Free oil changes from the dealer.

[autoxwrx]

The dealership I bought my car from has a speacial deal for 3yrs of free oil changes. Should I do it, or should I put some good oil in it? Would they be liable if a bearing spun right after an oil chainge or something like that? If I did the oil change myself then I would put Amsoil in.

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[hondaeater69]

free is a word that carries more weight than almost any other word in the english language. take the oil changes. just don't buy all the other unnecessary crap they more than likely will try to sell you.

[autoxwrx]

I don't let anyone work on my car unless I can watch them. I know what is and isn't wrong. I'm way to poor to pay someone $50-60/hr to work on my car.

[mikeythejew]

What is the free oci? 7500 miles? What is the oci they want to see paying customers? 3000 miles?

[autoxwrx]

every 3 months or 3000 miles for 3yrs or 36,000 miles.

[rkramer]

it is much easier to have the dealership do it should anything ever happen.. they can't come back and blame you for not changing oil and deny warranty based on that... (of course, i'm assuming you have a new baja since you neglected your profile...) if you have a older non-warranty baja then all bets are off.

[autoxwrx]

Who said anything about a Baja?
No warranty. It's a used 02 wrx.

[wrxwhite]

You of course coould supply your own oil

[autoxwrx]

I should ask them if they would just put in the oil that I want.

[WRX Shenanigans]

Doesn't sound worth it to me....chances are they are going to put in some generic junk and if you request a different kind of oil they will more than likely charge you for the upgrade anyway. Even if you brought them the oil you want, there is still the chance they can scew up...put too much in, not enough, or even leave your drain plug loose (I've heard plenty of horror stories, usually jiffy lube, but still). You said yourself you prefer to work on your own car (like me and many others here), so I say pass.

[speedyHAM]

Yeah- free oil changes. All you have to do is pay them for all the other maintenance that comes up. I've seen that scam enough times to tell them to shove it. Stealerships are worthless.

[Bbasso]

who cares what they put in... If it causes a problem, it will happen and they will be at fault. solution is simple they give you a new motor or another car.

FREE, take it while you can.

[poormansporsche]

I bet if you go in for the oil changes and they suggest the other maintenence they mark it down in your account and when something fails the pull that up... "Yeah, well I see you denied air filter replacement. So thats probably why you have premature turbo failure"

"But it's a k&n and I cleaned it at home"

"Yeah, thats good to hear. How would you like to pay for that new turbo cash, check or credit card?"

cheers

garrett

[bluesubie]

Let them do it if the dealership is close to you. At 3 mo./3,000 miles intervals, it doesn't matter what oil they use. All of these conspiracy theories are pretty silly.

-Dennis

[Kean]

Originally Posted by bluesubie

Let them do it if the dealership is close to you. At 3 mo./3,000 miles intervals, it doesn't matter what oil they use. All of these conspiracy theories are pretty silly.

-Dennis

....agreed. In fact, for peace of mind you can simply take a sample of the oil they use and send it in for analysis (before and after). However, one thing I would definitely be concerned about is that they do the job right. .....check their work (i.e. mark the oil filter, check the level when you pick up the car, check the drain plug & filter for proper torque/tightness, etc.). If you're not able (or willing) to check anything out under the car, at the very least I would confirm the oil level is adequate and peek under the car for the next few days after the change (to look for signs of leaks).

[doylfish]

i can change my own oil for sure, but as long as my car is under warranty i let them take care of the oil changes because then it's easier to get them to pay for work if something should happen to go wrong that needs warranty repair. even if the problem isn't related to the oil, they'll have your car in your records as being in there regularly to be checked on and oil changed and that looks good to the dealership when you're trying to make a warranty claim.

i also bring my own oil (Mobil 1) and they put it in there for me, it's a pretty good deal considering i buy the 5 quart jug at walmart for $20 (which you can't mess up this amount, most 2.0L wrx's will take the full 5 quarts, that is granted) and then they charge me $10 more for labor, but that includes the new crush ring and oil filter so really about $1-2 for labor. At that amount of money it's not even worth it to change my own oil, the filter alone is $7-8 so it would cost the exact same. why not just have the dealer do it?

[bluesubie]

Originally Posted by doylfish

even if the problem isn't related to the oil, they'll have your car in your records as being in there regularly to be checked on and oil changed and that looks good to the dealership when you're trying to make a warranty claim.

I have three Subaru's and do some maintenance on them myself. I go to the dealer every 30k have them do a few things a la carte, just have it on record and to maintain the relationship. They've definitely helped me out with cost on some things and gone the extra mile to provide warranty coverage. They also do a free courtesy inspection which covers a lot of the inspections listed in the maintenance book.

Maybe I'm just lucky and don't have a bone-headed dealer. The last dealership that I had a problem with is no longer a Subaru dealer.

-Dennis

[autoxwrx]

thanks for all the tips and suggestions. i will way my options before the first change is due.

[alpinev12]

supply your own say mobil 1 and maybe some BG oil conditioner and have them do the labor for free

Rick B.