Looked at doing the oil and filter change myself oil around £28 and filter around £6

Looked online and national tyres do an oil and filter change using fuchs

Titan GTI Pro-C3 5w30 XTL £42 for my skoda octavia 1.6

Is it really worth getting my hands dirty for £8 and is the oil they use ok

They had trouble fitting the correct tyres to my van wheels once. I wouldn't give them a whole car to play with.

Try it and report back.

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Quantum oil £20, Oil filter £4,,,    DIY   and you know it's done properly,,,   

Personally, I would only use them as a last resort.

I asked them to swap my wheels over from summer to cold weather, they tried to charge me for replacement valves and tyre disposal. I complained to their head office and their response was they would 'have a word' with the manager, and offered me a £10 discount voucher.

I haven't used them since.

As above... you can buy the proper Quantum long life oil on ebay for £20 then a filter for £4.

 

Phil

Having used a pump to suck the oil out (which is what they will probably do) I've found about 1/2 litre left in my Yeti and almost 1 litre in SWMBO's Fabia when I took the sump plug out.

Based upon this and that it only takes me (a non-mechanic) 2-3 hours to do oil and filter as well as fuel filter and scan on the car for any faults, I'll be doing it myself until my body decides it doesn't want to any longer.

Oil cost £20 on eBay and I got two oil filters and sump plugs for less than £10; all including postage.

I used to suck out the oil from the sump plug with the Pela pump after exhausting the dipstick on the Golf 3 TDI. The tube was flexible to move around the sump from the dipstick and sump plug access. This was the one and only time the oil was clear/golden on the car following an oil change, post engine start. Otherwise always black

Hi the model I have is the greenline and I think these are slightly lower to the ground than the standard model

Is it a case of jacking each side up and placing axle stands to raise the car to get access to remove the under shield and sump plug.

Spoke to my local tps and can provide the quantum oil 5w30 507 spec and the genuine filter for £30 inc vat

Not sure I like the idea of the ramps you drive up in case they slip or you misjudge them

The damage caused would be more than paying a main dealer to carry out the service

Hi the model I have is the greenline and I think these are slightly lower to the ground than the standard model

Is it a case of jacking each side up and placing axle stands to raise the car to get access to remove the under shield and sump plug.

 

 

I run wheel up onto the kerb and use a couple of 2"x8" planks under the tyres to get the car even - this also lifts the front a fraction.  The roads are quite cambered so there's a fair dip down to the gutter.

 

I then throw an opened out carboard box on the road so that I'm not laying directly on the tarmac (dirt, cold, damp).  I've got a jack, jackstands, ramps and a garage but this method works best if I'm just doing an oil change.

 

I do live in a quiet street though - wouldn't like to do it if there was a risk of being run over.

Whatever you do, don't jack up each side and then place axle stands. There are very specific places to jack the Octavia, and jacking/supporting in any wrong place can and will do damage, as well as not being safely lifted. Buy a set of wheel ramps -- not only is it far kinder to the car, it is far easier to run the car onto ramps without any possible issues of lifting in the wrong place.

 

Mike

 

went out and got some ramps but as said in the earlier post  "Hi the model I have is the greenline and I think these are slightly lower to the ground than the standard model"

 

got home and placed the ramps towards the front of the tyre but is about 6 - 8 inches away from the tyre as the front bumper and trim don't allow you to push it back to the wheels

 

any advice ?

I think you'll need some low car extensions.

 

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/car-ramp-extensions/

 

yea or some hardwood i guess

Jack up the wheel in the approved manner, and place some thick baulks of heavy timber under each wheel.  The remove the jack.  An extra 4" or so should be enough to get underneath.

 

The under-tray screws & bolts can get badly corroded.  Make a note of the sizes when you take them out and buy some spares for the next time you do it.  A2 stainless is good.

 

Don't be tempted to use bricks or concrete blocks that can split/crumble without warning.

Ive used national a couple of times on a car i didnt really care about.

 

Just watched over what they were doing to make sure they were doing it right, made some light conversation so it didnt look suspicious.

 

They done it fine. I only used them down to lack of time and laziness.

I've used Natiional in the past quite a lot, not on my current car, and the oil has always been drained from the sump by taking the sump plug out ... they do not as far as I'm aware use suction extraction as they mention a negotiable extra charge for removal of sump undertrays.

Edited 12 April, 201610 yr by labman1001

I use national tyres all the time for my oil changes. Never had any issues, bot worth getting my own hands dirty and they stamp the service book

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While it seams the preferred method of removing is via the sump plug it is worth remembering that on the 1.9 engine the oil filter housing/cooler holds about half a litre of oil, this does not drain when the sump plug is removed, the only way to empty it is to vacuum it out, the first time I emptied the sump through the dipstick tube I removed the sump plug to see how much was left, only a few drips.

 

 

any advice ?

 

You can make something similar to those ramp extensions using timber.  A couple of 2x4 side by side with a 2x4 joiner that drops over the tread in the ramp