If you have trouble keeping an appointment with the oil change shop, you may be looking at the chore the wrong way.
You know the rules about car maintenance, and you know you are past due for an oil change. You may even know where you plan to have the task completed, but you just have not done it. Why not use this necessity to your advantage?
So many people put car maintenance on a to-do list when the list is already full of other things. Weekend to-do lists never get accomplished, and taking care of your car instead of going out and having fun is not always an easy decision. Why not find a less busy weekday afternoon to take your vehicle in? Crowds will be thin and businesses will not be packed. Some places run midweek specials for this reason. They want to draw some of their overwhelming weekend traffic into days with more spaces in the schedule. People also tend to add an oil change to the "getting ready for a trip" check list. Do not wait until that already stressful time. Just go now, and save yourself the trauma of pre-vacation havoc.
If you are the one in your marriage or relationship to which the vehicle upkeep responsibilities fall, you know that you are also the one who is constantly nagged to remember to take the car in for maintenance. This time, be proactive. Take the car for a lube job before the badgering begins. When your spouse begins to drop you hints, you can tell him to find another cause. Even better, when he reminds you about the task, tell him that you will do it right now. Leave the house for a few hours to yourself.
Along the same lines as hoodwinking your spouse, look at an oil change as a bit of mandated down time. You cannot run any errands, work, clean, fold, shine, cook, or mow when you are in the lounge of a maintenance shop with your car over the pit. So, find a nice corner by a stack of back issued magazines, and rip out all the recipes and fitness routines. If vandalizing is not your thing, perhaps you could bring your own reading material. Finally catch up with the book club selection, or download an e-book from the library. Look around you. Perhaps there is a nice shopping boutique or salon within walking distance. You could even find a restaurant. "Party for one, please." For an ultimate oil change get away, drop the car, find a salon that serves lunch, and get a pedicure while you read a magazine.
You may never see getting the oil changed as a chore again.
