This thread is awesome.
I need to learn how to change my oil. Not entirely to save money, but for two reasons:
1. I drive across the country. As such, I use the highest-mileage synthetic oil. It works quite well. On the highway, my car uses just under 1% oil life / 100 miles. It takes into account speed, RPM, gear, load, etc. Quite smart. I suspect that it's calibrated for the cheapest oil and I actually get more life than the car says, but I've never experimented. What this means is that I absolutely need the guys who change my oil to use the oil and filter I specify. If they don't, I might be seriously shit out of luck. So far so good but I don't want to trust other people with this. (Currently my M.O. is to call a place that has a promotion for a $20 change, and say "How about you charge $20 but I supply the oil and filter" and they pretty much can't pass that up.)
2. My longest trips were/are around 5000 miles, mostly through decently-populated areas. I know, I know, New Mexico and Nebraska and Oklahoma and all of those lovely states don't have that many people, but they're still decently populated... compared to my upcoming 7500-8500 mile trip to Alaska. When I'm in East Nowhere, USA, I know I can still find a shop within a couple hours' drive. Where I'm going, there will be areas with nothing for an entire day. So I'd like to change my oil myself... my car will make it just fine but I'd rather still change it halfway through.
I've got a jack, a pair of 3-ton jackstands, etc... the only things I'm missing are the wrench to pop the cap off, a bucket for the oil, and experience.