Cost of oil changes nowadays -- hoooly moooly

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In Oz the local shops charge $120 to $150 for a "service", which is an oil & filter change and a long list of other work you "need". This was the price about 4 years ago when I last asked.

If I do it myself, but pay full price for the oil & filter, it's about $50 to $80 (depending on which oil I select).

If DIY and follow the sales, I can get it down to $20 to $40.

But I don't blame the shops, they need to pay rent, pay wages etc. Sure they get trade price, but it's not as good as my 50% off sale oil - that may only happen twice a year. Plus the shop probably has to pay delivery.
 
I buy the oil & filter of my choice and local shop charges $20 to change it. I also get my tires, alignments, rotations, etc from them.
 
As always when someone starts a thread like this...I wonder what they do for a living, and how the costs work out. I'm sure they earn more than those they complain about.
 
Local dealer charges $100 for VW synthetic. A coupon exists for $60. My trusty Subie mechanic I use for my Acura in winter is $28 for conventional but is $60 for synthetic.
 
Originally Posted By: FowVay
Repair shops have to pay rent, taxes, salaries, insurance, advertising, disposal fees, tooling and equipment, etc. out of the prices they charge. Do you really think a repair shop can offer anywhere near the same pricing as someone who has zero overhead and who purchases store brand product from Wal-Mart and charges no labor? Thet's not very realistic.


100% this. I’m a Ford service advisor. People tell me all the time we charge too much for oil changes- $15.00 for labor, $2.55/quart for bulk synthetic blend (5W-20 or 5W-30) and $7.00 for either a Motorcraft or NAPA ProSelect filter. With tax and shop fees a 6 qt oil change comes to $43.06. Sure, that’s a lot of money. You could do it yourself for crazy cheap. But the dealer has to pay Ford for marketing, there’s a Parts Department, a Service Department, technicians to train and pay, Ford diagnostic equipment, etc. Sure, we don’t use all of that stuff during an oil change but the dealership has high operating expenses and that’s just a fact of life. If you want a $19.95 oil change go elsewhere. I have to bite my tongue every time somebody balks at the price of an oil change.

/rant. Thanks for posting this!
 
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Originally Posted By: danez_yoda
My nephew was out of town and needed an oil change in his 2010 Corolla S 1.8L, so I checked prices for him.

He takes 4.5qts of 5W-20 or 0W-20. DIY I figured $15 for Supertech synthetic 5w20 and $6 for a K&N filter element so ~$24 out the door.

repair pal quoted $122-$165 !!!
shocked.gif

Toyota dealership wanted $95
Local shops wanted between 50 - 75

Only places that had a price near mine was Walmart or pepboys that was ~ $40 for synthetic. Even Jiffylube (not that I would ever use them) was way in the $50-60 range.

I thought oil changes were a loss leader to get you in the door and "find" other stuff to fix. Apparently not anymore.

I told him come over next weekend and we'll change it. Car was at 5K so he had plenty of mileage left on that OCI (Dealership toyota oil)

Could not believe the prices in repair pal.

Now consider my pickup which use 14 qts of synthetic and a $15 filter.
 
Back in the olden days oil change was between $7.99-$9.99 including any additional fluids. For my steady/good customers oil changes were $5.00. Had two commercial accounts oil changes were free. Here is something funny to think about. When customers would wait for there oil change they liked to watch and shoot the breeze. I used Texaco in bulk (drum) and the customer did not like seeing the oil come out of a drum. So I used to fill up quarts and use them. Same oil but in a quart. Today customers are not allowed to be in the shop. I could point out any issues and show the customer. Different times 60's and 70's.
 
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Originally Posted By: FowVay
Repair shops have to pay rent, taxes, salaries, insurance, advertising, disposal fees, tooling and equipment, etc. out of the prices they charge. Do you really think a repair shop can offer anywhere near the same pricing as someone who has zero overhead and who purchases store brand product from Wal-Mart and charges no labor? Thet's not very realistic.


This is true, and how all legit businesses work. I forget the stats on how many customers came into the dealerships I worked at for an oil change and walked out with nice big bill for all the up sells and work that the service writers told them they needed. Most of which was total bull. They pushed hard, and if they had a lay down they'd hit it out of the park. Honestly I don't feel bad for how much it costs them to operate, most do very well in spite of their operating costs.
 
I posted that not as a bash for the shops. It was really just an eye opener since i remember a time not that long ago when regular price for oil changes were ~30 for conventional. ($15 with coupon) Although i enjoy crawling under the vehicle and checking everything else while the oil is draining, i always had this thought” you know for only 30 i could spend 15 minutes waiting in a room with coffee then just drove off. “. I never priced oil changes recently until yesterday. I thought i typed in the wrong car. As stated earlier Corolla oil changes are as straight forward as it gets. Oil drain takes and getting the over torqued plastic canister filter off without breaking it takes all the time. its only 5qts.


