There are many places you can go to get your oil changed. Most of the places are not too expensive, but they are often busy, and it is hard to get to the shop when you are busy working. If you are interested in changing your car’s oil yourself, there are things you should know. First of all most cars are pretty much the same in this regard. If you have changed one car’s oil you can probably change it in most cars. While the oil pan may be located in a different area of each individual model it is generally on the bottom of the vehicle. Below are a few tips that will help you make this task easier.

• You will need at least six quarts of oil. Preferably you should use the same type of oil as you had in the engine before.
• You will also need to purchase a new oil filter designed specifically for the model of your car.
• During an oil change most people also change the air filters on their cars. The air filter tends to become dirty in about the same time as the oil needs changing, especially on older model vehicles. Therefore it may not be a bad idea to purchase an air filter as well.
• If you have not done any prior work on the vehicle at home, you will need to purchase a car jack or tire racks. These racks allow you to drive up on them to elevate the front end of the car where you will be working. If you are using a jack or the racks you will need to place blocks behind the other two tires to keep the car from rolling because the parking brakes do not always hold the grip reliably.Make sure that the parking brakes are on and that the transmission is in park position. You need to elevate the car so that the oil will run out of the oil pan completely as well as make it easier for you to reach the oil pan.
• Prepare a canister or a pan to catch the oil in. Most auto parts shops including those online will have oil pans that you can drain the oil into. These pans have a special design to make disposing of the oil into an oil drum easy.
• You will also need an oil filter wrench. This wrench must be the correct wrench for the size of filter you have. There are many sizes depending on the type of car you have.Another tool you will need is the wrench for the oil pan nut. This nut has to be removed to let the oil escape. This is usually a metric or standard wrench depending on who manufactured your car. The best tool for this job is a socket wrench.
• Once you have all of the tools and other items you will need to locate the oil pan. It is best to look in your car's manual for this information. Keep plenty of towels on hand as well.
• First, loosen the nut on the oil pan, making sure that you are prepared for the first gush of oil by having the waste pan underneath the oil pan.
• Next, locate the oil fill cap and remove it. Some manuals may tell you to do this first. I have found that this creates more of a gush if you wait to remove the hexagonal nut after, so the potential for a spill is higher.
• Once you have gotten the oil flowing out of the vehicle you can then set a bucket just under the oil filter. There will be a little oil drainage from the filter so having the bucket under there will help keep you from causing a spill. Once you have removed the old filter you can then screw on the new filter following the instructions on the box.

Now that you have removed all of the oil from your vehicle you will need to make sure that you replace the hexagonal nut on the oil pan and make sure that the oil filter is screwed on tight. Then, you can begin replacing the oil. It is best to fill the engine with at least four quarts of oil and then let it settle. Check the engine oil level and then add a quart until it is full. Check with your manual on the exact amount of oil required for the engine.