Motor oil, antifreeze and other car fluids all need to be changed on a regular basis. Many vehicle owners turn this routine maintenance into a do-it-yourself (DIY) activity.

What you may not realize is that if car fluids are not recycled or disposed of properly, they can easily make their way into our water supply and other natural habitats. Check out Earth 911’s tips on handling your fluids responsibly.

Both antifreeze (also known as engine coolant) and motor oil can have negative impacts on the environment. Let’s go more in-depth on each product.
Motor Oil

Check out these facts:

* One gallon of oil can contaminate a million gallons of water
* Used motor oil is insoluble, persistent and can contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals
* It is slow to degrade
* Oil can stick to everything from beach sand to bird feathers
* It is a major source of contaminated waterways and polluted drinking water

Antifreeze

Consider this:

* If discarded into sewers or storm drains, antifreeze will eventually make its way into bodies of water
* As antifreeze biodegrades in large quantities of water, it lowers the level of dissolved oxygen and kills aquatic life
* Antifreeze tastes sweet (take our word for it), which makes it enticing and potentially deadly to animals and children

Another thing to consider is that these resources are also made from non-renewable resources. This makes recycling them even more important, because it preserves the resources to produce them.

Both state and local agencies have set up recycling locations for automotive fluids. To find an automotive recycling center near you, use Earth 911’s recycling locator.

For instance, Wal-Mart and Jiffy Lube might suffer from an inordinate amount of horror stories online. But the reality is that since these operations are so large it stands to reason they would have a larger amount of negative reviews. Percentage-wise many of these budget oil change places aren’t any worse than any others.

Here at OilChangeCouponsList.com, we have been slowly reviewing nationwide oil change centers. Check back frequently, as we’ll be updating these on a monthly basis:

• Firestone Oil Change
• Jiffy Lube Oil Change
• Midas Oil Change
• Mobil 1 Oil Change
• Pennzoil Oil Change (coming soon)
• Valvoline Instant Oil Change
• Wal-Mart Oil Change

Please feel free to offer your experiences with any of these oil change centers, as well as any information on how to get the best deal via oil change coupons, specials, or unique tips to make the experience more pleasant.

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Oil change prices depend on a number of factors, including additional services bundled in the oil change package.

Short answer? Anywhere from $20 – $50. It can be even less expensive if you do it yourself – but that’s a focus for another article.

The price you ultimately end up paying can depend on a number of factors really.

How Much Oil Does Your Vehicle Require?

This is not a mysterious factor. Obviously a Ford Excursion is going to require more oil than a Toyota Corolla. Extra quarts of oil means increased cost.

What Brand/Type of Oil and Filter?

Some oil change centers will offer lower oil change prices if you use their brand of oil. Walmart Oil Change centers will offer as much as $5 or more discount if you use their Walmart brand oil. Many of the oil change franchisees offer similar discounts.

Type of Oil Change Service Location.

If you go to your dealer service center, you will definitely be paying a lot more. Depending on your vehicle, peace of mind may trump cost and the dealer service center may be your preference. But you can get comparable service at a Quick Change location. Just be sure to ask the right questions and know what you are getting for your money.

Additional Services.

Dealer service centers as well as quick change locations will often bundle other items into an oil change. Items may include vacuuming the interior of the vehicle, checking and refilling all other fluids, window cleaning, and more. If these things aren’t necessary for you, find out what their bare bones oil change price is and stick with that price, declining other “value added” services.

Oil Change Coupons

Obviously the name of this site is a dead giveaway, but the best way to straight up get the lowest price possible is using oil change coupons. Our handy guide on the right hand side of this page allows you to search by state (and soon by city!).

Hopefully this helps you keep cost down and quality up on your oil change experiences. Regular oil changes definitely increase the life of your vehicle, minimizing wear and tear.

• Dealerships
• Quick Change Oil Change and Lube Centers
• Local garages
• Big box stores like Sam’s Club, Costco, Wal-Mart Service Center, and even K-Mart.

