Originally Posted by generalu

My first service trip to the dealer was very disappointing. I set an appointment and the guy who sold me the car told me "30 mins, in & out the door" - but when I pulled into the service lot, the service manager told me 1:45-2 hours . I asked why the two different time estimates, his response "Saturdays are very busy, so there are cars ahead of you, we gotta change the oil, and the wash takes some time too...you know sales people."

Complained to the fleet manager, he said "45 mins" went to the back said everything will be taken care of... an hour later, the service manager comes in, tells me it's ready to go. They changed my oil/filter, but no wash . So, in and out the door took about 2hr 15 mins. The dealer I bought it from is 40 miles from where I live. So getting a simple oil change (not even synthetic...) took half my Saturday, put 80 miles on my car, 80 miles worth of gas, and come to find out that when I was leaving the dealer I only have 1 yr of free oil changes (the dealer promised me 2 years, a coffee mug, which I never got, and any/all parts at cost all as incentives for me to buy the car - I guess it's my fault for not getting it in writing). We never finished our conversation about the incentives, and the complaints that I had - I just said forget it and drove off. I doubt I'll be taking her in for service unless I really have to.

Anyways, in case some of you guys are interested. The dealer I went to uses Mobil 1 10w30, 5.2 quarts (synthetic available @ extra $). First oil change/service is free - which includes oil change, fluid checks, & carwash.

Please share your experiences.

Originally Posted by gspotter

Bring your own oil to the dealer. That will save you some $$$$.

Originally Posted by DaveB

Or lay on your side and undo the ten 10mm bolts to the tray and one 18mm bolt on the oil pan and do the oil/filter change yourself in 20 minutes. I can access all the tray bolts even at the stock ride height on 350Z springs. The 2nd gen G35 sits quite a bit higher than mine so access should be easy. I can't believe the amount of time and money you guys waste at the dealership.

Originally Posted by gspotter

Bring your own oil to the dealer. That will save you some $$$$.

Originally Posted by jli

hahah. if we all want to save $ that way, we should be doing the oil change ourselves

Originally Posted by CarNutz

I'm fortunate enough to have a 3 car garage.. so oil changes and maintenance are easy for me to do. Many do not have a garage or a place to change their oil.. so they have to go to the dealer or someplace. It's more than just space.. you need the tools, drain pan.. etc.. give these people a break!

Originally Posted by gspotter

If you change the oil yourself while the car is under warranty, you have to prove to Nissan/Infiniti that it was changed at the proper interval if something happens where they could claim you didn't change the oil correctly and deny warranty.

Originally Posted by robswid

Had my oil changed today at 1500 miles. Brought my own case of mobil1 5w-30 synthetic. Dealer charged $33 for labor, filter, and new drain plug washer. Asked them not to wash it and they put a DO NOT WASH SIGN in the window since I just washed and waxed. Overall, very uneventful. The $25 for labor seems reasonable since you have to remove like 10 bolts to remove the plastic cover. No ramps in the garage, getting to those backs bolts are difficult!