Comments on: Daily Links: 11,643 Words Edition

By: Marie

Marie — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:04:58 +0000

Changing my own oil ended up costing me almost two hundred dollars. I’ll let the shop do it, thanks.

My car is one of the two worst models of all time for poor design and oil changing PITA (per the mechanic, I wouldn’t know such a thing on my own).

I can fit my hand in to get at the filter, but I’m not strong enough to twist it off. My husband is strong enough, but his arm is too big. There’s no room to fit a tool.

I ended up punching a hole in the filter and racing the car to the mechanic before it completely drained, making a mess of their lot and owing a fortune in clean-up costs. NEVER again will I DIY on my car.

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By: elisabeth

elisabeth — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:40:29 +0000

shop good will — awesome and addictive. It seems so much more managable than EBay…. I just hope it doesn’t get too popular!

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By: WilliamB

WilliamB — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:18:20 +0000

I do a lot of small maintenance on my car but not oil changes. For $50/year someone else will do it and dispose of the oil appropriately. I do not have to learn how to do it, get toold & clothing, and – most importantly – do not have to take the 4 hrs it would take to dispose of the oil legally and cleanly.

I’d like to offer a modification to the “comparison shop whenever possible” rule. Comparison shop till you learn what a good price is. Then decide how much extra time you want to spend on getting the absolute best price. But man! A 24x price difference? Ouch!

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By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:57:46 +0000

Just a note on the oil changing — yes, I know how. Yes, I have done it in the past decade. No, I haven’t done it recently. I get my oil changed by the same independent mechanic that does my “major service” on the car; I want him to have a chance to look for other things failing on the car, and catch them earlier. I don’t work on cars for a living, I trust him to note the early stages of things failing and advise which I can delay and which should be done now. Pro-actively fixing the water pump is cheaper than letting it go and the motor overheating. Knowing that my shocks are leaking is good, but they can wait until ride quality/performance suffers – we’re watching them.

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By: Kevin M

Kevin M — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:20:01 +0000

One of my goals is to learn to change my own oil, so that post is very timely. Thanks and good luck on the book!

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By: Martin

Martin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:56:53 +0000

I have a 2006 Honda Civic. I’ve always put synthetic oil in it. Most oil change places want to charge $60 to change it with synthetic, but the oil change special at my local chain auto parts store only charges $25 for an oil filter and 5 quarts of full synthetic (I only need 4 for this car).

I save $35 every time I do it, but the satisfaction of knowing that I didn’t forget to tighten the drain plug is even more valuable.

By the way, the placement of the filter and the oil drain plug on ’06 and newer Civics is very convenient.

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By: J.D. Meier

J.D. Meier — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:05:10 +0000

There’s a lot of power in compression.

I think a lot of the world’s best info is spread over threads and heads or time and space, so congrats on squishing the topic into a chapter and upping the density ante.

I’m a fan of bullet points and compressed value. Nothing beats a bird’s-eye view and it’s a great way to see the lay of the land.

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By: Tyler@Frugally Green

Tyler@Frugally Green — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:03:26 +0000

Good luck on the next chapter, JD. As for changing my own oil, it certainly stimulates the manliness feelings, but doesn’t seem to provide much of a time or monetary benefit to me anymore.

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By: leigh

leigh — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:47:53 +0000

writing my dissertation was all-encompassing for months. i empathize.

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By: Wojciech

Wojciech — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:52:58 +0000

Awesomeness! A permanent spot on anything from GRS is an honor.

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