Anywho the cheapo in me now has ammo to fight the lazy man in me. My oil changes are about $18 with $8-12 5qt penz, m1 or qsud jug and a $5 oem filter.

Now instead of saving about $12 per change, i can tell myself i saved 100! Lol. Self dilusion i know because i would never pay any where near 100 for a oil change.

Relax shop defenders. I fully understand 100 every 6 months is not going to break anybodys bank. Especially with the 30-60k cars commonly on the road today.

It was just and eye opener for me.
 
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Originally Posted By: FowVay
Repair shops have to pay rent, taxes, salaries, insurance, advertising, disposal fees, tooling and equipment, etc. out of the prices they charge. Do you really think a repair shop can offer anywhere near the same pricing as someone who has zero overhead and who purchases store brand product from Wal-Mart and charges no labor? Thet's not very realistic.


Wowzer, did not realize how expensive oil changes had gotten--but the quoted text is correct. Everyones gotta eat, ya know. Can't blame them. just be grateful when you can DIY. Maybe put that savings in a jar for when you're too old to DIY.
 
I factor in the time and driving saved atop the usual "Shop bill - my materials = $X saved" formula.

Plus I get to poke around. There'll be enough times when I have to have a vehicle serviced.

The occasional Ford promos for oil changes seem OK on TV but I'm sure anything other than a FoMoCo application yields substantial over charges.

And the homemade "$20 oil change" signs.....in my neck of the woods you can see where the prices have been changed to $24 to $28".
You still get the distributor's cheapest oil and a "Group-7" oil filter. My buddy from high school who went to automotive school claimed he saw 2 destroyed engines' oiling systems plugged up by the torn out elements of these cheap filters.

Looking back, the oil change price boards at dealerships and smaller car care shops always seemed really high to me. The listed repair prices seemed OK.

I suppose an item such as, "Oil change $25 with any service over $100" would look funny. Maybe not.
 
Originally Posted By: RichardS
I think oil changes *used* to be a loss leader that was a foot in the door to upsell other services.

But there have been enough undercover news investigations on how necessary, or unnecessary, some of the add on services they’re trying to sell are to make most consumers very shy about any upsells. They just assume it’s to separate them from their money, and they aren’t your fool.

You can still find $17.99-$24.99 basic oil changes around here with “brake inspection”, or sometimes a tire rotation, but if your car needs anything other than bulk one-oil-for-all-cars oil, it quickly increases.


In Florida the average female pays 1200 bucks for a oil change at most Tire Chain stores after the wallet flushing service.
 
It's $35 for a standard oil change at the local shop here, that's where I take my Contour since I can't get under it to change oil. They use Quaker State conventional so it's not like they're using no name bulk.
 
Originally Posted By: Kira
You still get the distributor's cheapest oil and a "Group-7" oil filter. My buddy from high school who went to automotive school claimed he saw 2 destroyed engines' oiling systems plugged up by the torn out elements of these cheap filters.


Since Group7 is Purolator, I guess the tearolator name goes back a while.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: FowVay
Repair shops have to pay rent, taxes, salaries, insurance, advertising, disposal fees, tooling and equipment, etc. out of the prices they charge. Do you really think a repair shop can offer anywhere near the same pricing as someone who has zero overhead and who purchases store brand product from Wal-Mart and charges no labor? That's not very realistic.

a big +1
 
Last few times Valvoline conventional oil change in the Matrix for $25. I go to this tire place that does a nice job and includes a free tire rotation. Walmart TLE does their pit stop oil change using Quaker State for $19 but the tire rotation is an extra $10. Ford Quick Lane is $25 for Motorcraft synthetic but rotation is an extra $15. I had them to the tire install after buying the tires on Amazon. You get free rotations if you buy tires there but prob not if they only did the install.

Just received a Toyota dealer oil change coupon for $25. Free car wash that does a decent job.

The best ones as far as no upselling would be Ford Quicklane and Walmart TLE. Quicklane does a better inspection and kind of advises you of things that may need to be done. Very low pressure in other words. They don't rush and I get the same guy each time when I park in front of his door which is the #2 door.
 
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With my limited income I can't afford the luxury of someone else doing my oil change. The best I could get would be the WM pit stop service. I change my own and have for years. I like doing it and now have to do it. After the groceries are bought and other necesities I am forced into the DIY mode to keep my budget intact. No one at SSI seems to be sending me more cash to have a bigger income. With prices going up and up and up, those necessities are taking a bigger bite out of my budget.
 
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