I'm not a car person!   

I do think it saves money doing it yourself. But you do have to knkow how. Or you will cause more harm then good. Any place that chages oil can do it. But I believe it is the same time frame as for a car and a truck.

My husband is a mechanic, so he of course does just about all the maintenance on our car and truck. The only things he doesn't do are things that have to be done at a shop because of the warranty, or things that require tools he doesn't have.

Our car has a display that tells us when we need to change the oil, but he usually changes it before it gets down really low. He changes the truck's oil every 3500 miles or so.

As far as somewhere to go, I'm not really sure. I've never taken a car anywhere to get it done. My dad did most minor things on all the cars and trucks that I drove when I was younger. He taught my sister how to change oil and a few other things, too, so now that he has a hard time getting up from the ground, she does all the oil changes at their house. She changed my oil the last couple of times before I got married.

An engine's an engine when it comes to how often to change the oil whether it's in a car or truck...it all depends on certain factors and the specifics of each particular vehicle. For an average vehicle under normal driving conditions 3000-4000 miles is usually adequate. But if the vehicle does a lot of "hard driving" (pulling or carrying loads, hills, stop and go traffic or repeated short trips of just a few miles) the oil may need to be changed more often. If a vehicle has been overheated for an extended amount of time, it's best to change it as soon as possible. High temperatures cause the oil to break down even faster than normal. Also if the vehicle ISN'T driven often the oil should be changed based on length of time rather than mileage, every 6 months at least even if the 3000-4000 miles hasn't been reached since oil not being circulated will thicken.

IF you know what you are doing, I think it is better to do it yourself. If nothing else for the fact that then you know the job was done right...sometimes even reputable garages can cause trouble and make mistakes. It is also cheaper since you only have to pay for the oil and filter and not the labor. But if you don't know what you're doing it's definitely better to take it to a professional. Adding too much or too little oil is bad for the engine, the filter needs to be put on right and the oil pan plug needs to be tight or else all the oil will just leak out and cause damage to the engine.

We do ours ourselves so I can't even think of any national chains to recommend. I've always preferred little privately owned garages for the other things we can't do. For us we have a certain few that we use depending on what we need. We know them and they know us, that way there is trust in both directions.

(Oh and I haven't ever done it myself...because he always does it...but it is really easy and can be done in under 1/2 hour)

It doesn't cost much, just take it to the shop and have it done. I think I spent less than $20 to have it done. They take out the old oil, change the filter and put in new oil.

The shop I go to you just drive in and drive out. You don't even have to get out of your car. It is that fast too. Just 5 minutes or so and you are done.

it would be better if you take it to a gas station where they do change oil for your car, they have the knowledge doing it... just aks them then when it is good to rplace oil? for i only know the car should run about a thousand miles to add or definitly change oil... i guess it will cost you less instead of you do it yourself if you have no idea, maybe they can teach you how next time. :)

Well I have a car and totally don't know how to change oil and didn't know how to drive yet anyway.I just let my husband to take good care everything when it comes to car! he never used also a professional to change a oil he did hes own self.

I'm not a car person either but I know there's a long stick to check to see if the oil's low or not, and if it is, I think you pour a whole bottle inside. My engine's light is on but I don't know how to make it go away or what it could be, I put anti-freeze in so it can't be overheating, it's something else. NO IDEA how to put transmission fluid in..

If there's a local shop that you know and trust,perhaps have gone there for years, then it's great to let them do it, I don't trust big chain places that specialize in oil changes because they know just how to screw you over.If you can do it yourself, i think that's a better route to go.I think it should be change every three months or 3,000 miles.Good luck to ya!

You change the oil in your truck just like in the car every 3,000 miles or if you do a lot of driving it might be wise to change it sooner. But it is a good thing to be able to change your own oil you got to know how many bottles of oil to put in your own vehicle you can check that out with the owners manual. To change oil is simple put a pan under the oil pan and unscrew the oil pan plug. But every time you change the oil you want to change the oil filter too. You need a special wrench for that but sure your husband has one since he changes the oil in your car. You can also find out this info online too. Just type in what you want to know and it will give you a list of pages that will tell you all you need to know. And if your going to do this wear something old you don't care about. And if you don't want to go though all this hassle take it to Midas you can get it done there in a matter of an hour or so and it only cost about 20 bucks. Good luck at what ever you decide to do.

I am very familiar with changing the oil in vehicles! I learned from my ex how to do this and why to do it. Basically, it is very simple - every 3,000 miles change the oil. Keeping the engine clean means it runs smoother, saves gas money, longer engine life and fewer breakdowns. These are the reasons to change your oils in each vehicle you own. the same goes for trucks as well as cars.

linda allmaras