non-dealer oil changes in Vancouver

[weneedgrace]

Hi everyone,
I am not a regular poster here but I appreciate all the info I've learned from you all!

I have a Sept 2002 Mini Cooper and am no longer under warranty. I was thinking of getting my oil changed elsewhere, not at the dealership.

Would it be cheaper elsewhere in Vancouver? If so would you have any suggestions as to where I could take my car?

Or would you not recommend it?

I've tried searching the forums for this and haven't found any info yet, so I hope this is not a repeated question that comes up often.

Thanks!!

[beken]

If it's just to change the oil, it would be cheaper elsewhere. Yaletown MINI charges just under $100. You could probably get it done for around $75 elsewhere. It's still high because of the synthetic oil, even though synthetic oil is pretty inexpensive in your local auto parts store, the oil service places still charge full price for them. Is it worth it to save $25 once or twice a year?

If your answer is yes, the best way to do it is to bring your own oil and filter, or at least your own filter. If you buy your filters in bulk, like 10 at a time, the price of them drop in half sometimes. I don't know if there are aftermarket filters for our MINIs yet, but I would recommend you stick with OEM (MINI branded) filters as the car manufacturer filters are generally of much better quality than your generic Fram or Purolator or other filter. The labour rate at your MINI dealer is at least $100 an hour and they price their oil changes accordingly. Most private service places charge around $50-70 an hour.

Also, most oil changes can be done yourself if you have any mechanical aptitude at all.

Oil Service is a different thing. It includes a wheel off check of the brakes, cabin air filter replacement and a few other safety checks I wouldn't normally trust myself to. However, most private service places would do a package deal "spring" or "pre-winter" package which amounts to mostly the same thing. However, I found the general difference in price not big enough to warrant not bringing it back to my MINI dealership. It's about $30 difference. Small insurance to pay for guaranteed factory specs.

I do NOT recommend you take it to one of those fast oil-change places. I've heard lots of horror stories and have a few to tell myself.

[weneedgrace]

thanks for all the info. It was all really helpful.
It turns out that I've got a friend who actually enjoys doing oil changes (as opposed to myself) and is willing to do them. for me. So I just ordered a few items from minimania.com to get started.

thanks again!

[beken]

Careful with the drain plug. If your friend has never done an oilchange on a BMW product before, the drain plug strips very easily.

[weneedgrace]

Thanks for the heads up!