Whats your opinion of which auto shops are honest and which aren't? Does the company matter at all, or is all about the individual shop?
Car Talk, Jiffy Lube Ripps Off Everyone
By Dan8267 Follow Sat, 9 Jun 2012, 10:25pm 10,010 views 63 comments
In Boca Raton FL 33433
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Saint George, UT
elliemae's website
Years ago my brother worked for econolube. All of these shops are run the same way - they have a quota per car that they have to meet or the manager is fired. The quota requires that extra work be charged for - but (wink wink nudge nudge) not necessarily completed.
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elliemae says
Econolube sounds like the cheap option from a brothel's menu.
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San Jose, CA
It pretty much a marker of the service industry these days. Meet quotas unrealistic without scamming customers or you're terminated.
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San Leandro, CA
Zlxr says
Too late ! Overheating from lack of oil means galling or warping, (disaster) most of the time. Look under ur car b4 you leave the dupe shop. NO WET SPOT ?, OK, Check idiot light or oil gauge immediately upon starting engine. Check dip stick again, when you get home. Check for oil spots under your car ALWAYS, then check dip stick again in a day or two. THEN, GO find a seasoned old dude in the back alley somewhere who is not a NEUROMARKETER. Just a wrench.
Goofylube, GrannyGreasers, all those big advertisers are taking 300% advantage of those who do not shop around. If you choose not to make friends with a local mechanic, the best (oil change) values are muffler or tire stores. Let them try to sell you other stuff but watch for two words. Recommend or Need.
When you patronize those with big billboards, you foot the bill for the billboard. Find a Mom & Pop shop.
Synthetic oil is ONLY beneficial in freezing conditions. No need to pay 3 times the price for market hype.
http://www.xs11.com/xs11-info/tech-tips/maintenance/oil---lubrication/58-the-surprising-truth-about-motor-oils.html
Still Skeptical ?
Please forward a one time payment of $1K to Patrick c/o tmac54, in exchange for one
"Premium synthetic, hermetically sealed, billet, End of the World" Insurance Policy.
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honest answer: Either one will stay in good "clean" condition for a very long time these days due to less contamination from poor fueling systems and poor filtering.
BUT,
Today's oils have been robbed of Zink. That makes them suck.
Dan, since you seem like the real deal, here is the best advice I have for engine life:
1) Joe Gibbs Racing oil. I use XP3 in newer engines and in the winter, XP7 for summer and harder driving and engines with over 75K. The racing oil is the oil you want. It is not "thicker", it is better. It holds up to heat and has better shear (don't mind getting whipped by the crank)
2) NAPA "Gold" filters for air (every 6 months) and oil (6 months or 6,000) and fuel (every year). DO not run racing level filters. They have bigger mesh, not tighter. NAPA "Gold" has the tighter microns to catch more crap.
3) After a motor hits 100K, I run 1:4 ratio of Lucas Oil Stabilizer to JGR XP7 Oil.
If you live in a place that has lots of dust, adjust the air filter time. If you live in a place with huge climate changes or humidity, you may want to adjust fuel filter time. If you never suck dust and keep a clean air filter on it you can just change the oil filter at 3,000 and add the oil the filter losses and keep on going. The oil will not wear out, it will just get dirty.
Lots of people have snake oil tricks and such, but I bet there is a circle track near you. Go ask the guy that builds the fast enggines over there. Or, see what the Petty School is using at Disney. This Gibbs stuff is the real deal, and the EPA removed Zink from the daily driver stuff. Let me know if you get any better advice. I may be missing something.
I don't know of anything that will be a negative, other than cost, but Ebay has it at times.
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I've been using mobile 1 synthetic, but I've read good things about royal purple. I don't mind the extra cost of synthetic. You change it less often so it comes out to about the same. Plus it cuts the oil you have to dispose of in half, and that's good for the environment, and you don't have to go as often to the oil change shop.
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Foothill Ranch, CA
Sad but true. The last time I took a car to Jiffy, when I got home I noticed one of the tires looked low on air. So I went through the check list and found half the stuff checked off was not done.
Worst part, my air filter was ripped part. They would have let me drive around like that instead of replacing a part they destroyed inspecting.
Great marketing, horrible service. Never been back to any of these lube shops. I am a DIY most of the time now.
elliemae says
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Madison, WI
My newer car, I change at 5000, my gfriends newer SUV, changes at 7500. I won't go to these oil change places, they give you cheap oil, cheap filter, and they over torque the filter and the crankcase plug making both more difficult to remove the next time, sometimes even ruining the crankcase plug, or stripping out the threads. For less money than they charge, I can get an OEM filter, and run synthetic oil. I don't mind doing it myself.
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all chain style quick lube places may not suck, but the demographic they attract as workers have no business touching anything I own.
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Davis, CA
Bap33 says
I agree with Bap33!
I sent this to a friend who takes their car into one of these chain outfits, all they said was "OK I'll stay away from Jiffy Lube". They didn't proceed to the obvious conclusion that it's probably not unique to that chain.
