 of them. 5w30, ATF, hydraulic, & gear oil. The dispensers pressurize using air compressor and have a nice dispensing nozzle so no need for funnel. The hydraulic and gear oil, I buy in the 5 gallon buckets. These used buckets get reused for the recycle. I got a deal on synthetic 5w30 at advance auto when there was some new packaging. I bought 12 of the 5 quart jugs for about $8 each. I typically buy oil filters online by the case. Lucky for me my truck, minivan, welder, and mower all use the same filter so I go through them fairly quickly. I have so many non vehicle oil changes that I would still have the same used oil disposal problem.
Another side topic.
We had an old tree stump in our back yard.
My dad used to pour the used oil in it.
After about 4-5 years he lit it on fire.
I can’t remember how long it burned, but I really laugh about that today.
Agree but sometimes you get stuck. I typically buy the Oreilly synthetic, Napa Synthetic, and sometime the Walmart synthetic. I think I currently have Shell synthetic because it was a smoking deal. You can look up online to see who makes them. Same oil in different package at much cheaper price.
Growing up, My grandpa poured his out on the rocks by the light pole. Hindsight is 20/20 and I cringe at that thought today. The really bad part is that is like 30-40’ away from their old well.
Right in a pinch you do what you gotta do. I just avoid it whenever possible.
A lot of people used to just dump the oil down storm drains, but the damage from doing that, and the fines, have become more known.