Just got a new car... my first one... its a 2006 ford taurus... is it cheaper to change the oil yourself or have someone do it for you? How often do you do it? What else do you do? So lost :(

It's much cheaper to change it yourself. As the owner of a 2000 Ford Taurus, with the 3.0L Duratec engine, my advice is to only use a full synthetic 5W-20 engine oil (e.g. Mobil 1 or Pennzoil Platinum) and change it every 6,000 miles or 6 months, whichever comes first. Use a premium filter--Purolator PureOne, Mobil 1, Motorcraft, or K&N.

The next most important thing to do is to drop and clean the transmission pan, change the filter, and refill with Mobil 1 Multi-Vehicle Synthetic ATF every 30,000 miles. Transmissions are the weak link in all front wheel drive vehicles. If you take care of the engine and transmission, everything else that can go wrong is relatively minor.