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Portland, OR
As the son of an Auto Mechanic and shop owner, I urge all patrick.net members to change their oil regularly. It stuns me how many people plop down 40K on a new car and quibble about the price of an oil change. Most shops including my dads, oil changes are priced at break even. It's still more expensive than jiffy whatever, but an adult will inspect your car and not try and charge you for putting nitrogen in your tires. Find a shop that has a good reputation and specializes in your make of vehicle.
Also don't buy the twin turbocharged all wheel drive version of whatever, your pocket book and mechanic will thank you.
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I've always changed my own oil. I think I might have taken my truck to a place once. Anyway, frequency is key. I change mine every 3,000 miles on the dot. Is it necessary? Probably not. But for example I have a 17 year old Toyota truck that's got a little over 250,000 miles on it. I've owned it since new and have always changed the oil every 3,000 miles. The result is that I can remove the filler cap and the underside of the cap is perfectly clean and there's no gunk under the valve cover. The pistons all show factory spec compression. Basically the engine shows hardly any wear and despite its age and mileage could probably go another 250,000 miles no problem.
I have always only used the absolute cheapest oil and oil filters. Just conventional "dino" oil. Again- its about frequency. Doesn't matter if its cheap oil so long as it gets changed more frequently.
I'd also say that changes in emmision and crankcase ventilation systems have helped oil do its job longer and better. For example I also own a 55' Ford Fairlane. Its not a trailer queen and last had an engine overhaul 25 years ago. It doesn't use any oil, but seeing as how the car is "My baby", I change the oil probably every 500-1000 miles. The oil that comes out at change time looks absolutely filthy. Way dirtier than the oil that comes out of the Toyota. Then again the Ford has barely what I'd call a crankcase ventilation system: it has a simple PCV valve that re-feeds the gasses right back into the carburetor. The truck on the other hand has a sophisticated ventilation system and thus the oil stays cleaner.
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marco says
You've got it bass akwards. Oil accumulates acids and contaminants the longer its in the engine.
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Vicente says
I think that's the first time that's ever happened. History made.
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Los Angeles, CA
im never going to a corporate auto chain again
always will deal with small one owner shop that does not advertise. Jiffy Lube can get away with scams, they have billion dollar ad budgets to get more customers.
The small guy can only exist by word of mouth as in 'go to my mechanic he is honest' - he cant advertise in any big way so he has to be honest (mostly!) or go under.
Am i wrong? it seems to be a structural issue of why you get screwed at the big chains and why they continue to get away with it and still make money/stay in business.
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Boston, MA
You get what you pay for. Spend the extra $5/20 minutes and go to the dealership. Even the low-level mechanics that handle 90% of the oil changes are held accountable, have more to lose, and basically give a shit when working on your car. They are in the dealership with the hopes of moving up, learning more, and eventually going flat-rate, so they can do more lucrative work, and not oil changes. I should know, as I did this for 3 years. Even though it was a failed career change, it really opened my eyes to learn how money flows through a car dealership (new/used cars, service, financing,e tc)....Or you can learn how to change your oil yourself. After a couple of times, it will take 20 minutes, less than half the time of driving to these hack-centers, waiting, getting the work done, and driving back home.
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TMAC54 says
-----------------------------
TMAC, I agree w/ almost everything, but when it comes to synthetic oil, you would want it if your car is running a turbo, OR ONLY if your owner's manual recommends/requires it... 95% of all answers can be found in your owner's manual.
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Speaking of synthetic oil, my current car's manual recommends it and to change it every 7,500 miles. My previous car recommend natural oil and changing it every 3,000 miles. Naturally, I always follow what the manual says.
Now, I know that synthetic oil lasts longer, but what about staying clean? I've heard from some people that synthetic oil stays clean longer due to its chemistry and dirt absorption capabilities, but I've heard others say that all oil should be replaced every 3,000 miles and that synthetic gets dirty just as fast as natural.
Any thoughts on this? I've been doing the synthetic oil since breaking in my car and changing every 7,500 like the manual says. So far, no problem and the car is 5 years old. I like to keep cars forever if possible.
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royal purple is good stuff.
I do not run good oil in my chain saw or my kids quad. My wife was over my shoulder and demanded I told you that. Yea, just like you imagine.
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Bap33 says
Todays oils have lower levels of zinc and phosphorus but it is still there. I think if you do a little research you will find this only matters for the extremely high loads of racing engines or with flat tappet pushrod motors, which are I believe totally extinct in newer cars. I can't think of any flat tappet motors currently on the market.
Pure racing oils are designed for racing engines in racing conditions not daily drivers. They are very low detergent and have high enough levels of zinc to kill some newer cat converters. Street engines very rarely run hard enough to get hot enough to burn out contaminants, so having detergent is critical. Why not use Joe Gibbs street formulations?
I run good quality non synthetic oil with 3k changes. I regularly get 300k+ out of my cars, which I never buy new. I do use Red Line synthetic for trans, rears, power steering, as well as water wetter in the coolant.