"Let's be reasonable. We can't do that."

[HoosierDaddy]

It's a comfort level thing. I really trust the dealer I go to.

Doesn't make sense to me for that to be the only or primary reason to have a 3rd party do it. Not having time, not having skills/tools, not enjoying doing it, etc makes sense to me but not so much because of trusting a mechanic to be in a better state of mind or body than myself.

No matter what their skill levels, they may have just got dumped, have a sick kid or parent, didn't sleep last night, etc, etc, etc. and you would not know. If you do it yourself and any of those things apply, you'd put it off.

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[shogun32]

How many 6Ger's does it take to change the oil in an s550?

Four. One to do the work. One to film it on their phone to post to FB/YT because there aren't already 40 videos showing the same thing, and two to read all the oil change threads, watch the YT videos and yammer away on do this, do that, "I take it to my dealer" and arguing between themselves, all the while the poor schmuck lying flat on his back getting gunk and oil dripped all over his arm and face.

I go to my local mechanic (Mercedes/Audi) gas station shop 150meters away, hand him 2 jugs and a filter and say "call me when it's done". $20 out of pocket for labor rendered. $7+43=50 in raw materials.

 

[TheSnowmanMafia]

It's a comfort level thing. I really trust the dealer I go to. Besides, I only change the oil and do other services once a year on any of our vehicles, because they don't get driven much. I drive an average of 1600 miles a year on each car. I drive less than 5000 miles a year, total. I have had my Mustang for almost 2 years and have driven it 2600 miles. I spend more money on insurance than anything else.

I'm more comfortable taking my cars to independent shops that specialize in the brand and specialize in modded cars to be honest.

I took my Mustang to the dealer to get an oil change and tire rotation to use the last of my free services and the dumb techs put my factory staggered tires on the wrong axles.

 

[Balr14]

While we're on the topic of Porsches....
For a long time my all-time dream car is/has been a new 911 Turbo S. But they've always been, and always will be, out of reach for this mere mortal. In my opinion, they're the ultimate usable performance car.

I found two cars about 4 - 5 months ago that really tempted me. One was 2011 997.2 Turbo S cabriolet with 100k miles, so the price was cheap ($50k). It was a one owner car with excellent service records. Everything checked out and everyone said to go for it. Considering I drive so few miles, I could probably drive it for 3 or 4 years and not lose a dime. I got cold feet and couldn't do it.

The other was a 2014 Audi R8 V10 Spyder with 75k miles. There have been no R8s with this many miles anywhere that I could find. So the owner had just spent thousands addressing the potential weak points (mostly AC and magnetic shocks). It drove perfectly and I was all set to buy it but the cost was a bit high for the age and mileage ($73k) so I kind of dragged my feet a little and he sold it to somebody else. I will always wonder if I made a mistake by missing out on either of these cars.

 

[pyrophilus]

I complained to ford reg my dealership fiasco back in 2016. I wrote a letter to him Hackett, printed it, scanned it into pdf (in case they scan incoming mail and filter them)and then sent it through various place in internet (I think I used telnet to connect to a ford mail server and even tried to send it manually).

6 hours later i get a call on my cell phone (never put it in the letter), and it was assistant to the president of north American operation or something like that. I ignored it, and in july 4th, I get a voicemail left by the executive beggin me to call him on his cell phone.

I call him and was told, "sir you wrote a letter to our ceo, and he ended up reading it. I was told that it was brought up in a board meeting. We have to make things right with you."

I was advised to go to Stamford ford in CT. The owner spoke to me, and they gave me a brand new explorer platinum to hold on to for 3 weeks while they fixed my car.

Why am I saying all this??? When my lease was up, I got into another lease on 17 eb with this dealer. By this time I knew the service manager of the dealer pretty well and the owner would stop and talk to me...

and... they still screwed up my car... because they gave it to a bonehead mechanic. I had infiltration of water from rear window, and this mechanic managed to break the antenna wire connector in the rear window when they remove it and re-sealed it.

I brought the car back, and when I complained, the manager re-assigned the same tech to fix the problem. He managed to scratch the hell out of the black surround from the back side of the glass, so there was visible scratch marks where the black surround was scraped.

I am always so friendly and this time I lost it on them and said, is this how you treat all your cars??? And then I opened the trunk to realize the tech pulled off the plastic rivets to remove the trunk underside liner, and then forgot to put it back, and lost the rivets. Liner was dangling.

I insisted that this tech never touch my cat again. They put a better mechanic who made things better, Bd when I got my used '19 GT and I had Problems, I brought it in, but I had to INSIST that this same tech (the better one) look at it.

Again, the reason for this loooong story. It didn't matter how great of relationship I had with the owner, manager, and the service manager of this dealer. If a low level tech touches your car, they can screw it up.

I don't see myself taking my car in and insisting their top tier mechanic do my oil change, so I just don't bring it to them.

Plus, I actually find changing oil in my car therapeutic.

So in sum, I am glad some people have great relationship with their dealer, ut as for me, it doesn't seem to matter how great of a dealer as they will always be a low level tech who would do anything else than work on a car.

I have my summers off and I almost want to ask my dealer is they want to hire me to do the oil changes because I would treat gt500 to fiesta's with equal love and care (because I love anything on wheels).

