Fizz (@i_fizz) went viral on TikTok after asking a question that many car owners have been asking in recent years: when did oil changes get so expensive?
The content creator couldn’t believe what he was initially being charged for the service, although he was eventually able to get the cost down. There were several other TikTokers who responded to his video saying that they, too have been miffed at the cost of oil changes as of late.
Fizz records his video from the interior of his car. He speaks directly into the camera, noting that he was initially quoted $150 for an oil change.
“I was like, ‘What? $150? No,’ I said, ‘That’s not gonna work,’” Fizz says.
The auto worker then said there was a cheaper option for $94.99.
“I’m like, ‘Look, lady, I don’t need the 100% full synthetic put-gold-in-my-oil kinda [expletive],’” he explains. “I just need the stuff that’s in the bottom of the barrel to get me from point A to point B. That’s it? OK?”
But there was another gripe he had with his oil change in addition to pricing—the amount of time it took to actually perform the service on his vehicle, despite having a pre-set appointment to do so.
“Second thing is—mind you, I made an appointment for this oil change. She says it’s gonna be about an hour and a half to two hours to get this done,” he says. “I was like, ‘Hour and a half to two hours? Why? Why’d I make an appointment?’ You drive the car in, you lift it up you change the oil you drop it down you drive it out. It’s a half hour, OK? OK.”
Drivers are up in arms over the state of oil changes
Fizz isn’t the only person to hop on social media and blast the average cost of an oil change in the United States these days.
Redditor @2boredtocare wrote that they hadn’t felt like there were really “aging” until they were shocked to see the cost of an oil change these days. “THIS is the stuff that makes me feel I’m aging. I swear an oil change used to cost under $40, and now? It’s $90,” they wrote.
Auto Aid reported that the average price of an oil change in the U.S. ranges anywhere from $37-$187. While they attribute these price changes to the cost of parts and labor for luxury vehicles when compared to lower cost brands, there are other folks who don’t believe that the jacked-up charges for oil changes can simply be written off to external factors governing overall price hikes.
One forum user on the Bob is the Oil Guy site believes that these oil change prices are just plain and simple price-gouging: “Simply saying inflation and higher crude prices doesn’t explain an over 60% price increase. I believe that is the very definition of gouging…”
How to reduce the cost of your oil change
CBS News reported that the “average price” of an oil change “was $66 in the United States”, which was aggregated from over 30,000 quotes for the service on Yelp. According to the news outlet, the range was anywhere from $39 to $119. SoFi bank urges folks who are trying to save money to perform their own oil changes and the outlet does have a point.
The most difficult part of conducting your own oil change is getting your vehicle in a position where you can get underneath it comfortably enough. From there, you can drain the oil and replace it with the correct oil type. You may already have some of the tools necessary to change them and if you do need to buy them, the total cost will probably run you around what Fizz was originally quoted for a single oil change.
If you’re unable or uninterested in changing your own oil, it’s always a good idea to look for different discounts, promotions, and coupons before you walk into an auto service shop to get work done. Major chains will almost always have vouchers or e-codes online that you could use to shave a few bucks off of your bill.
Gas and oil prices in the United States previously skyrocketed at record highs in the summer of 2022, and many analysts are attributing the continued heightened cost of gas and oil to moves made by the Biden Administration in selling off the United States’ oil reserves. However, gas and oil prices have continued to drop over the last two years.
@i_fizz It’s a half hour, okay? Okay.
♬ original sound – i_fizz
Several viewers of Fizz’s video commiserated in the state of oil changes.
One person wrote, “I remember Jiffy Lube was $19.99!”
Someone else said that they would happily take one for more than double that amount: “I miss them 50$ oil changes.”
Another person said that they found another solution. “That’s why I just do myself,” they wrote.
This sentiment was echoed by someone else, who that they’re able to save a lot of money by just putting in the work by themselves: “$60 dollars for oil and filter do it myself in 20min.”
“$35 to 40 for good oil and filter. 15 to 20 minutes in the driveway, most of that time in setup and waiting for oil to drain. Easy peasy,” another remarked.
“I change my own oil. A lot cheaper, and I don’t try to upsell myself,” someone else said, penning their own argument for taking the DIY approach.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Fizz via TikTok comment for further information.
