Vantage DIY oil changes?
 

I am curious as to how many of you do your own oil changes on your Vantage? I don't need one right now or at least the computer isn't saying that I do but i am trying to prepare myself for the future. I watched a couple of Youtube videos and it seems easy enough (never changed oil before). The hardest part being getting under the car.

If you guys DIY these things, how do you lift your car? Do you all have massive hydraulic lifts in your garages? I am even contemplating getting one of those but the amount of investment it requires I'd have to do a lot of servicing myself to make up for it which I don't think I will do. Wouldn't mind being able to do some oil changes and other minor stuff myself though if I can get under it.

I have a quick Jack 5000# lift I use for all my vehicles. It's convenient, takes 5 minutes to lift all 4 wheels. It's about $1100 to $1400. I got mine on sale at Costco for $1099 shipped.

I do my own oil changes on my high end cars... on the vantage v8 it takes less than an hour and parts and oil you can order on Amazon for less than $100.

I also poke around under car and perform other items as well. Good luck

Same as MRCW, QuickJack is the way to go

I have a 4 post lift with a rolling jack tray. It works great plus you can store an extra vehicle in the garage. I do all my own maintenance on all our vehicles.
I am super anal about oil changes and I let the cars oil drain for 24 to 48 hours. On a 4.7 Vantage it will take 10.75 liters if you let it all drain out. Its amazing how long it will drip for and it adds up. On my Gallardo it will still be dripping after 36 hours so I leave it for 48 hours. I also suck the old oil out of the oil filter housing on the G as well but thats getting goofy lol. But thats how I do it. I will do a way better job servicing my cars than a dealer plus I enjoy doing it.

I set the car on ramps by jacking up the corners. I've been contemplating a quickjack for years but I always find a way to do the work without needing one. There are a few extra places to drain oil on a Vantage due to the dry sump as compared to most other cars. Filling to the right level takes a bit of fiddling as well, also mainly because of the dry sump system.

I do all the maintenance on my cars. I do have a four post lift. The cost of the lift wasn’t a concern to me. I bought years ago when I only had a two car garage and three cars. I think that the lift has more than paid for itself. I now have a five car garage and six cars. The annual cost of the maintenance on my cars would far exceed the cost of a lift. Besides I enjoy doing my own maintenance and know what was done and when. Rich from Redpants has some great videos showing how to do most of the Vantage maintenance. You can find videos of almost any kind of maintenance on the web. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty with the help of videos and this forum you should be confident in working on your car. You will find it rewarding and satisfying to do your own work.

Quickjacks is worth it! Besides simple oil changes, getting all four wheels off the ground for proper cleaning and detailing is where I get the majority of my usage. Wheels come off and cleaned from the back side, wheel wells detailed, etc. how else are you supposed to see and admire all that beautiful aluminum?

The Quickjack is certainly the easiest way to get a hydraulic lift for basic maintence. You don't need one to do an oil change though. Get yourself some 2x10s from the local big box store and make yourself a couple ramps to drive the front of the car onto. That is plenty to do an oil change.

I don't know what oil and filters the person who said it costs less than $100 is using, but the oil alone is going to run you $135 for the right oil. The filter and new plugs will run you about another $100. You could probably reuse the plugs, but for what is likely a once a year maintenance you might as well change them.

What you'll hear debated is whether it diminishes resale value if you do the changes yourself and don't have the dealer stamps in the book. Really doesn't matter if you plan on keeping the car permanently, but if you might sell it in the future then something to consider. I personally don't think it's an issue if you keep track of the changes yourself in a spreadsheet or whatever, but some buyers may be picky.

I do maintenance on all my cars. To me that is part of car ownership, and calling myself an 'enthusiast'. I considered both two- and four-post lifts, but chose QuickJack because I did not want to loose floor space in the garage by having a fixed place for lifting, even though it would be nice to be able to stand upright.

I purchased a set of four Jackpoint Jackstands that I saw on Jay Leno's Garage. I did that because I wasn't sure whether I would be using them in Connecticut or Florida. It ended up costing about the same as a quick jack. I like my Jackpoint stands but if I had to do it over again I would get the quick jack.

My costs are:

Oil ~ $110 for 15L Liqui-Moly, so really only about $80 for the change.
Filter ~ $27 for AM filter because I don't believe the Jaguar version is equivalent in the pressure relief valve, otherwise I'd be using a $10 filter
O-rings ~ $1 - bulk buy of o-rings. Replacing the plug on every change is ridiculous. Actually, replacing the o-rings on every change is unnecessary too, but I bought alot of them.

Wow thank you for all the responses guys. Definitely encouraging to read everything and makes me definitely want to take more initiative and do these things myself. I have never been too technical of a person so the thought seemed daunting but watching the videos made me think it can't be that hard. Plus I do think it will be fun and fulfilling to be able to do that.

I am going to look at purchasing the quick jack. I was contemplating a 4 post lift for the garage as well but I don't think I quite need something that extensive yet. We've got 3 cars and 3 car garage and I do plan on purchasing a Polaris Slingshot or something of the like in a season or two and perhaps then I'll get rid of the quick jack and get a 4 post or 2 post lift.

I'd be curious where you're getting 15L of 10w60 Liqui-Moly oil for $110. All the places I checked it's basically $10/liter. Castrol supercar or Motul go for around the same or a little more. Ditto for a $27 filter. Best price I see on ebay is $48 shipped. Redpants sells the package with the filter and plugs for $70 (4.7 motor) before shipping.

Costco is advertising $100 off on the Quickjack through 6/16.


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So...I think I quoted my oil change cost for my BWM N55 motor.
I looked back at my costs for the Aston and I bought the 4.7 oil change kit on Ebay from Aston dealer with 3 plugs washer and filter for $65 and the oil for $85. 2 5 liter jugs of motul 8100 10w60. So it was $150. Dealer wanted $450 while it was in for new clutch.