I buy Castrol oil for my wife's Explorer in those 5-quart jugs from Walmart and I use those to store used oil in until I take them to get emptied.
As for doing your own oil changes, this is what I use when I change mine:
- 1/2" wratchet with a 3/8" adapter, and 3/8" sockets
- rhino ramps
- piece of aluminum foil (like 12"-18" long)
- drain pan
I drive the front wheels up onto the rhino ramps (available at Walmart, Pep Boys, etc) which gets it up high enough for me to get under. You could probably use a hydraulic jack & stands but I think the ramps are way easier and less hassle. I'm not sure what size head that the oil pan drain plug is so make sure you get a socket set that has both metric and standard sizes. You might also need an oil filter wrench to get the filter off. When you install the new filter just do it hand tight as the instructions on the box say to (spin it on until it touches, then turn another 1/2-3/4 turn). This will allow you to remove it by hand next time (there's no reason it needs to be on super tight anyways). Make sure when you remove the old filter that the rubber gasket was removed with the old filter. Also make sure you coat the rubber gasket on the new filter with a light coat of the new oil. Before you remove the filter though, place the aluminum foil under the old filter and on top of the rack and pinion steering unit and other stuff because as soon as you start removing it oil is going to spill out and the foil will keep it from getting all over everything. I just kind of mold it to shape and fold a sort of spout at the bottom so it drains neatly into the oil drain pan. Anyways, when you do it once you'll see how fairly easy it is. It takes me about 20-25 minutes total (from getting everything out to final cleanup).
EDIT: just for clarification, I drain the oil from the car directly into the drain pan which holds like 9 quarts or so. When I'm all done I empty the drain pan into the empty Castrol jugs for storage until I dispose of it. I keep about 4 or 5 of those jugs on hand as well as an old cat litter bucket with lid to store the old filters in. Every 6 months or so I take it all down to the local household hazardous wast facility here in Austin where they take old oil and filters.
) Also, what kind of container should I use for the used oil? Can I just use milk jugs and take it to Advance Auto?
