You might be intrigued to buy this like me because of: 1. metal build quality, 2. large capacity, and 3. relatively low(er) price, compared to the plastic tower units. But please don't. This is an objective and fair review that I hope will cause you NOT to buy this. I'm giving it 2 stars because I think there's nothing deceptive here, it just doesn't really work. I'm writing this in terms of cars, not boats (which I'll get to). I got this over the weekend and tried it on two cars and returning it. On a 2017 VW Jetta, about 3 quarts (out of 5.8) came out. I needed to finish changing the rest of the oil with one of those $12 simple fluid transfer pumps (believe it or not, even though those take about an hour of you pumping, they work). I then tried it on a 2010 Mercedes C300 and it barely took out 2 quarts out of 7.4. Again, I used the $12 hand pump to finish the oil change. As many reviews have said, this simply doesn't seal and to get it to seal needs some type of precision that simply isn't warranted. This isn't a medical device...we are talking about changing motor oil not curing cancer, right? The pump as well as the "fluid intake" hole have simple metal threading that you need to spin on and use flat rubber gaskets in the perfect spot and not over tighten. I'm not an engineer but why they used flat rubber washers AS OPPOSED to, say, building out a small cavitation in the thread assembly that could fit a rubber O-RING is something I don't understand. Would seem that an O-RING in a cavity would be in the perfect place to seal each time. Sometimes I would loosen the connections and I got MORE vacuum...which speaks to the delicate/odd nature of this. I think what I'll do instead is either make my own solution or buy one of those more expensive plastic "tower" units that has the handle living inside the tower as opposed to this that has a metal pump attached to a metal can. Again, I'm not an engineer but assuming you buy a decent quality plastic unit, perhaps that's better vacuum and seal since the "pump" is more organic and part of the entire system, and the hose that pulls your oil is also part of the overall tower - as opposed to sticking an external pump that relies on a few threads and badly engineered gasket...on what is essentially an over-priced metal gas can. And the other type of plastic tower don't have this hose clamp and "pump 30-40" times. Just put the hose in and start pumping to create vacuum. What's this "business" with a hose clamp on the thicker part of the hose so when after you pump you put the tube in the dipstick hole and release the hose clamp so the oil starts coming out almost instantly? What are we children needing a magic trick? It only took out half anyway. Just put the hose in the dipstick tube and start pumping and it will start soon. Lastly, I want to say, the more I look at this, the more I believe this may be great and was intended for boats and small things such as lawnmowers, not cars. I'm a marketing guy and the brand name: Topsider? That's the name of my favorite boat shoe brand - and I think/suspect that's the origin. So obviously they tried to get people with cars to also buy and expand their market. The box says "boats" and focuses on boats on 3 sides and only on 1 side it mentions cars. And on the box and Amazon description, there is a picture of the topsider sitting on TOP of the engine bay, siphoning oil. Anyone who understands siphoning oil through the dipstick understands that these systems need to be either equal level or lower than the top of what you're siphoning, that's basic physics - otherwise it makes it so much harder. It's not for cars - whether it had good seals or not. Again, maybe since boats take less oil and are configured differently - this thing is for boats man, not cars.
