Oil changes. Dealer or self?

I let my dealer do it; with that said, I trust them. I've ALSO verified. First time they did so, I asked "Can I watch? I know a lot of people who complain about dealers and I'd like to be able to say I trust mine."

They said "Sure!" and pulled up a chair and gave me some coffee. LOL They did a great job.

 

Neither. My mechanic.

 

I let the dealer do my 3 or 4 freebies when I first bought the truck. Once I burned through the freebies I decided to do one myself to see how difficult it was, so I could decide if I wanted to pay a shop or do them myself.

The dealer put the drain plug in so tight that I had to use a breaker bar to get it loose. After seeing that I've done all of mine myself.

I've had a Fumoto valve, and one of these Oil Filter drains since the middle of 2015 and have rarely spill a drop of oil.

PBT PBT71114 Oil Filter Drain Hose

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005R3SSUY?ie=UTF8

 

I purchased my truck in 2018 and after my first 2 years of Toyota Care and free oil changes, decided to do it myself. A few things I realized:

1) My skid plate was missing some bolts and was held on by some tape
2) The oil filter housing was TIGHT! Spent about 3-4 hours trying to remove it. Had to use an impact drill to finally remove it which resulted in cracking the housing. (Realized this when I finished and poured the oil in) Had to go to dealer next morning to replace the housing (~$100)

I just did my 2nd oil change this past weekend and it was a BREEZE! I buy my Mobil1 at Costco when they have deals and get the oil filters at the dealership for about $5/piece. Is it saving a little but of money, yes. But for me, it's more of knowing that it was done right.

Realized from this thread I should probably be logging the oil changes in the future though.

 

I am soon to be 63, and do both my Tundra and the wife's Highlander. I do not trust a dealer or quick lube to do the proper job. And yes, I lay on the floor to remove the skid plate and oil changes. Just easier like this to make sure it is done correctly

 

What type of container do you use for draining the oil into and where do you dispose of it?

Thanks

 

Get an oil transport container from Wally World or any car parts store. Almost all parts store will recycle your oil

 

I do it myself and record in the Toyota app/keep receipts. I know what brand oil is going in and that the filter is changed. I follow the manual on tire rotations: Front to back (don’t know if that is best or not). I just needed the right jack stands and one side at a time.

 

Very similar setup at my place. I cut the little hook gizmos off the front of my skid plate, much less annoying and if 5 bolts and three valance screws can’t hold her on..stuff’s gotten real! I see lots of folks mentioning various drains/accessories but I really haven’t had any problems just using what is provided with the filters and the correct filter cap, think mine’s an assenmacher- imagine those work on the highlander as did on the Rav as well as Tundra. Anyways, pretty random tangent. Have a great evening.

 

Makes you wonder how many times your oil filter didn't get changed because the tech didn't want to break the housing and just moved on... My buddy always brings his Nissan Titan to the dealer for oil changes and he finally was told that most of the bolts were snapped off over the years and they couldn't put his skid plate back on... Dealers know that most people never crawl under and check their work.

 

You can add maintenance preformed on the Toyota owners site. I don’t know what that’ll do for warranty or resale but you could always print it out later to show someone if they asked for it later for selling purposes

 

Always do it yourself if the filter is easily accessible. It should be simple. And you know it's done right. And you know what oil goes in, and what filter goes on it.

I had a 2008 Tundra once that had the oil filter halfway up the engine; you couldn't really reach it from the top, you couldn't really reach it from the bottom. I did it once, and made a huge mess. From that point forward I provided the oil and filter of my choice (genuine Toyota) to my favorite mechanic and paid him $20 to do it. (Presumably he did it right.)

Every other Toyota that I've worked on had the filter at the bottom in a place that was easily accessible. Including my 2015 Tundra.

 

Drain mine into a large plastic pan and then pour the used oil back into the large oil jugs and take to a friend who has a waste oil furnace in his shop. By doing myself, I also look around and check everything underneath to make sure everything is OK and not rely on some doofus who barely can change oil correctly at a shop or dealer

 

I do most everything myself. Also helps keep an eye on everything else inside and under the car and trucks that might go unnoticed.

I give all my old oil to my dad. He soaks large H brace post, fence post, rail road ties and telephone poles in it to prevent water rotting and longevity.

 

I did the changes for the last 15 years on my F150 and always wrote the date and mileage on the filter when it went in. In the case I could not find the notes from the last change, it was always there. Might do that going forward if I have the dealer/mechanic do it (likely a good mechanic I found).

 

Doing it yourself means it's done RIGHT...No second guessing the dealer and or jiffy lube guy who's thinking of that cold beer soon...Don't blame him!! Lol