GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Whats the worst vehicle to perform an oil change in?The chevy Cavalier gets my vote!!

My brother's 1998 is kinda hard. The oil filter is behind the motor. Inder

B12 Sentra ('89) the oil filter is on the back side of the engine, above the CV Axle....

1988 Ford Escort GT - filter on the back side of the engine, above the exhaust header and the power steering rack. It hung horizontally about 15" above the lowest point on the car, where you couldn't get a filter wrench on it, and the oil dripped on you when you finally got it loose. Ugh! 1971 Ford Maverick V8 was also very tight, and too low to get under without putting it on a lift.Best: 1980 VW Rabbit & 1984 VW Rabbit Convertible - Filter's right in front, right under the front fascia, easy to grab, unless you have aftermarket front sway-bars installed.Worst sparkplug change: (never owned one, only heard about this one) Boss 429 Mustang, circa 1971 - Dealer had to buy $400 worth of special tools AND disassemble the front end of the car to change the plugs.

Easiest oil change for me at least is the Vibe. Sometimes I don't have to jack up the car. Just reach from the top at the filter and twist and get under the car and take the drain plug off. Not in that particular order, but you know what I mean.Inder

Would that be a Cavalier with the old 2.2 litre? If so, I'd be inclined to agree!I had a '95 Corsica with the 2.2. The filter being mounted somewhere halfway up the engine on the back was a pain! It was very difficult to get to, and even worse trying to remove. I had to have it in just the right location or it wouldn't come out. There were hoses and stuff keeping me from pulling it up from the top, the exhaust made it tricky trying to get it from the bottom. There was so much oil on the back of that engine from the filter when I was trying to get the thing out. I've had 2 GM cars with the 3.1 V6, while those were easy, oil still went all over the place. The filter was right up front, but it was still quite messy. And with the Malibu I had to unscrew the splash shield under the car each time to get the filterout, not hard to do by any stretch of the imagination, but more work for me damn it! The Vibe is the easiest car I've ever changed oil in. Right behind it was the '95 Hyundai Accent my friend used to have, that was pretty easy too.

94 Jimmy with the oil relocation kit. Put the filter near the fender, so you end up dumping oil in he fender and all over the engine bay.

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic »Would that be a Cavalier with the old 2.2 litre? If so, I'd be inclined to agree!I had a '95 Corsica with the 2.2. The filter being mounted somewhere halfway up the engine on the back was a pain! It was very difficult to get to, and even worse trying to remove. I had to have it in just the right location or it wouldn't come out. There were hoses and stuff keeping me from pulling it up from the top, the exhaust made it tricky trying to get it from the bottom. There was so much oil on the back of that engine from the filter when I was trying to get the thing out. I've had 2 GM cars with the 3.1 V6, while those were easy, oil still went all over the place. The filter was right up front, but it was still quite messy. And with the Malibu I had to unscrew the splash shield under the car each time to get the filterout, not hard to do by any stretch of the imagination, but more work for me damn it! The Vibe is the easiest car I've ever changed oil in. Right behind it was the '95 Hyundai Accent my friend used to have, that was pretty easy too. Yes! I guess i forgot that engine was in many vehicles...You have to be a contorsionist to even get to the filter...You know its bad when the oil change guys are fighting to get that filter changed...What in the world was GM thinking its a piece that needs to be replaced every 3 months they could make it a tad easier to perform this required maintnes.

I guess GM assumed that most people don't change their own oil, they just take it to the dealer or the corner lube shop ad it's a done deal.Inder

May not be the worst vehicle...I bought a Honda Civic new in 1975. Thought I would save some money and change my own oil, after all the filter was visable right under the front of the car. The factory filter was really tight. It was too small for a filter wrench. I tried everything and couldn't get it to budge. Not giving up I remember someone saying to just poke a screwdriver through the filter and then unscrew it... Well I did this and it still wouldn't budge. Now the filter had holes in it (actually it ripped almost in half). So the engine would not hold oil, I had to have the car towed to the dealer. So much for saving money....

That actually happened to me on my last vibe oil change...The previous change had been done by a shop, they horribly overtightened the filter. Wrench would slip. No other tools would make it budge. Poked screwdrivers in and everything. Couldn't get the damn thing to tunr. Finally, got it loose, can't remember how...Was sitting there wondering (removed) I was gonna do though...

I have never poked a hole in another filter...Valuable lesson.

A friend of mine used to have an old Pontiac Fiero (don't know what year). He claimed that in order to change the oil, he had to unfasten the motor mounts and lift it up. Dunno how much truth there was to it, but if he wasn't exaggerating, then that's a serious oil change! ~ Z600

I seem to remember something like this too, I forget on which engine the 4 or 6 cyl. The six was squeezed into the bay...