Kiwiinchicago

I pay no more than $200 in Chicago

pirahna

I was quoted from $300-400 from a couple of the popular SF bay area air cooled specialists. I ended up going to Fastlane in Santa Cruz and he was a reasonable $200.

Mike J

Your indie does not know how to do a "clean" oil change - sure it's dumping oil but it should not be that much of a mess.

Can't quote labor rates since I have not had any mechanic do an oil change on any of my Porsches in my 20+ years of ownership.

A good mechanic with the proper tools (like multiple drains so he can do things in parallel and a lift) can be able to do an oil change in less than 20 minutes on a lift - unless he waits for the very last drop to come out. Usually its a bit longer to allow for a proper drain and the last few quarts can take a bit of time.

Cheers,

Mike

BlackCar

I agree with Mike J that an oil change should not be that messy. I've done my own for the past 13 years, and have it down to an hour or so if everything goes ok. And that's without a lift. If you have a few basic tools, safety stands, roll of paper towels, and a large container to catch the oil, you can do it. I also use the opportunity to clean the wheel well and give the engine an inspection for leaks or other problems.

It's satisfying to know it was done right, that both filters and crush washers were changed, and that the oil was not overfilled.

Cupcar

+1 here - particularly when one uses oils not stocked in shops such as Brad Penn, Motul, Gibbs Racing, etc. I have found most shops do not give much credit for using your own oil.

Opo

+1

race911

993? Maybe a torsion bar car.

So let's run down the steps:

Getting car inside from wherever it's parked.

Properly securing it on the lift.

Fetching the oil, filters, etc. from the shelf.

Removing the rear wheel.

Placing both containers under car, and removing drain plugs.

Removing fender liner.

R&R tank filter.

R&R secondary filter, and whatever associated R&R is required to do that your particular way.

Replace drain plugs.

Replace fender liner, and rear wheel.

Maybe spend a couple of minutes looking under the car for anything that you could notice being amiss--torn CV boot, minor oil leaks not otherwise noticeable, other suspension issues both front and rear.

Place car back on ground, torque right rear wheel (hell, all four why not?).

Check tire pressure (CA law!).

Add a few quarts of oil.

Start car.

Slowly add the rest of the oil, because you know how slow that final 2-3 quarts goes on the post-torsion bar cars.

Take a look in the engine bay for whatever else might not be "right".

Clear car from lift.

Park back in lot.

Write up service order.

I'm not even getting into distractions from the phone/walk-ins/employees, but that's always part of the juggle.

And for all that you make maybe a hundred, most of it likely getting gobbled up into general overhead; AND are responsible for any number of maladies never noticed to the owner prior to it coming in.

So, compare that to your job/responsibilities.

(And for the record, I used to work damned fast and efficiently.)

IXLR8

I've never found it to be messy, just overly involved compared to doing an oil change on anything else.

It takes me a long time, but then I'm not in a rush and I don't take any short cuts.

FD Motorsports

Ken has it about right. The only thing we do differently is we don't remove the rear wheel.
No way in heck we could do it in 20 minutes

We charge $195 with Mobil 1 15w50 and both filters, crush washers and o-ring.
That is one hour of labor and materials, but it typically takes us longer than that.

JM993

It takes me 15 mins just to fill the oil

Slow Guy

The more important question is "how many beers does it take for you to do a DIY oil change?".

Mike J

Geeze man, what are you guys doing? Just kidding, thought I would put that out there to see the reaction.

i think it's possible to do it closer to 30-45 minutes if you use multiple drains and are really hopping, i.e.

- put car on lift
- pull back RR forward liner, then pull back sill liner
- drop oil and large filter, install new large filter, let drain
- drop oil from sump, let drain
- pull off transmission cover, pull red vent tube off, pull solid line to oil pump off, let drain (now have three drain points going concurrently)
- remove small filter, install new one, clean up oil splatter
- put back solid line, red vent tube, transmission cover
- install sump plug
- install tank plug
- put back sill and fender liners
- drop car, fill and test run for leaks

I have done it closer to 45 min if the owner is in a rush, but you do not get a full drain done -> but with the quantity of oil in the system, it's not significant.

The oil fill part definitely is a limiting factor, especially those last two litres, where you have to go very slow.

cheers,

Mike

dbf73

since I have the luxury of time, I drain the oil while it is good and hot and then wait an hour or so to do the small filter when things are cool enough I don't burn my hands doing so. This also has the advantage of letting those pesky last few ounces drain

race911

Unfortunately, your smiley was the previous sentence. And that, coupled with some of the other things that have been going on here recently have kinda put me into Jack Webb as Joe Friday Dragnet mode. Probably pretty clear to anyone who's been around here awhile that being an ex-shop owner leaves me with a short-ish fuse when commenting on hustling an all-too-little buck out of competently repairing and maintaining these cars.

Mike J

Ken, you should know by now that I strive to be one of the "good" guys - so sorry if I provoked a reaction.

From the example shops that I have in my area, I would only trust one to properly report time, and even then I would be nervous. Not sure of the ratio of good to bad shops (or those in-between) but there are enough bad ones around to be cautious. Those guys are out fleecing customers all the time, and I get a constant stream of guys coming to my shop with stories of $500 oil changes, $17,000 engine rebuilds that have 25% leakdowns 50 miles later done by a supposedly "Gold Porsche Mechanic", professional shops putting and over-lightening Mahle filters on turbos, guys using silicon sealer on valve covers - it just keeps on coming.

I also understand the shop side, covering overhead, mistakes, insurance, benefits, no-shows, advertising, inventory costs, rising costs, taxes and customers who think you are ripping them off - I too have had businesses so I get it.

You sound like a guy who tried to be a good guy and make a decent living at that business - tough balance.

cheers,

Mike