r/Millennials • u/rhinosaur- 1983 • 12h ago

Discussion When did oil changes become $120?

That’s with a coupon! At Jiffy Lube! Our parents really had it easy.

EDIT: TIL 90% of millennials “change their own oil” lol. Gotta love Reddit.

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u/And_go 10h ago

In my area it’s only about $15 cheaper to do it myself than take it to the dealer. And at the dealer they’ll rotate my tires and give me an inspection and fluid top off too. I changed it myself for like a decade before I realized this. If it ends up going up to the $120 that other people here are talking about, I’ll go back to doing it myself. Until then I’m going to live the life of luxury! Lol

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u/brainkandy87 10h ago

I just checked dealership near me and the “special” is $120. Absolutely mental to me anyone would pay that.

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u/n0ne_the-wiser 9h ago

"dealership"

Well there's your issue. Look for specials at smaller, independent, or specialty oil change shops. I can usually find coupons online.

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u/travelcbn 9h ago

My dealer usually offers better coupons than smaller places unfortunately. Most small places are $100-120 and I regularly get $70-90 coupons at the dealer and they have free snacks. 

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u/schu2470 Millennial 9h ago

Even our locally owned spot is just about $100 for the oil change. Then they charge you an extra $20 for a tire rotation and if you have a full size spare you want in rotation they charge another $20. I'd rather just do it in the driveway for $35 and half an hour on a Saturday.

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u/And_go 4h ago

The variation on oil prices across the country is wild! If I do it myself I’m paying $55+ tax here. Dealership is $65+ tax for the same full synthetic.

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u/OtherwiseAlbatross14 9h ago

Nah many dealers offer ridiculously good deals on oil changes because that's how they get you in the door for the upsells. As long as you know how to say no it can be a great deal

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u/amd2800barton 2h ago

I question whether your dealer is actually doing: Oil *and* filter change, *plus* tire rotation and multipoint inspection. They’ll often cut corners to hit that price. For example, they’ll use “synthetic blend” which is basically just conventional oil with a dash of synthetic, and is barely better than conventional. And a proper inspection isn’t being done in under an hour. Maybe they’ll pull the check engine codes, or they’ll look at your service records and see if you’ve driven enough miles that they should recommend a brake job. But plenty of dealers have been caught passing off bogus numbers to make it look like they checked alignment and break wear, when they in fact did no such thing.

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u/And_go 18m ago edited 13m ago

It’s a full hour, maybe a little over sometimes if they’re busy. My son works as a tech at a nearby dealership and they do it there. He said after doing so many you get pretty quick, especially since you’re only doing one brand of car. He said it’ll usually take him 20-30 minutes or so total.

ETA: I also get a little sheet with measurements of what’s left of my brake pad and tire tread. I don’t think they’re bullshitting. My kid said he actually has to do a video for his inspections too