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"Ray O" <rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> wrote in message
news:aa8df$456293ad$47c2b532[color=blue]
> Even the low end of the prices you quoted comes to $57 for an oil change.
> Our local Toyota dealer charges around $23 for an oil change that includes
> an OEM filter, and even if you add $22 for the Mobil 1, that's $12 less
> than the independent shop. Our local dealership is set up so that you can
> watch the technician work on your car. Check around to see if any in your
> area are set up so you can watch. For a little extra "comfort factor,"
> choose a dealership that has consistently received Toyota's Service
> Excellence and President's awards. The criteria pretty much weeds out
> dishonest ones.
>
> It sound like you are either pretty particular about the work done on your
> car, or you do not trust the folks working on your car, or both. The vast
> majority of the service departments I called on were very honest and
> competent, IMO, much more so than the quick lube places. I am also pretty
> particular about the work done on our cars, which is why I do most of the
> work myself. Even from 10 feet away, there is no way to tell if the
> technician wiped the oil filter mounting surface before installing the new
> filter, if he over or under-tightened the filter or drain plug, or if he
> installed a new drain plug gasket that the parts department gives me with
> every OEM filter I buy. By doing this work myself, I know the work was
> done correctly.
>
> As far as a place to do the work, I'd cut a deal with a friend with a
> garage, jack, and jack stands, or invest in a set of ramps.
> --
> Ray O[/color]

1. A dealer will not let me supply the oil, so the amount they would charge
for Mobil 1 is much higher. I forgot to mention that the quick lube place
gives me $5 off for bringing my own oil, and $1-2 off for bringing my own
filter.

2. But even if they let me supply the oil, I could not watch them pour it
in, so I would not know whether they used their own conventional oil or the
Mobil 1 I supplied them (either by mistake or intentionally).

3. I use a Mobil 1 filter, which costs about $5 more than the Toyota OEM
filter.

4. Actually, I would not say that I am overly "particular," but I have just
learned how to not get screwed by a quick lube place when I cannot change it
myself, or by a dealer (either through incompetence or fraud).

5. I don't anyone who changes their own oil, so it would not be easy for
someone to loan me their garage for me to change it.

6. I did try one of the oil extractors to remove the oil from the top, but
it only worked for one oil change and then after that I could not get enough
suction to remove all the oil.