Keep in mind that not all of us have the tools, skills, desire, confidence and/or location to do oil changes ourselves. Sure it is one of the easiest things we can do to our cars but often times it's just not one of the things we can do. I sure do wish more dealers were proactive with MINI owners in their area and looked at MINI of Dallas where they open the shop once a quarter to allow owners to work on their cars. I miss that ability quite a bit since moving from the Dallas area.
I do my own changes, but it's like above... $50 for oil + $10 for the filter. $60 for labor means that they probably charge for 30 minutes of time, which is probably about right by the time you think about getting the keys, pulling the car into the shop, draining the oil, changing the filter, refilling the oil, checking the level, topping up, cleaning up and getting the car off of the lift. Add 5-10 minutes of other checks on the car (tire air pressure, mechanical once-over, etc) and that 30 minutes is gone pretty quick. Like Nathan said: They didn't give you a great deal, but they didn't rob you blind either.
Yeah, I understand not being able to do it yourself, whether it's time, tools, whatever that keeps it from being feasible to do. I'm just saying that comparatively, whether it's actually 30 mins or not, $50+ is a lot for labor on an oil change. Most places charge ~$5-15 more than you could buy the oil/filter for yourself... Maybe a little more if they do it really quickly (Jiffy Lube, etc.). As a result, I'm much more willing to do it myself. It's not worth it to me to save $5 on the F-150, but $50? I'll do it myself.
A word to the OP, saving $20 on an oil change is not worth losing an engine over, is it? Your dealer will use a factory oil filter and the correct weight and type synthetic oil, Joe's oil change service may not cost as much, but will they use the right stuff? Cause if they don't you could be in for a hell of a lot more cost than that oil change. Your dealer also won't strip out your oil drain plug or the oil pan's threads and they won't break the filter housing by overtightening it. And for god's sake don't take it to Iffy Lube or one of the other fast oil change places, not if you like your car! Going back to costs at the dealers for a moment, there's a lot more to it than a causal conversation might suggest - there's the cost of the facility itself, the cost of employees - not just the tech but also the SA, the lot boy, the cashier and so on. there also is a cost associated with disposal of the oil and the filter. I'll bet 99% of you who change your own oil just dump the filter into the trash - and thereby send a nice dollop of old nasty used oil into your landfill - now multiply that times all of the people in your city who might do this......every day.......... What you should do is take your used filter to the closest oil change place and ask them if they'll let you add it to theirs for proper disposal. They have a crusher that squeezes as much oil as possible out of the filter, then they send the remains to a plant that disposes of it by remandering the components and/or burning them. But there's a cost to that too, isn't there - driving it over to the closest place? My point is, stop complaining about what the dealership charges, it's not going to change by you bitching about it here. Either you can afford to own a car and take care of it properly, or you can't. It costs what it costs and no, the dealership is not ripping you off.. If you can DIY, more power to you (I certainly do my own - but I use MINI oil and filter) just make sure you use the right stuff and dispose of the old oil and filter properly. My dealer sends out coupons to it's regular customers for all sorts of service specials, maybe the OP could get on their mailing list and save some $$$ that way?
Minidave, I agree. The last oil change I got on my ex-R53 at my dealer's shop in January was about $120, and included a rather complete vehicle check in engine compartment and underneath that found a few potential problems to watch for in the future. So the tech was not just standing around while the oil was draining...
FWIW, all my numbers are assuming that one is using the proper oil and filter. It's absolutely not worth saving a few dollars to use crappy oil and filters. There are definitely pros and cons to doing it yourself or taking it to a dealer. For me, though, at some point the labor costs ($50+ at my dealer) outweigh the benefits of doing it myself. It's all personal preference. Personally, I like changing my own oil and don't like the 2-hour round trip drive to the dealer, so I save $50 labor, gas, and time by doing it myself. If the new dealer 20-minutes from me does ~$75 oil changes, I may take it there because I won't be saving as much time, money, etc. in fact, I'm going to have them do a brake fluid and coolant flush this weekend, probably. I'm not against people having the dealer do oil changes or anything else for that matter, just suggesting that people look at the actual numbers, time, etc, and make an educated decision.
That's worse if they extract it. Yes they don't watch it drain but replace filter, check all fluid, tire pressure etc. My point being that 30 minutes in not a long time that's all
Like everything else in the world the prices go up. Last year the RP oil was 7.25 a qt now it's 9.99. Gone are the days of 2.00 qts of oil, it's the cars blood is it really a waste?
I had my break-in oil changed at 3k by Sewell MINI of Plano (Dallas) and the out-the-door cost was $71.58 which I thought was actually a good price.
