Cheap oil change

[Mr Creosote]

I normally do my own oil changes, but for various reasons I’m unable to do my own for a month or so, so I checked out prices with local garages/fast fit centres.

I got quotes of £150-200 which surprised me a bit - I know prices have gone up and garage labour isn’t cheap, but still, for a normal 1.6 petrol I must say I was expecting less.

Does anyone know of any chains doing deals on cheap changes atm? I will do it myself if I have to, but thought I’d check here first in case anyone had any tips.

[sixor8]

I rang around a few when I needed one for a relative's Accord 2.2 diesel. The range of quotes was surprising. An ETB Autocentre was the cheapest, in 2023. Only Midlands based though. Check what oil they use, though!

You could take your own oil filter in, some may not accept using it but they make a heck of a markup on them, usually.

[ashenfie]

Just did my BMW 520 myself, I got 6lts (5+1) of Petronas synthetic oil and a Bosch filter for £50 from Opie oils. I already had a vacuum oil pump.

[GeniusOfLove]

Vacuum pump is the way, particularly if your car has a filter accessible from above! 10 minute oil changes.

[okv3]

Mr Creosote said:

I normally do my own oil changes, but for various reasons I m unable to do my own for a month or so, so I checked out prices with local garages/fast fit centres.

I got quotes of £150-200 which surprised me a bit - I know prices have gone up and garage labour isn t cheap, but still, for a normal 1.6 petrol I must say I was expecting less.

Does anyone know of any chains doing deals on cheap changes atm? I will do it myself if I have to, but thought I d check here first in case anyone had any tips.

I had a similar need recently. In 2016 I had a local autocentre do an oil and filter change on my Td5 Discovery for about £70 because I was short on time and wanted it doing.

I checked last year when my Defender 200Tdi needed its yearly oil change, and while I've done everything on this car myself, I was short of time and enquired about them doing it again, and they wanted £180. Ended up waiting a month or so and did it myself with genuine LR oil filter, good quality mineral oil and a new sump plug for under £40, seems like quite the markup for half an hour work plus waste disposal.

[ND_19]

I bought an Audi from a main dealer with FASH so thought I'd keep that going, so how much do you think my local dealer wanted for an oil change onl
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Nope you're wrong



£579 .....

[brillomaster]

I'm sure your car can wait a month for an oil change, unless you do 5000 miles a month or something silly like that...

[-Lummox-]

Mr Creosote said:

I normally do my own oil changes, but for various reasons I m unable to do my own for a month or so, so I checked out prices with local garages/fast fit centres.

I got quotes of £150-200 which surprised me a bit - I know prices have gone up and garage labour isn t cheap, but still, for a normal 1.6 petrol I must say I was expecting less.

Does anyone know of any chains doing deals on cheap changes atm? I will do it myself if I have to, but thought I d check here first in case anyone had any tips.

Check Groupon for your area. They have some places on there doing £63 oil changes for engines up to 1.6 litres.

[Sheepshanks]

ND_19 said:

I bought an Audi from a main dealer with FASH so thought I'd keep that going, so how much do you think my local dealer wanted for an oil change onl
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Nope you're wrong



£579 .....

Hmmm - when you said "an Audi", an S6 with a V8 engine probably wouldn't have been the first car that came to most people's minds!

Using the Audi servicing booking website it's a mere £485 at all my local (NW) dealers.

More everyday Audis are mid £200's. Mind you. I've just had a "discussion" with our local Skoda dealer as daughter's Kamiq comes up to 3yrs old and will need its first paid for service - the Skoda dealer's pricing is dearer than Audi (they're across the road from each other).

[Sheepshanks]

Mr Creosote said:

Does anyone know of any chains doing deals on cheap changes atm?

Groupon that another poster mentioned is a good call, or see what https://bookmygarage.com throws up.

[deggles]

I've noticed this, too. Used to be places that would do oil+filter for ~£80 all in. Now everywhere wants £200 for a "basic service", which is just oil+filter plus a cursory checklist and a scout around for more work they can upsell.

I reckon they've bumped the prices up due to all the half-arsed DIYers that would normally do their own but only decide to book it in somewhere because the filter is seized and the sump plug threads are stripped, turning a 10 minute job into an hour

[Smint]

https://www.f1autocentres.co.uk/car-servicing/book...

Still do all my own servicing, but use the local one for tyres/fitting/MOT/aircon gassing, no complaints.

[Mr Creosote]

deggles said:

I reckon they've bumped the prices up due to all the half-arsed DIYers that would normally do their own but only decide to book it in somewhere because the filter is seized and the sump plug threads are stripped, turning a 10 minute job into an hour

You’ve just described me there

Thanks for the tips - managed to get it down to £105 with Book My Garage but will be doing it myself.

I’m glad I’m not alone in thinking the prices have got a bit silly. I can get two new mid-range tyres and a front wheel alignment for less than some garages are charging for an oil change! Doesn’t seem to make much sense, but if that’s what they’re charging, that’s what they’re charging.

[Pica-Pica]

ND_19 said:

I bought an Audi from a main dealer with FASH so thought I'd keep that going, so how much do you think my local dealer wanted for an oil change onl
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Nope you're wrong



£579 .....

Even a major service at a BMW main dealer on a 335d doesn't cost that much.

[darreni]

My diy change is about 70 quid and an hour of time.

[paul_c123]

Is £34.40 relatively good then?

[ROTELLA]

Well I was thinking that at 75 it's time to let someone else have the pleasure of doing the oil changes on our cars.
Those prices suggest I'll be doing it until I drop!

[Smint]

ROTELLA said:

Well I was thinking that at 75 it's time to let someone else have the pleasure of doing the oil changes on our cars.
Those prices suggest I'll be doing it until I drop!

Same here, at 70 still doing all my own servicing etc, but the annual several stage rustproofing performance to keep our Prado rust free has me thinking the time is coming for a nearly new Toyota hybrid, which won't require much from me at all save the odd in between oil change.

Watching me getting up off the ground after several hours heavy car work would make a good comedy sketch, sound on to capture the creaking and groaning.

Edited by Smint on Sunday 15th March 09:46

[stevieturbo]

paul_c123 said:

Is £34.40 relatively good then?

For a car that takes 4-5L and a filter, yes that would be very very cheap.

Most oil is pretty expensive these days and even a cheap filter will be £5

[paul_c123]

Can anyone better it? And yes, the oil is the correct specification, and this isn't an ancient car (2012 VW Golf). I suspect steering away from Carlsberg "reassuringly expensive" oil, and fancy/high power engines which need expensive oil, is part of the reason.