Save Money, Change Your Own Oil!

Today was the first day I did an oil change on my own.

It was surprisingly easy and only really took about 7 steps. Just lift the car, drain the oil, replace the filter, put the car down, replace the oil, and check the dipstick. There are a few other housekeeping details in between but for the most part, that was it.

Empty the oil and remove the filter, put in new oil and filter.

The only “hard part” was getting the tools together that I didn’t have.

I needed:

• an oil pan and funnel
• jack stands
• an oil filter wrench
• a replacement filter
• some nitrile gloves
• and of course, 0W-20 motor oil

Altogether it cost me about $130 with the 0W-20 motor oil being less than $30 at Walmart.

Running the numbers

When I ran the numbers on how much it would cost me to get the tools and do it myself versus paying someone else to do it, well, the numbers told me to do it myself.

You see, before the pandemic, I could get my oil changed at our local shop for about $47. Not bad, right? They had the tools, time, skills, and oil on hand to get it done in a couple of hours at most. I thought it was a good deal.

Then, in 2022 when I took my car to my regular guy, without asking how much the oil change would be, I dropped it off and returned after it was done.

The bill was $101.40 …

… plus a $4.06 non-cash adjustment fee, which brought the total to $105.46.

receipt with non cash adjustment

What?! How?! … I did just get only an oil change, right?!

After I got over the shock of the price increase, I figured I could hardly blame them. The prices of everything had gone up. I thought to myself, maybe their rent went up, and their insurance, and their labor costs, and this and that. Oof.

I felt for them, but I also felt for my wallet.

After asking a couple of friends how much their most recent oil change was, all of their bills were in the same ballpark.

Accepting the price increase and doing something about it

OK, this is how things are now. $100+ oil changes.

How much could I really save if I changed the oil myself?

A quick Google search said the oil alone would cost about $30.

OK. Doable.

Then, I searched for my car’s filter. It was $7.54 for the genuine Toyota replacement on Amazon.

Deal.

Pretty much after looking at those prices, I was set on getting the tools I needed and learning how to change the oil myself. I’d be saving roughly $70 for every oil change, which to me is worth the effort.

So, one Walmart trip and an Amazon delivery of tools later, I successfully changed my own oil!

Thanks to Toyota Maintenance’s 2015 Toyota Corolla engine oil change video on YouTube, I learned what I needed to do and changed the oil on my first morning off work.

Post-oil change thoughts

Now, after having done my first oil change, I’m glad I decided to commit and learn how to do it myself.

I’ll be saving around $70 an oil change plus the time it’d take to drop the car off, wait, and then pick it up. After I change it a couple more times, I’m pretty sure I could get it done in under an hour too, though, between you and me, I’m in no rush. Spending time outside and working on my car was nice.

I also feel proud to say that I can now change my own car’s oil. It’s like a little badge of honor to me I guess being more independent and able to take care of my own things.

On top of that, I find myself curious about learning how to do more intermediate DIY routine car maintenance tasks like changing the brake pads. What else can I do on my own, you know? One step at a time though.

For now, I’ll end the day proud and sleep good knowing I’ve leveled up my car maintenance skills.