$71 out the door would be pretty good indeed. I will do my own, and just bought supplies for my first break-in oil change, $49 at MINI STL with the club discount. 7-something for the filter, and 7.50 a qt for real MINI oil, less than my Autozone charges for Mobil 1 (unless they have a deal of the week going). So $50 for materials, then another $20 something for labor/overhead? Yes, not bad at all. I'd do mine anyhow, it helps me "bond", I can check other stuff while I'm under there, and I know it's done right when I'm finished.
I do my own as well, and I do it more than once a year, and because I have over 40 years of automotive repair experience I feel comfortable doing so. However, I hold shop days in my garage for the local MINI club and more than a few of those who attend not only could not be trusted with doing this job, they really ought not to be doing anything requiring tools - their strengths lie elsewhere. Look how many threads there have been on this and the other sites expressing frustration at breaking the filter casing, losing the cannister internals (for those cars that had them) and the biggest failure, either not being able to get the drain plug out and/or destoying it in the process. To someone who's used to doing all their own work we have a hard time understanding how someone can have such a hard time doing a simple job like changing the oil, but there proof is there. I know I've had to come up with some innovative ways to get a club members drain plug out, just within our membership. So, to someone who's not skilled, doesn't have the tools or facitities like Nathan mentioned it can be a daunting task - at that point, $114 is money well spent. For those who can do it, more power to you, just dispose of the oil and filter in a responsible manner.
I have never heard of a dealership opening up their garage doors to the public, that is pretty cool! $100 is about the norm in my neck of the woods.
The place was was considering is a local "Mini-Cooper" specialist shop called "Greasy's Garage". They have a lot of fans here in metro-west Massachusetts. Hopefully they are more affordable than the dealer.
I'm still amazed every time that MINI of Dallas does this... I had an initial bad experience w/ their sales staff back in 2005, but they have earned my business back with all of the incredible things they do for the local club. All of our Dallas dealerships are good to the club and are cool in their own ways, but the DIY days at MOD have won me over.
$114 seems like a lot, but I applaud the OP for getting their MINI's oil changed. Probably the single most important thing one can do for their engines longevity. Having an R53 & now a R55 all I can say is the R56-R55 is a whole lot easier to change oil on than my R53. There are wonderful how to's here on M/A. If you read them & follow instructions the oil change is not hard to do. Heck even I can do it. :crazy:
It is simple, and I've taught a number of club members the right way to do it. But for someone without a garage or flat place to work, it's a bit more of a challenge. Some apartments don't allow renters to work on their cars in the parking lots. It also requires a bit of an investment in tools, either a jack and stands or a set of ramps to get the car up, a drain pan for the oil, the right wrench to remove the drain plug, the right wrench to remove the filter housing, plus the associated driver - ratchet and extension, plus on the turbo cars the right socket to remove the screw holding the coolant reservoir in place. Add to that the possibility of rounding off the plug on the R53 and cross threading the housing trying to get it back on and the cost of fixing those issues - well unless you're going to continue to do all you own maintenance, it might be cheaper to just pay the dealer once a year to do it for you. Plus, there's the hassle of properly disposing of the used oil and filter. The turbo engines are easier to access, that's for sure, and you never burn your arm on the exhaust manifold removing the filter housing. I do wish they still made the housing out of aluminum tho, instead of plastic.
Lessee... on the R53: - 5 quarts oil at $7 each = $35 - Filter $10 - Craftsman 36mm socket: $9 (less at Harbor Freight or equivalent) - Harbor Freight socket handle $10 (ish) - Good 13mm 6 point socket so you don't strip the &%$ stock oil plug $5 - Replacement 19mm VW oil plug and washers, with magnet, to FOREVER not have that problem $10 (or Fumoto valve at $29) - Oil drain pan $10 - Finding a curb or hole to drive over to change oil, if you're creative, along with ample paper towels for cleanup (essentially free). - Disposing of used oil at a reputable mechanic using it to power their oil furnace, or dropping off at Pep Boys/WallyMart (free) I'm at $89 so far, leaving $25 for beer after the first oil change and if I take care of the wrenches and oil pan, the next oil change is $45 (leaving $69 for a set of nice ramps and a roll pf paper towels). If I go Fumoto, I essentially break even at the first oil change and still save $69 the next time. Pays off for me, but I get your point - not everyone is cut out to do their own maintenance, but $114 is a bit steep. The Mini is far easier to change oil on than even our Honda Odyssey or Kia Soul with the cartridge filter, though both of them take dino oil and are cheap to have a dealer do ($20 for the Kia - in that case hardly worth it to get my hands oily).