If you walk into any of these stores, you can often get on a mailing list to receive oil change coupons via email or postal mail.

You can also check those big bundles of coupons that come in the mail. These often have discount coupons from more than one vendor.

A lot of the big nationwide “Quick-Change” type places offer coupons for oil change right on their website, which can be printed and downloaded. Optionally, with many of these chains, you can sign up to receive others in the mail, as discussed earlier.

Oil changes on a standard vehicle averages around $20-$35. $5 and $10 discounts on oil change specials is common, so think of it like getting a free oil change every third or fourth time you go!

If you are wary of trying a new place, check out our article “How to keep from getting scammed by your oil change center”

If you are wondering how often you should take your vehicle in for an oil change, check out our article “Do You Really Need to Change Your Oil Every 3,000 Miles?“

Old, young, men, women. It doesn’t seem to matter. Frustration, fear, and exasperation seem to be the words people use the most.

The end result tends to be poor work, unexpected extra charges, and lousy customer service. Others have been taken by actual fraud.

Bait and switch

Many scams are sprung on unsuspecting customers who come in (coincidentally) with oil change coupons or a special they read in the local paper. Some complaints have been that a vehicle owner goes in for a $29 oil change special and leave spending a hundred dollars or more. This is usually because the repair person will return claiming there are other things that need to be fixed, or other fluids that need to be filled or replaced.

What To Do If You Suspect You Have Been Scammed

Right away, report your oil change center to your local consumer protection agency, your state attorney general, and let the Better Business Bureau know.

Make sure when you file these reports you have all your paperwork, receipts, written estimates, warranty information, and anything else remotely related. Documentation is their worst enemy.

Speaking of documentation, this is one of the signs you can look for before the oil change even begins. In fact here is a good list to print out and take with you:

Sucky Oil Change Center Checklist:

Are the oil change specialists brash, not patient, condescending? Do they answer your questions in technical auto-speak, or not give definite answers? These are important warning signs you might want to take your business somewhere else.

Messy or cluttered garage. Good shops should be organized, uncluttered, and should have high quality modern equipment.

More than an oil change, are you served with a repair bill? Be sure to specify that any repairs should be authorized by you first.

Nothing in writing. Make sure the oil change center gives you the final price in writing before they even start. Ask them if they offer a warranty on their services and get a copy of that warranty document. Quite often these warranties are printed on the back of the oil change invoice, but make sure you have a copy. Any reputable oil change center should stand behind their work!

How To Find A Good Oil Change Center

In the interest of promoting this site, we have reviewed most of the large national chains on our oil change center reviews page.

But a great local place to start is asking co-workers, family, friends. Often you will learn where they have had bad experiences and where they have had good experiences. Sometimes you’ll even be lucky enough to find someone who say, “I have a guy. He’s great.” Then you can go to that auto tech and namedrop your friend’s name and you’ll often get preferred service.

Sometimes it’s good to be straight up with your oil change tech and say, “Look, there might be some other things that need repair but I can’t afford it this week. Give me an estimate and I will return when I am able.” This way if there really are things that need repair you can go and get a second opinion if necessary.

When you leave an oil change center, you should reflect on how proactive they were. You should be able to talk to the actual mechanic (or oil change specialist) directly. They should have provided you with a complete invoice stating exactly what they did and what parts (with part numbers) they used on your vehicle.

Certified technicians is a good sign your oil change tech or mechanic knows what they are doing. “ASE Certified” is a reputable certification. ASE certification means that at least 75% of the techniciansare ASE certified, and one (at least) technician is certified for EVERY service offered by the shop.

AAA is another good place to search for reputable oil change centers. They have a service called “Approved Auto Repair” that screens every auto repair shop and oil change center based on honesty, pricing, ASE certification, and reliability. If you happen to also be a AAA member you will receive a written guarantee and a plethora of free services, oil change coupons, as well as an extended warranty on top of the existing one from the oil change center.

