You Can Change Your Oil Yourself, Or Smart Way

My driveway is tattooed with the history of oil changes I’ve performed on my car.

Seems there’s always a spill no matter of how careful I am. Usually a just few drips, but I once drained 5 quarts into a bucket and then immediately dumped it over.

So given the grime, the skinned knuckles, the storage of waste oil and trips to the recycle center, it’s always a treat to have the oil changed at a shop.

You pay a price for having somebody else do the dirty work, but when you consider the cost of new oil and filter, you’re only paying about $10 to $15 for the labor at most places around the Valley.

For me, that’s worth it once in a while. For drivers like DeAnna Shields, a regular Valley Minit-Lube customer, it’s worth it every time.

“They’re wonderful. Really fast. They send a reminder when it’s time to come in again,” she says. “It’s very good for women who don’t want to do it themselves.”

Local Minit-Lube franchise owner John Lundin makes a point of marketing to women customers with promises of quick service, reminders every 2-1/2 months and a promise not to try to sell them extra products or services.

Their main product: “We’re selling time to the customer,” Lundin says.

The goal is to get each customer’s car serviced in about 10 minutes from the time they start work on it, he says.

While the home-jobber has to deal with disposal of waste oil (which is free, in small quantities, at the Valley Transfer Station, 3941 N. Sullivan), the fuss-free commercial option is clean and green.

Lundin says Minit-Lube recycles its waste oil, shipping it to a processor who cleans it up, mixes it with diesel and sells it to the Navy as bunker fuel. Used filters go the waste-to-energy plant.

I’ll keep changing my own oil because I can do it on my own schedule, I have lots of grubby clothes and my driveway already is a mess. But for those of you who want to do it the intelligent, here’s a price comparison from a sampling of Valley businesses. (It’s not a complete list of every shop, but it gives you a price range. Call ahead to find out how long the wait will be.)

New Concepts Goodyear, 10515 E. Sprague: $17.95 with Valvoline 10-30 and an extra $3 for other types of oil.

HiCo Village, 9219 E. Sprague: $20.95 with Quaker State oil.

Lubrication Station, 12515 E. Sprague: $25.99 for “14-point service,” and Pennzoil oil.

Minit-Lube, 13021 E. Sprague: $19.95 for oil and filter, $25.95 for lube and fluids check.

Minit-Lube, 14021 E. Sprague: $20.95 for oil and filter, $26.95 for lube and fluids check.

Texaco Xpress Lube, 14704 E. Sprague: $25.95 for lube, oil, filter, vacuuming, fluids and tire checks. Havoline oil.

Mopar Xpress Lube, 10819 E. Sprague (Barton Jeep-Eagle) $21.95 oil, filter, fluids and brakes check.

Divine’s Auto Service, 1520 N. Pines, $24.95, oil and filter. “We check everything.” With a Val-Pak coupon, the price is $9.95.

12 Across: Preoccupied

To the driver of the rust-colored Volvo inbound on I-90 one morning last week: Did you finish the crossword puzzle before getting to your exit?

, DataTimes MEMO: On Your Way is a Valley Voice column focusing on commuter lifestyles and issues. Your views on any of the topics discussed are invited. Please write: On Your Way, The Valley Voice, 13208 E. Sprague, Spokane, WA 99216. Or fax us at 459-5482.