I am trying to get a definitive answer to the question of whether oil changes by a dealer are done through draining or by sucking the used oil up. Our local dealer charges about $240 for an oil change and "check" but if they don't drain it it's a useless task that I could do myself for about $50. I already have to air up the tires after the last service as they seem to want to have the vehicle ride "soft" by lowering the pressure about 5 lbs.

Thanks in advance.

 

Buy a vacuum pump and do it your self. It will take you about 40 minutes the first time but should be quicker after that.

 

I still get underneath and remove skid plate a drain all the oil. I have a pump, but the PO did not do regular changes and I did a rapid succession of changes to maybe set it right. Oil for 8.5 qts.= $76 =+ 1 filter ( from Ebay ) $18, totals $94. A real savings with an hours time. Pump cost $99 from Amazon.

 

Supposedly the pump will actually get more oil out as the drain tube is set into the lowest cavity of the oil pan. Don't forget to suck out the oil around the filter, there seemed to be a cup or so left under it.

 

Thanks for the answers. We only need one more change before the warranty is up so probably will go with full synthetic and extend the mileage between changes a bit. Very low mileage vehicle; this one is the wife's vehicle and has only seen less than 5K miles in three years.

 

Land Rover suggests full synthetic. If dealer changing oil, will be synthetic.

QUOTE=Magnumforc;558496]Thanks for the answers. We only need one more change before the warranty is up so probably will go with full synthetic and extend the mileage between changes a bit. Very low mileage vehicle; this one is the wife's vehicle and has only seen less than 5K miles in three years.[/QUOTE]