“It probably take me like 15 minutes,” the mobile mechanic tells his customer as he walks up to a silver Acura sedan parked in a lot. There is a quick check that everything is already in the car, and when the question comes up of whether the car needs to be pulled around, the answer is “No, it’s cool like this.”

The two minute video comes from @handymanleron, whose account goes by LA The STL Mechanic and whose post is tagged St. Louis. The caption is simply “Acura oil change,” with #mobilemechanic among the tags. It is filmed almost entirely from his own point of view.

Before any tool comes out, he spreads a black protective cover over the driver’s seat with a gloved hand. He pops the hood, twists off the oil filler cap on top of the V6 engine cover, and sets a blue jug of motor oil on the passenger seat.

Then he works on the ground in the parking lot. A black 3 ton floor jack slides under the front of the car on loose gravel, and the front wheel comes up off the ground. He opens a case of sockets on the pavement and reaches up under the engine with a ratchet.

The refill happens from above. He pours the new oil through a funnel into the filler neck, the jug tipped almost upside down, with a black drain pan on the ground beside the front wheel. He screws the cap back on, gets behind the wheel and starts the car, and the camera shows the gauge cluster lit up behind the Acura steering wheel.

“Alright, we good?” he asks when he gets out. He talks with the customer for a few seconds, and the clip ends behind the wheel of a Chevy pulling away. His last words: “On to the next job though.”

Where the Old Oil Should Go

The drain pan in the parking lot is the part of a driveway oil change that matters beyond your own car. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, used oil from one oil change can contaminate one million gallons of fresh water, which the agency describes as a year’s supply for 50 people.

The EPA tells do it yourselfers to collect used oil in a sealed, leak proof container, to drain used filters and recycle them, and to ask auto maintenance shops, waste collectors or local government waste officials where to drop it off. Filters can usually go to the same collection centers that take the oil. The agency also notes that one gallon of used motor oil provides the same 2.5 quarts of lubricating oil as 42 gallons of crude oil once it is refined again.

Hiring a Mobile Mechanic for an Oil Change

Have the oil ready if they ask. The first exchange in the video is a check that everything is already in the car. Find the oil grade and capacity in your owner’s manual and buy that exact oil and the right filter, or confirm the mechanic is bringing them.

Pick a spot they can work in. He jacks the car on gravel at the edge of a lot. Ask whether your complex allows car repairs in the lot, and park on level ground with space at the front of the car.

Ask where the old oil and filter are going. A mobile mechanic leaves with your used oil, so ask whether they take it to a collection center, as the EPA advises.

Check the ground and the dipstick after they leave. Look under the car for fresh drips around the drain plug and filter, then check the level once the engine has sat for a few minutes.

Reset the reminder. If your car has an oil life or maintenance reminder on the dash, make sure it is reset before the mechanic drives off, or ask them how to do it.