Peaks and Places | Travel and Adventure Blog

In our first a few months here in New Zealand, Taylor and I did pretty well at beating on the van. The van has been a real trooper, and besides for some lights being left on and killing the battery, it has been incredibly reliable for us. Luckily for us, Mitsubishi ran the L300 model for almost 20 years, so it seems they got something right. Of the many cars I have owned, this beat up van is second only to my 2001 4Runner, in terms of reliability.

Regardless of how reliable it is, is was past time that we showed it a bit of love. It had been at least 10,000 km’s (6,200 miles) since an oil change. We had debated if we should do it ourselves or take it in – we opted to save a few bucks and do it ourselves. The auto parts stores here are very similar to the States, Repco and Super Cheap Auto are very similar to AutoZone and Advanced Auto. We picked a filter and oil, since it was on sale, we got enough oil for this one, and the next oil change as well. The oil came in at ~55 NZD ($34 – bargain) for 10L, and the filter was ~45 NZD ($28 – not a bargain). Along with this, we had to buy a 16mm socket for the drain plug, and a catch basin to drain the oil into, both of which were fairly cheap.

Now that the shopping was done, we got started on the real work. Sadly, that 16mm socket actually should have been a 17mm, so back to the store we went. Luckily, we weren’t too far from it. After getting everything we needed for a second time, we actually got the work. The drain plug was really tight, I was actually a bit worried I’d strip something, luckily it came loose with no damage. The filter was hand tight, which was a relief after how tight the plug was. The new filter went on easy and filling the oil back up had minimal spillage. Overall, the oil change was not bad, now with the right tools the next one should go even smoother.

Along with an oil change, the van also desperately needed a bath. If you’ve been following the YouTube, I’m sure you’ve noticed how dirty the poor van looks. We finally got around to washing it and it looks so much nicer clean. We made a vow to wash it more often so we don’t look so low brow as we drive all over this beautiful country.