First I want to say I hope this is the right place for questions about maintenance.  It doesn't appear any of the boards here are too maintenance specific.  If I'm out of line please point me to the right area.

Last night I did my first oil change.  It didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped.  But practice makes perfect.

The first issue was my 08 XB is too low to drive up on my ramps.  Combine this with my brother having my jack stands and I was forced to use only two regular jacks and I wasn't about to crawl under there to scope it all out.  Everything I learned was from peeking at an angle, reaching and feeling.  I know this was a probably a poor choice but the car is up to 15,400 and I wanted to get the oil changed.

I have the 2" thick Scion manual and according to that, removing the underpanel is a snap.  Remove 3 bolts and presto, you're at the filter.  Well that's not how it worked for me.

There are two underpanels.  A front one and the second one that should be removed or at least freed enough to get at the filter.  The problem is the second panel that I wanted to remove (it's shown to be removed in the Scion Manual) is held in place by about 6 or so bolts and also a number of snaps that have sort of a barb to hold the snaps in place.  One must  pry out these snaps to remove them.   

As far as I can tell these snaps might have a lifespan of about 3 to 5 removals depending on how lucky you are.  They seem to undergo some significant trauma when removed and reinserted.    The snaps I removed appeared to have been removed and reinserted by the dealer on the first two oil changes and are now on their last legs.  And since this is the first time I've done this, I wasn't prepared to have any extra on hand.  It also appeared my panel was missing one snap to begin with.

My question is, did I remove more than I was suppose to?  Are the snaps not meant to be removed on an oil change?  Is there some way I can get to that filter by removing only bolts and flexing the panel that covers the oil filter?

Is there someone here that can pass along a trick or two and maybe put me on an easier course to removing the underpanels. Everything ended up working out fine but it wasn't as easy as I suspected it would be.

I've learned that next time I'll need my either my jack stands or somehow modify my ramps.  I imagine if I can drive my car up on a flat 2x8 before starting up the ramps, my ramps will work.  As it is the car's bottom clearance was about 3/4" shy of clearing the ramp.  The boost of 1-1/2" from climbing up on a 2x8 board should be sufficient.  Which ever way I proceed I've learned that for at least a couple of oil changes I need to be able to get fully under the car to scope it all out.

Thanks for the reply TJ.  Although I'm a little leary of fiberglass ramps I'll check those out.

After some Internet searching it maybe seems I made a harder job out of my oil change than necessary.

http://blogs.edmunds.com/roadtests/2008/03/2008-scion-xb-diy-oil-change.html

This person suggests that only the three button clips (I called them snaps) need to be removed to get at the filter.  The main trick I didn't know was how to deal with the button clips.  This was explained later in the link I provided.

The trick with the button clips is this:

"They consist of a circle within a circle, and you only have to gently pry the inner circle (the button) out a quarter inch or so using a slender screwdriver with a skinny blade. Use your thumb and forefinger in a "paring knife" grip: gently pull the screwdriver blade toward your thumb with your curled index finger. The button does not typically need to come all the way out.

When pulled out in this way, the button no longer spreads apart the hidden arms of the outer circle that protrude through and behind the pieces being held together, shrinking their diameter so you can pull both parts out of the hole as one, by hand.

It takes seconds if you have the right sort of medium-length straight-blade screwdriver with a small tip. It helps if the person before you hasn't already messed them up, however. Properly used, these clips should stand up to multiple removals.

Putting them back in is cake: With the button pulled out, feed the arms through both pieces being held together until fully seated, then push the button in with your thumb."

Those ramps are a nylon/plastic and quite sturdy.  I was also leery about them at first, but love them now.  They have a high weight rating (several times heavier than the full weight of the Miata).

I'll be sure to look back at this thread when I change my own oil for the first time at 15,000 miles (or so).  At my present rate, that will be in the fall.

Yep, having the right technique for those button clips should make them last for a while.

As far as the lower splash shield, you can just remove the three button clips securing the shield below the oil filter. Then you can swing the shield down at the crease.

I, however, don't like that idea. Did you ever have a crappy tool case that didn't have a conventional hinge, it's just pressed plastic with a crease as a hinge. What happened when you opened and closed it too many times? It breaks at the hinge, right? Same principle applies here, and this splash shield is very flimsy.

I just remove the six bolts and six or seven (I forget) button clips and then remove the whole splash shield.

Gives it a nice, open, airy feel while I change my oil

Here is the ramps that I have to use to get the car on a jack.

Phew! I looked at the title of this thread quickly and thought the topic was "Removing underpants for oil change".

Never mind.

However...I can't think of a less gratifying DIY maintenance task than changing the oil in your car.  Unless you ar driving some kind odd or unusual vehicle, or live in the middle of nowhere, it just isn't worth the effort.  I stopped doing it when I sold my last MG.  I'd had enough of the jacking it up-wrestling with the filter-fishing the drain plug out of a pan of hot oil-seating the filter gasket-banging my head on the suspension-skinning my knuckles when a wrench slipped-cleaning up the mess and trying to figure out what to do with the used oil routine.  Besides, with an MG there were plenty of other tasks to keep me busy.

The dealer will take care of the first two oil changes on the xB for free.  After that I'll use the quicky lube place (and occasionally the dealer).  It'll cost about thirty bucks and take fifteen minutes.  I'll decline their offers for wiper blades, fuel injector cleaner treatments and air filter replacements, and after I get home, I'll double check their work.  Granted, some of these places are pretty dismal.  You need to check them out before you take your ride there.  Avoid the ones that are staffed by kids playing grab-ass and get to know the technicians when you find a professional shop that does good work..

I'm weird about letting the grab-assy kids at the Quik-E-Loob change my oil, too.  I have marked filters I installed, had the Loobsters change my oil, and then found the same marked filter there when I did it myself again.  Heck, I like to do as much of the maintenance & repair work as I can, just so I know it's done right.

Sounds liike the splash shield under the car will be a minor pain to deal with, but trust me when i tell you it'll be a piece of cake compared to my current MINI Cooper S.  (xB is pending delivery on Monday, 9/22)  BMW/LandRover/MINI were kind enough to use an old fashioned canister oil filter, AND to place the canister on the back of the engine next to the exhaust manifold (see:blazing hot) AND sandwiched in so tightly that the special 36mm shallow socket & 1/2" drive ratchet can only do about 1/4 turn at a time.  Then they made the canister lid next to impossible to re-thread, too.  LOF on my MINI takes me about an hour, 30-40 minutes of which is spent trying to re-thread the farking canister while resisting the urge to beat the car with a torque wrench in frustration.

Rhino Ramps rock, by the way.  Only commercial ramps that fit under a lowered MINI, and they save me ALL kinds of time & aggravation.  They are rated to something like 10k pounds, so you could park a Ford Excursion on them without breaking them.  They will continue to be put to good use with my xB.

Also, having worked as a tire/oil/brake monkey at a real live service station during college in the early 90's, I can tell you that the splash guard blocking the oil filter is nothing new.  It's just a heckuva lot easier to deal with when the car is on a lift & you have air tools at hand.  Having a little door cut into it for the filter, however, is not something I have experienced before.  We just always had to remove the whole splash guard on cars like that.