Oil Change Questions

[rrspikemarty]

removed - found answer

Edited August 9, 2008 by rrspikemarty

[t32b]

+1 And I'll add two more points.

I've had a few questionable experiences with these 'fast oil change' organizations (but no, I've never taken the P-car or the GT there). Quality of parts and work are both quite questionable. The Porsche is a car that they rarely work on, and is less tolerant of errors.

But the real issue is that when you have the dealer change your oil, you're also paying an expert to look over the car, and implicitly inspect the business end of the car for anomalies - creating the opportunity to catch problems before they become big ones. Neither home oil change (I do the oil change on my Toyota and Lexus cars - which are more appropriately 'appliances') nor speedy ones will add that value.

So, pay the money. FWIW, $600 seems high, but the car was 150X that much.

I believe that it's totally worth it take your car to the dealership.

For oil changes?

I'm afraid I disagree - perhaps the largest ripoff in the industry.

How is it a rip off? You pay them to do a service and they do it.

Technically a car wash could be considered the biggest rip off. You pay somepne $30 to put water and soap on your car, take a rag, and move their arms around in a circular motion. Then put more water on your car. I'm sure that the cost for parts for a car wash is less than $3.00. That's a 1000% mark up. Not to mention that this person is probably some dude who walked up and got a job and doesn't know anything about your car, let alone how to properly wash it. And how many times do you get your car washed per year? 20? That's $600 in car washes that you could have done yourself. And car washes are a lot less technical than actually working on your car and a lot less idoit proof.

At least the oil accounts for 70% of the cost of an oil change. The other 30% is labor and like I said, I don't mind a certified Porsche tech "looking" at my car once a year just for the heck of it. You never know what they may see while they are under there.

An ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure.

So why would someone take their car to a hand car wash, but feel the need to change their own oil?

[thessler]

I buy Purolator oil filters at my local autoparts store. They are made in Germany and seem to be excellent quality and cost about $11 each. My local Walmart has both Mobil 1 and Shell Rotella full synthetic. I have used both and prefer the Shell, as it seems to run cleaner. I used the Shell Rotella full synthetic in an SLK320 for 6 years with good results. I just tried it in the Boxster too. I change oil twice a year, which averages about 6000 miles. Doing it myself allows me to to do it more often without having to take out a second mortgage. My oil change costs less than $60.00 and about an hour's work. Boxster oil change is simpler than on the SLK320 or my wife's Lexus IS250.