No More DIY Oil Changes

[BUBBA0420]

A friend of mine told me that after speaking to
his mechanic that three years from now you will
no longer be able to change your own oil or even
go to an oil change facility. he said you will
have to go to the dealership in order to change
your oil. I told him that it would put the world
in an uproar and no one would purchase these
new vehicles. I don't see how they possibly could
do this even with computer controls.
Any one heard of this just out of curiosity ??

 

[Ownsaglock]

Doesnt sound possible but never under estimate the wacko treehugger movement.

 

[JAYCEE]

Not possible. Stealerships lack the capacity to service all of the cars they sell. They'd have to replace the engines in the cars that they can't service.

No way.

 

[CBDFrontier06]

I don't think this relates to environmental issues...it has everything to do with carmakers making vehicles that are impossible for untrained technicians to perform even the simplest maintenance items on, forcing the consumer to spend their maintenance money at the dealership. I don't see it happening, as the Magnuson Moss act protects us from warranty issues and oil will always be available for purchase at WalMart. There's already so much the average consumer can't do to their cars, but I don't see a way for them to take this one away from us, unless oil goes the way of Freon and becomes illegal to buy unless you're ASE certified.

 

[Kestas]

If this is supposed to increase oil maintenance in a car, the manufacturers are shooting themselves in the foot. If you make it harder to change the oil, the public will be more inclined to put it off. How do they plan to herd the public into the dealerships on a timely basis?

 

[Pablo]

quote:

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A friend of mine told me that after speaking to
his mechanic

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Bogus speculation.

 

[Master ACiD]

if that did happen all ya would need to do is stop buying from that company. or buy some valve covers and oil pan with fill/drain holes and install them.

 

[gtx510]

I had a buddy tell me that DIY oil changes where no longer legal within San Diego city limits.
I don't know where he heard it and haven't been able to find info about it.

 

[ccs v2.0]

Reading any manufacturer's owners manuals, even in the DIY sections, there are plenty of statements (seemingly written by the law depts.) discouraging owners from performing the work themselves. Add bean counters in the mix, and it doesn't take much vision to foresee manufactureres ever so moving in that direction. Spin on oil filters going out of style, "lifetime" fluids becoming more prevalent and added complexity will make shade tree mechanical work a thing of the past.

As Peter Egan has written in his R&T column, pitty the poor guy attemting to restore todays's techno loaded cars in 20 plus years.

 

[eljefino]

Even if this were true they'd have to sell "top off" oil for cars that burn it.

I could see something like onstar getting involved. You can already get emails from them with your oil life remaining. It'd be no technical stretch to swap the "oil reset" button with an encrypted key. Look at the $60 passlock car keys and the secure radios that need dealer unlocking if you forget your code and change the battery.

But I still don't think this could happen.

 

[Brons2]

A rumor started by a guy called Bubba 420.

Yeah, that's credible.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ownsaglock:
Doesnt sound possible but never under estimate the wacko treehugger movement.

---

That would be work of the the capitalist pig movement, not the tree hugger movement.

 

[fred0803]

Now this may be the stupidist post of the week, or calendar year.

1) there is a huge industry for just quickie oil changes like Jiffy lube etc.
2) you would put a tremendous amount of people, places and resources out of business.
3) Places like NAPA and Autozone would Biotch.
4) this smacks of socialism and
SIMPLY IS TOTAL WACKO GARBAGE,,,But we know this was just a ** story by bubba. Put some more chew in your mouth Bubba, and see if flapping your gums more that you may get something some day to stick on that wall...

 

[Mitch Alsup]

"it has everything to do with carmakers making vehicles that are impossible for untrained technicians to perform even the simplest maintenance items on"

Buy a toyota. The oil filter is in easy reach from the top of the engine bay, the drain plug is in easy reach at the bottom of the sump. You could train a monkey to do an oil change on the resent 4Runners--oh wait--they did, its called Jiffy Lube(r).

 

[ccs v2.0]

quote:

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Originally posted by JAYCEE:
Not possible. Stealerships lack the capacity to service all of the cars they sell.

---

The average buyer will not know that. A lady I work with bought an 06 Sonata V6 and claims the only place she can have the oil changed is at the dealer because "the oil filters aren't available anywhere else." It's just a cartridge type filter!

 

[CBDFrontier06]

She doesn't get the concept of buying the oil filter from the Hyundai parts department and taking it with her to Jiffy Lube? A brain is a terrible thing to waste.

 

[biomed_eng_2000]

Is it April First?

 

[dima]

How about new auto tranys which have no drain plugs? I can see it happens in near future.

 

[brianl703]

quote:

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Originally posted by XS650:
That would be work of the the capitalist pig movement, not the tree hugger movement.

---

Sometimes I wonder what the difference is.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by dima:
How about new auto tranys which have no drain plugs? I can see it happens in near future.

---

Differentials on some cars haven't had drain plugs in decades. That's the bean counters at work, not the tree huggers or safety Nazis.