How I save money with oil changes!

So, like many people, I do not like changing my cars oil. But I know it's extremely important to do so, and doing it yourself can save a ton of money!

So how have I made the best of things? First, by making changing the oil easier. I got an oil drain valve for like $12 $24, the valve has a simple switch to open up the valve and start draining the oil in 1 second. No tool kit needed! And second, through discovering what is likely safe for my particular engine through oil analysis.

I drive a hybrid (specifically the 2013 Toyota Prius V with 220k miles on the ODO), Toyota recommends synthetic oil be changed every 10k miles, but my mechanic recommends changing it every 5k miles. Meanwhile, many oil filters are rated for up to 20k miles! So what should I do???

I sent my oil in for analysis to find out. After multiple changes and 3 analysis here's what I've discovered.

After running full synthetic oil for 12,000 miles the oil is still in good condition and could even go longer, the filter is still working too. However, I didn't want to run that long since it's more than Toyota recommends and way more than my mechanic recommends.

Plus, changing the oil itself is the easy part now, it's changing the filter that's the hard part. So I tried something else. Since the oil can be changed easily in 5 minutes with the valve, and the filter was still good after 12,000 miles on the same oil, how long can the filter last if I change from used to fresh oil at like the 7,500 mark?

So I tried it. After an oil and filter change I ran for 8457 miles and then changed only the oil, before running another 8261 miles and changing both (The filter looked like it was in great condition BTW). I sent a sample of oil for analysis, which came back showing the filter was still working and no large particles were there, so the filter was still functional after 16718 miles! They even said I could have probably kept the old filter in for another oil only change. But rather than go beyond the filter recommended 20k miles, I'm just doing 20k with a oil only change at the 10k mark.

Am I using expensive oil and filters? Nope. Walmart supertech oil filters, like $3, and Costco synthetic oil! Watch for sales because I recently got 10 quarts for $28.

Unsurprisingly I also change my own air filters. 😆

So rather than paying $50 - $75 every 10k miles to have a shop change my oil, I spend $30 every 20k miles by changing it myself! Saving $70 -$120.