Nice one!

I found that most of the non franchised garages (not sure about the franchised ones) round here do not remove the drain plug when changing the engine oil but insert a thin tube through the dipstick opening and pump the old oil out using a vacuum extractor such as http://www.seamarknunn.com/acatalog/Pela-400-Vacuum-Oil-Extractor-Pump-4-Litre-MTPELA4.html?gclid=CK-BsuitmMwCFRBmGwodVkIJ4A. They say it saves them having to put the car onto a lift and remove the undertray etc and saves them a lot of time as well as freeing the lift for other work.

I found that most of the non franchised garages (not sure about the franchised ones) round here do not remove the drain plug when changing the engine oil but insert a thin tube through the dipstick opening and pump the old oil out using a vacuum extractor such as http://www.seamarknunn.com/acatalog/Pela-400-Vacuum-Oil-Extractor-Pump-4-Litre-MTPELA4.html?gclid=CK-BsuitmMwCFRBmGwodVkIJ4A. They say it saves them having to put the car onto a lift and remove the undertray etc and saves them a lot of time as well as freeing the lift for other work.

 

They also do it that way for Health & Safety reasons in workshops, because handling used engine oils is considered carcinogenic, particularly used oil from diesels and they have to dispose of oil according to regulations. Although I'm still alive after bathing my hands in engine oils for many years, I now put on gloves and have used barrier creams. I have a big tub in the garage but don't know if it is still used? They can't extract all the gunk that collects around the drain plug or inspect and clean the plug of metal swarf if it is magnetic. The Yeti is relatively high above the ground and access is not as bad as my VW with low profile tires on stock sport suspension. Now I am on lower mileages with very few 'mission critical' trips, I run with Longlife oils and don't object to getting underneath. It gives you a chance to also look around other parts like turbo hoses and oil leaks to head off a breakdown by catching a problem early. If I was running at least 2 vehicles on high annual mileages with more frequent oil changes I would buy an oil burning heater for my workshop and heat it with spent oil.