While all of these things might be great at easing your mind before getting the oil change, there is still a chance your auto shop might still have some issues or problems. Because of this it is always good to do the obligatory check with your local Better Business Bureau. When checking you should be on the lookout for “consumer complaints” in their report.

Do Your Research In Advance

Finally, the best way to ensure you get a good oil change center is to be proactive about finding one. Don’t wait until you desperately need an oil change and you are forced to go to the nearest place. If you have several oil change locations in the area that are complaint free when you do your Better Business Bureau check, then go to a different one each time for awhile and then pick from the cream of the crop. This guarantees you’ll eventually find one that has a technician you “identify” with or “trust”.

Trust is the most important building block in any relationship – your auto mechanic or oil change specialist is no different.

More Articles: Do you need to change your oil EVERY 3000 miles?

You might have heard in recent years that modern automobile engines generally don’t require oil changes every 3000 miles. Perhaps you have wondered whether or not this is true, wishful thinking, or some combination of the two.

The California Integrated Waste Management Board performed a study not too long ago that found 73 percent of drivers in that state change their oil more often than necessary. It is likely this is very similar in other states nationwide. Obviously this is a waste of money on the part of the automobile owner. But in the grander scheme of things it also means we are consuming more oil than we have to – especially in this day and age of insane oil prices.

The data used in this study dates from 2005 and found that in California, there is almost 154 million gallons of oil waste per year. Just under 60% of that oil ends up being recycled or repurposed. One gallon of used oil can affect the taste of a million gallons of water.

It has been a lingering urban legend that motor oil should be changed every 3000 miles. This is in spite of the fact that most automobile makers will recommend oil changes at 5000, 6000, and even 10,000 miles under typical driving scenarios.

Why the change in specifications of automakers? Because motor oil technology has vastly improved. Synthetic oils and engine technology together means that oil stays cleaner longer, without doing any damage to your engine.

Quite simply, the 3000 mile mentality is a lingering holdover from the days when engines used single-grade, non-detergent oils.

GM, BMW, Mercedes and others have had oil change detection systems included on their autos that notify drivers when it is time to change the oil. GM has a system called the “General Motor Oil LIfe System” which analyzes and monitors a multitude of criticla engine systems (engine temp, rpms, average driving speeds, and some other minor conditions) and creates a “rate of engine oil degradation”. The on board computer then comes up with a calculation of when exactly the oil needs to be changed.

Daimler Chrysler even takes it a step further. Why? Because using mathematical computations by itself is difficult and doesn’t include a number of external variables.

So Daimler uses a special detection circuit that monitors the engine oil directly. Oil doesn’t “wear out”, but instead gets polluted with impurities and other contaminants. When this happens the engine isn’t lubricated correctly and an oil change is needed. Daimler’s system actually detects the “polarity” of the oil. The higher the contaminants, the higher the polarity. So if there is particles in the oil, the polarity is higher, thus prompting the automobile owner to get their oil changed.

The term for this detection is called permittivity. This is measured by applying an AC charge between the interior and exterior of the sensor. The oil flows between these sensors. If the oil transmits well, then the particle rate is high, prompting an oil change.

So we have the mathematical computations, the permittivity test, and now we will talk about a third way of determining the right time for an oil change.

In addition, Daimler measures oil’s viscosity. This is a term you have probably heard before on TV or radio commercials, but probably don’t know much more beyond that. We will be writing more about oil viscosity soon, but suffice it to say, viscosity can be described as “The resistance to flow”.

In motor oil, viscosity is increased when contaminants are flowing in the oil (as described earlier). Viscosity will also increase when fuel (i.e. gasoline) seeps into the motor oil. Daimler measures viscosity by montioring the side-to-side motion of oil in the oil sump (resevoir). If the oil moves slowly it has a higher viscosity. The sensor will then calculate and detect high viscosity and signal that an oil change is needed.

Naturally, we do not want to discourage oil changes (or using our oil change coupons site ). But in the interest of saving money – which is likely why you are here in the first place – and wasting oil unecessarily, it is good to be informed of the 3000 mile oil change myth as well as finding out when you truly do need an oil change.