DIY Oil Change or Dealer

Fellow Tacoma brothers and sisters, it's about that time for an oil change. Should I A) DIY at home $23-$25 Mobil 1 5w30 and approx 20-30 mins of my time.
B) Toyota of Rock Hill $30-$33 and 1 hour wait.

I'm not saving much by doing it myself. What do yall think? I'm all ears.

 

On a second gen. I wouldn't take it to the dealer even if the oil change was free.

 

I had never paid anyone to change my oil. Then I fell for the trap of "free" maintenance for 24mos (oil changes).
You would think a dealer would be mindful of torque specs on drain plugs, skid plate bolts and the like. I was wrong and I learned my lesson.

 

For the longest time I took my truck to a stealership I trusted for oil changes for virtually any excuse you can think of: lazy, busy, too hot outside, cheap $10 service + oil cost, don’t want to crawl around on the ground, etc.

In the last few years I’ve had more time at home and decided to learn how to do it myself and I’ll tell you what, I will never take my truck to a shop again for service that I can achieve myself in my garage.

The satisfaction of changing the oil yourself and maintaining the vehicle yourself far outweighs any excuse to have a shop do it!

 

Exactly DIY

 

Warranty and recalls are the only reason to go to the dealer.

 

DIY and you know it is done right.

 

For me... DIY for sure and I always take an oil sample and send off to Blackstone Labs for an oil analysis.

 

As long as you can tell the difference between the engine drain plug & the transmission drain plug.... DIY

Might as well hit the zerks while you're at it.

 

Only if you know how to do it right

 

It all depends on if the dealer has free chocolate chip cookies in the waiting room.

 

DIY, your not getting Mobil 1 from the dealer

 

Well it seems like the people has spoken. I can easily DIY so I will go with the option to get my hands dirty. Thank you all for valuable input.

 

Look here for the most “important” part.
I know it seems obvious, but it’s been done before.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/oil-change-nightmare-help-please.322590/page-4#post-8439563

 

DIY. The satisfaction of doing it yourself is priceless.

 

If for some reason you can't DIY (time, physical limitations, space, etc etc) you need to find a trusted independent shop, not using the dealer as your fallback position.

I know there are dealer mechanics on this board, and I know there are well run dealerships. But only you can figure out if the dealer you'd use fits that bill, and that's really hard to do unless you know some of the staff personally.

The vast majority of dealerships use the lowest on the food chain for oil changes, tire rotations and vehicle prep. Just like everywhere, some of those folks have pride in their work, some are just there to sniff the seats. If that team is not well supervised and encouraged, things may not go well.

 

Doing your own makes positive you choose brand and quality of the filter and oil but more importantly you get to do a visual inspection of engine while you are there. You can catch things before they become bigger problems.

 

Definitely heard these horror stories before. I will definitely be careful for this

 

Years ago I use to do all my own work on my vehicles, tune ups, oil changes, repair and replace parts etc. I found better ways to enjoy my spare time. As far as oil changes I didn’t save that much $$$ and it’s a messy and dirty job doing it in your driveway. I made good $$$ , so I just let someone else do that shit. And I don’t miss it one bit.

 

Dude, get a fumoto valve and it’ll take you 15 minutes, no tools, and no mess.

......and it’ll be cheaper using Mobil 1 synthetic ($12 after rebate which occurs annually) and OEM filter ($4)