Finance - Changing your own oil

At first glance it would seem obvious that a gainfully employed professional should not waste his/her time changing oil when the service is so readily available and inexpensive. From a pure time value of money perspective, I would have to agree. Especially since it takes a practiced DIY home mechanic 1-2 hours to do an oil change, whereas a shop with the aid of hydraulic service lifts can do the job in under 30 minutes.

The decision for me swings on the intangibles. First of all, I enjoy working with my hands. I find this sort of thing to be some of the best quiet time and a great way to decompress.

Second, I know that I do a better job than most oil change shops. This is because oil will drain out of a car for an hour or more, therefore it is impossible for a shop to do a complete, proper oil change in under 30 minutes.

Third, I know what I'm getting. Unless you watch the work being done at the shop, you have no way of knowing what products are actually being used on your car. You paid for synthetic, but are you getting conventional? I know I put good synthetic oil in and used a quality filter, so I can confidently reduce the frequency of oil changes. I only have to change the oil about once or twice a year.

Fourth, if something goes wrong, I know about it and can make sure it gets fixed. Shops and the DIY mechanic are both at risk of making mistakes. But, I can reduce my risk by going slow and taking care not to strip threads, or over-tighten the drain plug, I can double check everything. The shop will be in a hurry, and sometimes if they strip the threads, you won't know about it until the next oil change.

And finally, it provides a sense of pride. If you can change your own oil, I'd imagine you're in the top 10% of drivers as far as knowing anything about cars. It fascinates me how so many people rely on their cars so much, yet know so very little about them or how they work.

Ultimately, choosing to change my own oil is a more of an emotional than a financial decision for me, but don't knock it 'til you try it.