Does anyone do oil changes on their own even under warranty?

[Nothing]

Yeah.... They scratched my wheels on the first of 2 years of "free oil changes", so I asked to skip the tire rotation and just did it myself. Then they left a rag in my intake... I couldn't wait for the 2 years to be up. They offered another "free oil change" for the rag but I haven't gone back.

I still buy filters from the parts desk online. The old estore gave better prices, the new one adjusts prices per dealer.

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[jtlctr]

There’s a member on here from VA I think whose name I can’t remember, he works for an Acura dealer I believe. He’s posted some videos of CTRs that he’s worked on as a side gig. I think he is very conscientious and I would totally trust him with my car. He is one in a million as far as I’m concerned.

 

[ctechauto]

There’s a member on here from VA I think whose name I can’t remember, he works for an Acura dealer I believe. He’s posted some videos of CTRs that he’s worked on as a side gig. I think he is very conscientious and I would totally trust him with my car. He is one in a million as far as I’m concerned.

No shame self promotion. I run a shop here in DFW that focuses on Type Rs. I have posted threads with some of the forum members here that are customers.

https://www.civicxi.com/forum/threads/ctech-auto-dfw-tx-type-r-specialist-shop.62651/

 

[jcb]

Yes. Or my trusted Indy (specialist shop, also puts Carfax in...). The dealer was "sir, we will not give you one of your two free oil changes that you say we promised you at 500 miles...oh, we only will give you one free oil change unless you have that two in writing"... What the service manager said to me. I had two in writing and told him that to me integrity matters a lot. Have not been back there. Sad as the sales team was quite good. 500 over MSRP when most around here were 5-7k over. Silly how short sighted the service teams can be. And telling...in a dealership, the service group is usually a separate entity from sales and in my experience (not just at this one dealer) at least as variable - plus techs are less and less happy at dealership getting book paid. And, at this dealer, after that "free" change at 500 miles, I had dirt added to my seat and steering wheel.

So, yes.

 

[lando]

Yeah.... They scratched my wheels on the first of 2 years of "free oil changes", so I asked to skip the tire rotation and just did it myself. Then they left a rag in my intake... I couldn't wait for the 2 years to be up. They offered another "free oil change" for the rag but I haven't gone back.

I still buy filters from the parts desk online. The old estore gave better prices, the new one adjusts prices per dealer.

They did the same to mine when I took it in for the free oil change and tire rotation. They scratched 3 out of the 4. Had to take it back to them for a wheel repairs. They sent it off to a paint shop. They actually did a great job. Can't tell they were ever scratched. After all that, i'll be doing my own oil changes and tire rotations.

 

[AZCWTypeR]

I've been wrenching on cars and motorcycles for over 50 years, which is over 50 years more experience than the dealer's oil changer. So no, I'll do it myself.

 

[jtlctr]

Many moons ago, I worked for a small independent shop. We were very busy and nearly always looking for help because literally nobody my boss hired lasted very long due to incompetence. So at one point, he had the idea of calling a nearby tech school to see about recruiting one of their graduates. This kid came for a week long trial and I’ll never forget his first task, an oil change. He starts draining the oil from this Jeep, then comes over to me and asks “ok, what do I do next”. I must have had a sort of shocked look on my face when I said “umm, remove the oil filter”. Needless to say, he wasn’t hired.

 

[PointByPatrol]

How much is a "free" oil change really saving you in the end? Just change the oil yourself, provided you're capable and competent to do so, and document the services yourself.

 

[PNEUMA]

It amuses me to read that so many people put value into a ‘free’ oil change.
Then bitch about the all of the damage done to their car, interior, wheels, etc.
Or… I was promised X ‘free’ oil changes but only received X of them.
Or… once the ‘free’ oil change(s)/ period runs out, I’m doing it myself on my own schedule!

The Accord Touring I purchased in 2023 included 24 months of oil/filter changes. Of course I did NOT take them (Honda/dealership) up on any of them. The FL5 I bought didn’t have any ‘free’ oil changes noted on the window sticker.

I, personally, place zero value on a ‘free’ oil change, nor would I pay money for a an oil change.

 

[B16B]

I do it myself. I would never let the dealer change my oil unless I knew a experienced Tech working at a specific dealer and request for them to do it.

 

[Cueyo]

When I first got my FL5, I didn't want to jack the car up and do the break-in oil change. I brought it to the dealer and asked to have it done, and boy howdy was it a terribly experience. First off they said something I saw earlier in this thread about no MM code, so they couldn't do it for free (no problem, I just want the oil out), then after I paid i thought everything was good.

Nope.

Overfilled oil (emptied it myself a few days later and refilled), and missing those half turn bolt things on the skid plate.

The weird thing is on my old 24 civic sport hatch, this problem never happened (had all my Honda service pass oil changes done there). Suffice to say, Ill only ever go back for warranty work. Even then, the one time I went in for warranty the doofus shop manager thought me saying my speaker rattled meant he could drive my car down the road to check for noise.

Definitely a bad learning experience. Worst part is I do all the service myself anyways and just didn't wanna be covered in oil and dirt for once.

 

[Evox787]

I do my own maintenance. Dealerships have been terrible in my experience, even the mechanics who work there. Maybe they don’t do the job properly because they aren’t paid enough, or they just dislike the work. I handle most of my own repairs, and if I need something specific that I can’t do because of the tools or complexity, I go to an independent shop. I also record everything on the Carfax through the Geico app. Sure, it isn’t officially registered, but I have no plans to sell the car anyway.

Dealers are unprofessional and unreliable. At least one FK8 owner I know had a bad experience with the same dealer I’m talking about in my area. During one of his oil changes, they didn’t check the gasket on the old filter, and his engine blew up. They did replace the engine, but they argued that he had done something wrong, even though the car was completely stock and all the service had been performed by the dealer.

They tried the same thing with me when they scratched my wheel. They claimed the wheel got scratched because I took the car to a car wash.

 

[Nothing]

It amuses me to read that so many people put value into a ‘free’ oil change.
Then bitch about the all of the damage done to their car, interior, wheels, etc.
Or… I was promised X ‘free’ oil changes but only received X of them.
Or… once the ‘free’ oil change(s)/ period runs out, I’m doing it myself on my own schedule!

The Accord Touring I purchased in 2023 included 24 months of oil/filter changes. Of course I did NOT take them (Honda/dealership) up on any of them. The FL5 I bought didn’t have any ‘free’ oil changes noted on the window sticker.

I, personally, place zero value on a ‘free’ oil change, nor would I pay money for a an oil change.

Depends on the car and expectations.

Would you take up free oil changes at a mercedes or lexus dealer? You'd expect a decent level of service. For many of us that haven't had a new car in a long time nor have had to use their service dept, it's hard to gauge how terrible it is until you experience it - otherwise it's just stereotype. They are supposed to be trained for their brand, but I guess updating staff and tools for a low volume car is not a guarantee.

I took my Subaru for 2 years of free oil changes and tire rotations, no problems. They even did some recall work at the same time. Yeah they tried to tell my wife that a nail required 1 new tire, then when she asked about the AWD they changed to 4 new tires.. but no scratches or untorqued drain bolts.

Some people have more time for wrenching and picking up oil and filters and looking up correct torque specs, others have to make time for it.

It's fine, really. Everybody has their own experience and discretion, even after going through it.

 

[Jack90210]

I expend a considerable amount of effort towards keeping unknown techs from working on my vehicles, but sometimes the complexity of the job and/or time constraints win out.

 

[TypeRbuilder]

Yes

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