[paul34]

Hmm, yea, I've had the same question. I personally still have yet to buy all my own tools, but I recently had a friend teach/help me change my oil... but, he had a fully functional hydralic floor jack in his garage (the kind where you just drive on top of it, and it jacks up four points on the car all at once. Not quite a "lift" like at the shops, but it works just like one).

Basically, we couldn't use those points you're talking about, because the contact "pads" you slip over the arms don't fit there. Eventually my friend just put it under the "frame" rails that go down each side of the car, kind of between the center of the underbody and edge of the car. I know that my car is a unibody, but I think it was ok because nothing adverse happened and it supported the car just fine.

It also had no problems when I had to climb into my car so I could start it up (no other way to push in the clutch).

So yea, I have a feeling there must be a different jack or jackstand point for it.