by Chris Allen

Created on: April 01, 2010   Last Updated: April 02, 2010

With the present economy everyone is looking for some way to save money in everyday life with the things they usually wouldn't mind paying that extra buck for in normal circumstances.  An oil change is mandatory every three to five thousand miles, depending on the type of oil you are using in your engine, or around every three months, which ever comes first.  There are several ways that you can save money with oil changes.

First, you can do it yourself.  Sure the first time you do it you are likely going to spend about 100 dollars, more or less, on it, that's not just for the oil and the oil filter which are what must be replaced for an oil change, but you are also purchasing things like jack stands to hold the car up (never trust a jack alone), an oil pan to drain the old oil into (you can dispose of this at your local discount auto store just ask them where the oil drum is), a oil filter wrench to twist off the old filter, and a monkey wrench set to take off the bolt to drain the oil from the oil pan on the car.  If you already have these items then great you are just looking at about a 19 to 30 dollar job to purchase the oil and filter depending on the filter and amount of oil and the brand that you buy.  Often times if you check at the counter stores like AutoZone or O’Riely Auto Parts have specials for you to save on purchasing your supplies.  Changing the oil yourself can take anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour, it all depends on how good you are at it and how easy it is to access the oil pan and filter underneath the car.

A second option open to you is to still purchase the supplies, but make sure your usual oil change place or a local store, and take it into the shop for them to change it for you.  Some stores will only charge a labor fee of about 10 bucks to do this.  However do not take your car to a Jiffy Lube and expect this same sort of treatment, at most they will take off about 7 bucks but you are still looking at an oil change cost with them of about 30 some odd dollars, not to say they aren't good just they tend to be a little over priced, so to make sure this never happens to you always call the store you intend to visit before going in if you choose this method.

Last, but not least, you can call around, look at ads in the paper or in the mail, sometimes you can find oil change specials in your junk mail, and the internet to see if there aren't perhaps anyways that you can possibly save more with your oil changes, some of the smaller ma and pa stores will have these deals like "Get 5 Oil Changes and Get one Free".

When trying to save money with oil changes, don’t just go for the absolute cheapest way possible out there.  Be smart about it, give it some thought, find out what your car needs, and get what works best.  If you have a high mileage vehicle, get high mileage oil, it might be more expensive but it’s much better for your engine that the usual motor oil.  Also be weary of the shops you take a stop at.  If you or the person who will be responsible for changing the oil wishes to do it themselves, make sure that they aren’t going to be afraid of getting up underneath a jacked up car and be sure that they have an idea of what they are doing, otherwise you might want to leave it to more experienced and capable hands.

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