Quick-Lube Oil Change Math: How A $20 Job Becomes A $100 Job

One of the most basic parts of car ownership is taking care of basic maintenance. The most frequent item that should be addressed is changing your vehicle’s oil , and that’s a task that comes down to a simple choice: Do you do it yourself or take it somewhere?

As we’ve established, I was a grease monkey in a prior life. But even with those skills and know-how, I elect to have someone else handle the job. Why? Well, time is money, and the money you save by doing it yourself, you might have to reinvest many times over in labor, risk, and cleanup. I was trained to work on cars standing up; crawling under is a hard adjustment. But I’m cheap and picky, so I’m selective on where I get an oil change done. 

Let’s run the numbers.

As Matt has recently shown us, oil, through the right retailer, is cheap. And based on lab testing as David discusses in “Expensive Oil Is Waste Of Money,” there is little difference between the performance of the cheap stuff versus pricey oils. [Ed Note: I hated the headline “Why Expensive Oil Is A Waste Of Money.” I didn’t write it. That headline, without the word ‘sometimes’ after ‘is,’ is misleading. -DT]

However, if you’re going to a shop for an instant oil change or even the dealership, you might feel like you’ve just lost an arm and a leg. It just depends on what the shop is prioritizing and what you’re willing to accept. 

For this demonstration, I’ll be using my Ford Maverick hybrid. It takes 5.7 quarts of 0W-20. When I called the nearest Valvoline, they quoted me:

• $107.68 for full synthetic oil: $99.99 for 5 quarts and a filter, and an additional $7.69 for the remaining 0.7 quart
• $75.99 for synthetic blend oil: $70.40 for 5 quarts and a filter, and an additional $5.59 for the remaining 0.7 quart
• $55.88 for conventional oil: $50.99 for 5 quarts and a filter, and an additional $4.89 for the remaining 0.7 quart

Now let’s look at the nearby Ford dealership where I took my Maverick to address four recalls.

• $98.47 for 5.7 quarts of Full Synthetic Oil and a filter

Welp, that’s the last time I ask someone to do an oil change without asking the costs ahead of time. And now the Chevrolet dealership in Mishawaka that I took the truck to last May.

• $55 for 5.7 quarts of full synthetic oil and a filter

Between the highest and lowest prices, for the same type of oil, that’s a 95% difference in price! So what are the differences between these places?

Let’s Talk Labor Costs

At Valvoline in 2016, I was making $10.50/hour as a Senior Tech. I was one or two steps above entry level and was a keyholder, a shade below Assistant Store Manager. Then in my second stint with Valvoline in 2021, I picked it up as a second job in an attempt to pay off bills, and my primary source of income was just enough to break even; I was making $15/hour. Based on this trajectory of increase, I’ll use $18/hour as the going rate for labor in 2024.

For a two-bay store, there’d typically be between four to five staffers at a time; one or two customer service advisors, two toppers, and one pitter. Each car would take at most 15 minutes, barring any complications or additional services. Based on this, on a busy day, the store could get through at least eight cars in an hour.  

Labor cost per car with four staffers:
$18/hour x 4 staffers ÷ 8 cars = $9 in labor/car

Labor cost per car with five staffers:
$18/hour x 5 staffers ÷ 8 cars = $11.25 in labor/car

Seems straightforward enough! Yet, while eight cars in an hour would be ideal for profit, like any business, there are rushes and dead times throughout the day. A possibly more exact calculation would be to look at the average number of cars a quick lube shop sees in a day and the total hours paid out for that day.

Using my primary store in Midland, we would see roughly 32 cars a day and hopefully have at least five people scheduled for eight-hour shifts.

$18/hour x 5 staffers x 8 hours ÷ 32 cars =  $22.5 in labor/car

Cost Of Oil And Filter

Oil is cheap! While that might run counter to current prices at a quick lube, you can get 5 quarts of full synthetic for $18.98 at Walmart, $21.99 at Meijer, or if you’re getting more outdoors supplies, $24.99 at Tractor Supply. I’ll stick with using full synthetic oil for the rest of this exercise because if you need to use 0W-20 oil, it’s probably the best option. And the Maverick is my queen and deserves the best. 

Looking for cheap but acceptable filters, Bosch filters for my Maverick start at $2.60 a piece at Rock Auto. 

Obviously, places like dealerships and Valvoline get fluids at wholesale prices. A quick search for bulk quantities and I learned you could order a 55-gallon drum of 0W-20 full synthetic oil from the Miami Oil Company for $654.75. That works out to $2.98/quart or $14.90/5 quarts. I’d assume there are even better rates for Valvoline and the like but I do not have access to their books.

Ticket Price, Or ‘How Did I Just Come In For Just One Thing And Leave With Five?’

The ticket price is the hidden number customers don’t see. It’s a target corporate sets as the desired revenue per car. At Valvoline, if your store did well on the number of customers you saw per month, the average “ticket,” and customer reviews, you’d get a bonus. This obviously encouraged CSAs to upsell when possible.

That could be from suggesting customers try a full synthetic oil instead of a mix, or attempting to sell a coolant or transmission service. Heck, air filters were/are a big part of this too. As of now, Valvoline charges $24.99 for an engine filter and $54.99 (!!!) for a cabin filter. While researching prices for my significant other’s 2012 Honda Fit, I saw Rock Auto sells Bosch engine and cabinet filters for $4 and $9 respectively. This is one of the more uncomfortable aspects associated with working in quick lube.

I was texting one of my closest friends whom I met while working at Valvoline. I had expressed my shock after discovering Valvoline’s new prices. He gave me permission to share his response. 

Adding It All Up

So working with limited data, my best estimate is that it costs at least $22.50 in labor/car and at most $17.68 in materials costs for my Maverick, for a grand total of $40.18 for a quick lube oil change. Subtracting that from the original quote of $107.68 leaves $67.50 to go towards overhead costs and net profits.

Now looking at the Mishawaka dealership, labor costs are slightly different. The best-going rate I can find when calling around is a $25 labor charge when I supply my own oil and filter. If an oil change takes 15 minutes, that’s $100/hour in labor costs, not an unheard-of number. $25 in labor + $17.68 in materials = $42.68. Subtracting that from the $55 overall cost leaves $12.32 for revenue, a much more reasonable number.

I once asked one of the dealership’s service managers why the cost was so low, relatively speaking, compared to their competition. He said it’s an intentional loss leader. They didn’t care about squeezing the money out of an oil change because that’s not their main business – they want to sell cars. By offering cheaper oil changes, they establish a positive reputation in the community and increase the number of people who visit their dealership. And boy, did it work. It wasn’t uncommon to see the dealership’s driveway filled with cars in line for oil changes.

For me, my go-to is grabbing oil and a filter for $29 while I’m grocery shopping at Meijer. I then take it to whichever dealership has the best quote for labor. I’m okay with that because I don’t have jacks or stands (yet) and my apartment complex frowns upon wrenching in their parking lot. But one day, I’ll have a house with a pole barn and a lift. Then just watch me. I’m sure I’ll find new, unexpected ways to make mistakes and get messy. [Ed Note: And write about them!]

Topshot: oil container via Valvoline; background image by methaphum/stock.adobe.com