 

[1emglenn]

Yeah the rear seat is a package shelf. Even more so than the Mustang. But it has plenty of room for 2.

Don't know what auto makers were thinking back then. Why they would put a back seat in when there was absolutely no way that it could be used. Had a '73 Volvo 1800ES, the one they called a sports wagon. There was only four to six inches of room between the back seat edge and the back of the front seats. They would fold down so that was how I drove it all the time because they were absolutely non-functional. No reason for them.

 

[shogun32]

No reason for them

taxes. Though in Norway it's gone the other direction where they will build a proper back seat equipped car but not put the back seat in because it's a hefty up-charge in taxes so if you're a DINK you don't have to shell out.

 

[TheSnowmanMafia]

Oh its on the way for all cars the mustang will be next. My new supra has no dip stick you have to run an APP to measure oil. to have the oil changed you go to dealer, they open some special valve on bottom of engine thats under a secret door of some sort, then they lower the car and have to pop the hood to use a special tool to remove the oil "cartridge" that looks like a water filter. then since there is no dip stick they put in a predetermined amount of oil and then have to start the car run the app to see if correct level then keep doing this until its correct. Then they have to reset the computer through the obd2 port to reset the oil interval and service notifications... bunch of bullshit.... why do they have to over engineer everything pointlessly? then they go ok its 135 dollars.

sort of like BMWs new laser headlights... bunch of witch craft and BS and 6000.00 headlights. I mean what happened to just using a lightbulb? why keep making this stuff even more complicated for no apparent reason.

None of this sounds complicated lol. The special valve at the bottom? You mean the oil drain plug?

The oil filter on the B58 motor is at the top I believe, makes things a lot easier.

My Audi has no dip stick, you just fill the oil with the amount specified in the manual, turn it on, check the oil sensor via the center display.

135 bucks sounds fine for a German performance car's oil change.

You guys just like to complain lol

Edit: " special tool to remove the oil "cartridge" that looks like a water filter."

That special tool is a socket wrench...

 

[Stage_3]

Oh its on the way for all cars the mustang will be next. My new supra has no dip stick you have to run an APP to measure oil. to have the oil changed you go to dealer, they open some special valve on bottom of engine thats under a secret door of some sort, then they lower the car and have to pop the hood to use a special tool to remove the oil "cartridge" that looks like a water filter. then since there is no dip stick they put in a predetermined amount of oil and then have to start the car run the app to see if correct level then keep doing this until its correct. Then they have to reset the computer through the obd2 port to reset the oil interval and service notifications... bunch of bullshit.... why do they have to over engineer everything pointlessly? then they go ok its 135 dollars.

You answered your own question in the last sentence. lol
All about those dollar bills.

 

[br_an]

Nooooo surely not. I buy my own and do it. 10 qts of MC 5/20 full synthetic is 52.00 and filter is 18 I think. So 70.00 in parts. What’s the deal charge for those that take it to the dealer was my question.

$18 for a filter? You're getting ripped off

 

[Hack]

Don't know what auto makers were thinking back then. Why they would put a back seat in when there was absolutely no way that it could be used. Had a '73 Volvo 1800ES, the one they called a sports wagon. There was only four to six inches of room between the back seat edge and the back of the front seats. They would fold down so that was how I drove it all the time because they were absolutely non-functional. No reason for them.

The back seat could definitely be used by a smaller person, especially if someone less than 6 feet tall is in the front seat. Frankly I like the back seats there. It's a place to put a bag or something and it gives room to recline the front seat, even if the front seat is all the way back. Something you can't do in a Corvette, for example. In a Corvette you have to choose between leg room and being able to recline.

 

[Hack]

I look down on people who are less than 6' tall.

Sitting in the 944 every car on the road towers over me. When I look straight out of the side windows I see the lower 1/3 of sedan doors, and I feel like I could drive under most pickups. It takes a little getting used to.

It's cool sitting less than a foot off the road, though.

 

[ORRadtech]

Oh, I recognize that, it's Atlanta rush hour!

 

[Mike Pfeifer]

None of this sounds complicated lol. The special valve at the bottom? You mean the oil drain plug?

The oil filter on the B58 motor is at the top I believe, makes things a lot easier.

My Audi has no dip stick, you just fill the oil with the amount specified in the manual, turn it on, check the oil sensor via the center display.

135 bucks sounds fine for a German performance car's oil change.

You guys just like to complain lol

Edit: " special tool to remove the oil "cartridge" that looks like a water filter."

That special tool is a socket wrench...

Yeah, it’s not as complicated as it sounds. BMW has used cartridge style oil filters for a very long time. Just need the right size socket. The little cover over the drain plug is just part of the aero - the entire underside of the Z4 / Supra is covered in aero panels. At least they give you a little door to get to the drain plug. Some car makes do not and you have to take the entire panel off. I’ve never had to adjust the oil fill level after an oil change, but it is true there is no dip stick. The oil level is checked through the center dash screen, and as long as the car is at operating temp, which it should be for an oil change, it takes about 90 seconds or less. There is a rumor that BMW is bringing back the dip stick though. Resetting the oil service display does not require to connect anything to the vehicle, except in very rare cases, it’s all done through the odometer reset button. Takes a few seconds.

 

[shogun32]

In a Corvette you have to choose between leg room and being able to recline.

that's just shitty-ass design.

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