mechanic

Saving Money On Your Oil Change

An oil change is a relatively simple thing to perform, or so they say. They supplies are usually the least expensive of what you pay for if you go to your dealership or another auto shop. The bulk of the cost comes from labor and the oil disposal fees. So a lot of people save tons of money by simply doing their own oil changes. To those I say, more power to you. :)

For the rest of us, like those who live in apartment complexes, and those who aren’t very mechanically inclined. We need to take our car to the shop.

Ditch The Dealership

Dealerships are notoriously overpriced when it comes to basic auto maintenance. Don’t get me wrong, for those 15K, 30K, 45K, etc. maintenance schedules, I won’t hesitate to bring my car to the appropriate dealership. Now when I say appropriate, I don’t necessarily mean where you bought your car from. I’m talking about the dealer that corresponds to your car model. They know your car inside and out.

However, if you’re just doing a simple oil change, there’s usually no need to spend the money to have it done by the dealer. So you can save a few bucks by doing it at a generic (good, but generic) auto shop in your neighborhood.

Best of Both Worlds

Now your dealer will try to scare you and recommend that you don’t do this. Here’s their reason why: The problem doesn’t come with the oil change itself, but with topping off fluids like brake fluid, coolant, antifreeze, etc. A generic shop is going to use generic fluids for you. In 95% of the cases, this is going to be fine, however sometimes your car is going to be finicky.

Here’s what you can do to make sure your car has what it needs. RTFM: Read the *cough* manual. You’ll know what your car needs, and you can fill it up before (yes, before) you go do an oil change. Also, tell them that you don’t need your fluids topped off; they might even knock off a few bucks.

And there you go, you’re car is safe and you still got money in the bank.

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