[kelnos]

The weird bit is when doing it yourself turns out to be more of a hassle and more expensive than paying someone else to do it. Around 15 years ago I decided to learn how to change my own oil. Even after excluding the fixed costs (I bought little ramp things to drive the front of the car up on while I worked underneath, and a container to drain the old oil into), I was surprised at the per-change costs: the cost of the oil itself (and the new filter), as well as the cost to properly dispose of the old oil. Ended up being more expensive than just taking the car to Jiffy Lube and leaving it with them for an hour or so.

That was the first and last time I ever changed my own oil.

[bombcar]

As long as Jiffy Lube doesn’t put the new oil in the radiator.

Sometimes you do things yourself because that’s the only person you trust.

But oil changes are one of those “do it yourself once so you understand it and then let Walmart do it” kind of things.

[SoftTalker]

I've had shops do all of the following (not at the same time but each has happened before I stopped letting them change my oil):

  - fill with the wrong weight oil
  - not change the filter
  - not tighten the new filter adequately, resulting in leaks
  - install a very low quality "no-name" filter
  - overfill the oil
  - overtighten/strip threads on the drain plug.
  - leave tools under the hood.

And that's just oil changes, one of the simplest things a shop can do. Maybe it's because they put their least skilled people on it, but it doesn't incline me to trust them for anything else.

[hughesjj]

Feel ya. Disposal is a pain, and if you mess up, it's a trip to home Depot to get some chemicals to clean your asphalt. That was fun when my apartment had me parking in a shared garage...

Oil is simple and easy enough that I just get it changed with my inspections. There are things that, even if you're competent enough to monitor and do yourself, is still better getting a second pair of eyes on. That said I wouldn't do jiffy lube or other stop and go oil shops... Too many noobs there where the chance of them effing it up is higher than myself. I once had a tire buldge when I was younger and broke AF, they replaced the wrong tire and I had to drive back to convince them they changed the wrong one (big old bubble in the sidewall), took a bit to convince them they changed the wrong one since they refused to admit fault. Thank God I took a picture before that was clear enough to place the bulb right on the text in the exact same spot.

I'm having similar concerns around my diy for some electrical and gas work. Yeah technically I can do it myself to code, but I'd rather inspect someone else's work and not deal with the liability of fucking it up myself. Just because I can do it doesn't mean I can do it to the level of a quality professional, and I'm now wealthy enough to actually get the pros and not just the journeymen. There's something about paying for quality work that just feels good. So long as you can respect the labor, it feels great and not so weird to hire others.

That said, I've had a few coding projects I've subcontracted in my home due to lack of time to those on roughly equal grounds as myself. It feels a bit weird, especially for tasks with unknown bounds but worth it for the time and schedule savings. I'd rather not wait another 6 months and spend my personal time when I have a laid off friend who just wants some bar cash.