My son is determined to start doing our own oil changes.

Our last trip to the quickie lube place resulted in the car going into limp mode. Took it to the dealer and the error code was low oil pressure. After checking the oil it was discovered the oil filter was crushed during installation and restricting flow.

I'm not sure about everyone else, but it is at least a two week wait around here to get an appointment at any decent garage and some are 6 weeks out.

I don't have a dedicated garage and will likely be doing most of them crawling on the ground under the vehicle. What kind of setup do you have and how well does it work?

the car kind of makes a difference.
for my dd, I can reach it all without jacking it up.
for my old mopar, a rolling floor jack and some stands.
I have a big oil drain pan thing and use that for all of them.
https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...7qDXEco0wBoCgdoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

the only issue is it is easy to break the center plug threads, and loose them in general.

others recommend that thing that sucks it out through the dipstick tube.
https://www.amazon.com/EWK-Extracto...&hvtargid=pla-589807083774&psc=1

never tried, I like to look around while I am under the car.

order new crush washers too.

These days YouTube is your friend, you can find tons of videos on changing your own oil there. Might even find one showing how to change oil on the exact kind of car he has.
Between cars often sitting so low and figuring out good jacking points, I rarely even try to jack cars up to change my oil anymore, I use homemade ramps with a couple thick boards and bricks. You don't have to get the car too far off the ground to get at everything.
It can be a messy job so I always do it in my driveway rather than in my garage so I don't get oil on my garage floor. Wear latex gloves and make sure to have a bag of kitty litter handy!

Sounds like the quickie place just tossed a cartridge in without seating it, and then cranked down on the cover ?
All my stuff is can-style - newest vehicle I own is a '97.
If I don't have the car on stands, I have some 2x6 wood ramps I made to drive up on; doesn't need to be too high.
Sheet of cardboard, drain pan & filter wrench, fill the new filter before installing. Simple.
Some cars are laid out so it's easy to get filter oil all over stuff; for those I use aluminum foil or a shallow aluminum cake pan to guide the oil into the drain pan.
I grab drain plug washers with the seal in their ID from the local parts store.

Get a garage, man ! Maine's too dang cold

i use drive on ramps for my oil changes. my bus [99 caravan] and my wife's 94 chrysler concorde.
the filters are easy to get to. just scoot a piece of cardboard under, plus a slightly oversize drain pan, and easy done.
pre-fill the filters before installation. i use wix filters.
biggest problem is my old body takes 3 hours to do a job that used to take 45 minutes.

Buy ramps. If your cars are low to the ground you must buy appropriate extended ramps. Make sure you have a location that will take in your old oil. Auto Zone used to take it. Buy oil filters in bulk. I buy name brands from Rock Auto for my Camrys. I also buy jugs of appropriate oil. Walmarts Super Tech brand is a great oil at a great price. The biggest thing is making sure you can conveniently (and legally) dispose of your drain oil. The jugs the oil comes in are great for your drain oil. Get a drain bin with a nice easy pour spout that fits into the oil jugs opening.

I drain mine by letting them sit overnight and then put the drain plug, filter, and new oil back in the next morning. Longer drain time allows more of the dirty oil to get out.

Get my oil from a bulk distributor by the case as it's much cheaper than buying individual bottles from the parts stores now.

That's the way I do it, too. The cardboard idea is good to catch all the drips. And I like the Wix filters myself. O'Reilly's house brand filters are Wix and a couple of bucks cheaper. Around here, Rural King has the best price on oil. $13.49 for a 5 quart jug of conventional.

I have a similar one to this. All my life I've been an oil plug snob eschewing the vacuum setup. I used it on my '13 300 pentastar (on the pentastar you completely avoid having to get under) and now use it for my John Deere. I still get under the old stuff but I don't see any real reason to do so except habit. They work very well, no spills is a big advantage.

This and as 2boltmain also said Buy Ramps. Good because it also puts most vehicles in the tilted rearward angle to help drain. Get a large plastic pan used for small concrete mixing at the local home improvement store, get the right tools ready, drive it up on the ramps and shouldn't take a young person too long. Most time is used waiting for the oil to drain and clean up. I always put the oil change milage onto the new filter along with a piece of duct tape under the hood for the next change. If the oil change quantity for the vehicle is more than 5 quarts then I just buy two 5qt bottles to take advantage of those free or reduced price oil filters that most auto parts stores run as promotions, Even getting a different filter for another vehicle in the fleet at the time. Way cheaper than buying individual qt bottles to make the fill quantity needed at the time. RAMPS.

Ramos, you better make sure you teach your son how to properly use them. I was doing an oil change on my daughter's car, had her drive it up the ramps and right off. I neglected to instruct her on how to use ramps properly. Good news is that lesson will never be forgotten.

I put this on all our cars, makes it so much easier
Never searching for the right socket, or getting burned by hot oil when you pull the plug out, or chance of stripping threads on the way back in

https://www.fumotousa.com/

Kinda cool, but for $25.88, I'll pass.

Over the life of the car and all the oil changes, it's worth it to me.
Plus, its reusable, remove it when you get rid of a car and transfer it to the next.

I have the basics:

- One heavy duty drain pan with spigot (to drain into very large jugs to take to disposal)
- Good set of ramps
- One metal clamp style oil filter wrench
- One forceps style oil filter wrench
- Metal Funnel
- Brake Clean Spray

I do oil changes for friends now seeing as how many places locally are either booked solid, charge crazy prices (long gone are the days of the $19.99 oil change!) or do poor quality work.
But with the tools above, I haven't had anything come close to defeating me.

I always wondered about the ramps and whether they allowed the oil to drain properly.

Good to know they work well.

Yes, I need a garage, but I also need a kitchen.

He has found a couple places that say they take old oil.

Thank-you for the ideas.

all the major parts stores will take your used oil and filters.
just call those, you don't have to find an oil change place to take it.

I'm pretty sure even Walmart takes used oil.

Yes they do, I used to buy a drain pan to change my oil on drag week, then just give the whole thing back full of oil lol.

Around here a number of shops have waste oil heaters, never have a problem getting rid of used oil.