Dealer-Oil change or DIY?

[Legend]

Dealer did mine...500 miles or so and then again at 1500 miles.

If you are too worried about it...just sit there with the car while it's done.

[bluch]

Originally Posted by duder4thgen

Depends on the dealer. Some are great, and some you'd be better off trusting a blind trained ape high on angeldust.

[SirBrad]

I'm waiting until 3.000 to have the dealer do mine. I had a great dealer in Pittsburgh that I trusted, and have since found a nice dealer in New Jersey to work with (although just don't try to buy a Camaro from them).

I'm waiting until mile 3,000 - if my car blows up at some point while I own it I guess I can always look back and say "shux, should have had my oil changed at mile 500, 1,000 and 1,500 as well"

[nards444]

theres nothing that states that the dealer has to do it to keep your warranty valid. I do it on my sports car because I enjoy it, and to be honest like less on hands on as possible not due to a trust issue. But if you can get them free go for it. I find dealer oil changes cost 10-15 bucks more. when i a place can do it for cheaper or i can do it all for about 20 bucks.

[hb-rocks]

I do all my own....!
Nobody does it as good as the owner of the vehicle!

Last time I left my truck with the Dealer....
Got home to check their work.
Popped the lid and the first thing I noticed was a ring of oil on top of my engine......about the size of the Oil Filler cap, from where they had apparently set it down while they filled my truck with oil.
Plus....
I keep a small spiral bound notebook in the glove that I use to record all maintenance and any other incidents (date, mileage, type oil filter, amount, price, etc...)
and I also keep an envelope in there for all the receipts!

[Embalmer]

Originally Posted by hb-rocks

I do all my own....!
Nobody does it as good as the owner of the vehicle!

Last time I left my truck with the Dealer....
Got home to check their work.
Popped the lid and the first thing I noticed was a ring of oil on top of my engine......about the size of the Oil Filler cap, from where they had apparently set it down while they filled my truck with oil.
Plus....
I keep a small spiral bound notebook in the glove that I use to record all maintenance and any other incidents (date, mileage, type oil filter, amount, price, etc...)
and I also keep an envelope in there for all the receipts!

Wow that's some seriousness going on there....

[SSOOCH]

I have the dealer do all mine simply for the fact that they have record of me getting it done. So if any, warranty issues come up, they can pull up my history and go from there. I had a friend who had head gaskett blow on his 07 Suburban. He did all of his own oil changs, when he tried to get it fixed under warranty, they wanted receipts of all the oil he ever put in the rig. He didn't have them. He had to fight to the death before they'd do anything. To me it's all about convience. Another example, on my 02 Monte Carlo SS I had an issue where some hazing had developed under the clearcoat on the wheels. I showed the service manager and wanted to get a new wheel. He said "who rotated your tires" as if getting ready to blame the tire shop down the road, I said "you guys did", he pulled it up on his computer. BAM! New wheel in a week. To me having all maintenance done by Mr. Goodwrench is about piece of mind. Not to mention, my dealer has coffee, donuts and free shuttles to anywhere in the valley. They'll even come pick me up from work when my cars ready. Can't beat it. Although, I do get the fun and "therapy" of maintaining your own ride but until it's outta warranty...Mr. Goodwrench FTW!!!

[SSOOCH]

Originally Posted by hb-rocks

I do all my own....!
Nobody does it as good as the owner of the vehicle!

Last time I left my truck with the Dealer....
Got home to check their work.
Popped the lid and the first thing I noticed was a ring of oil on top of my engine......about the size of the Oil Filler cap, from where they had apparently set it down while they filled my truck with oil.
Plus....
I keep a small spiral bound notebook in the glove that I use to record all maintenance and any other incidents (date, mileage, type oil filter, amount, price, etc...)
and I also keep an envelope in there for all the receipts!

Did you sue the dealership?!

[my2010camaross]

Originally Posted by 67 Convertible

But geez, there's a point when you just have to have some educated trust in people. Yes there are bad dealers out there, but most are good and honest. You should be able to weed the good ones out........So using your mentality, you never go out to eat at any restaurant cause the chef or waiter may spit on your food? Don't buy anything in the grocery store cause the guy may not have washed his hands when he packaged your bread? You just can't be paranoid your whole life, but I believe you need to make intelligent choices about where and when you give an establishment your business.

Originally Posted by duder4thgen

For me it is a trust thing. I've seen dealers do WORSE jobs than jiffy lube type places, and charge twice as much. Just because the building has a bowtie on it doesnt mean they arent paying some retarded high school drop out $7/hr to change your oil. Remember, a dealer is a privatley owned franchise- all staffing decisions are left up to the owner and management, and Chevrolet/GM have absolutely no control over it.

I do every single thing I can myself, because I've been screwed over too many times paying other people too damn much to do it for me.

I'm glad we dont all know each other, because your remarks are uncalled for.
I know high school drop outs who are running multi-million dollar businesses. It s people like you, that frankly I really can not stand. Every body should be give a chance, any sane person anyways. Perhaps they screw with you because you give off an asshole vibe. I might do the same.

[trm0002]

Originally Posted by DCJ

How many miles are you guys going to wait until your oil change? I have read some are doing 500 miles and others are waiting till 1,000 to 1,500 to do their first.

I do have trust issues with my dealer service but I guess they would be the best option.

First off, you won't find a definite answer here on when to first change your oil. I have always done mine between 500-1000 miles- Waldo's was done at 914 miles (damn Mobil 1 oil changes are expensive). In any case, I have no problems paying what might amount to $10-20 more than the cheapest place you can find to do it simply because there's a GM record of it being done.

I had a 94 Z28 that Chevy ended up putting a new short block in under warranty.
First question-> How often do you change your oil?
My answer-> Look it up (as I'm really thinking "blow me").

Bottom line, if I hadn't had all my oil changes done at a dealer (any dealer because they can still pull up the records by VIN) I'd have had a nightmare trying to prove when and where the oil changes were done. Well worth the extra little bit of money to have them do it IMO.

[camarossrs2150]

what brand of oil are you going to put in .mobile 1 or royal purple

[Paperer]

Just let a hot chick drive it in for you to get it changed. She'll come out of there with a half priced oil changes if not free. They won't jip a hot chick (usually). It works at a lot of car service places. But not all!

[trm0002]

Originally Posted by Paperer

Just let a hot chick drive it in for you to get it changed. She'll come out of there with a half priced oil changes if not free. They won't jip a hot chick (usually). It works at a lot of car service places. But not all!

Only one thing a hot chick's gonna do with my stick shift and it ain't gonna happen at the dealer.

[SamsinSS]

My dealer will be doing my oil changes for life!! I got a card to to present everytime it is due. I will be getting oil changes for life for $39.95 and that includes Mobil 1 oil!!