Oil Change Rip Offs

"Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif" (lumpy44) 11/10/2013 at 19:52 • Filed to: None

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Today I watched a Marketplace episode that revealed the scam of many of those 20 minute oil change places. A perfectly good car with freshly changed fluids other than oil were taken to a stores location and asked for an oil change. The sales guy up sold brake flushes, transmission flushes, and coolant changes and the 20 dollar oil changes became 200 dollar invoices. This happened to 3 different people who took in 3 different cars. The worst part being other than the oil change, nothing was actually done.

Here is the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to the segment.

Anyone ever had a bad experience with one of these places? I sure have. Came out to a pool of oil under my truck.

Nick, Drives a Cobalt LT > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif 11/10/2013 at 20:00

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Come to the place I work...

I have to constantly remind people I work with that they have to do shit..

Like change an oil filter....

Or valve stems when doing tires.

or TPMS rebuild kits.

Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif 11/10/2013 at 20:01

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Not personally, because I know from the outset it's flirting with disaster. A friend of the family, though, had either a bad oil filter put on or something of a similarly horrendous nature and it wasn't tested. Not knowing anything about cars, came to pick up the car, started to drive it off, got as far as the on-ramp, and the engine was fried. No luck I'm aware of getting anything out of it (the if it leaves our lot it's your fault approach).

Aaron James > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif 11/10/2013 at 20:03

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If you happen to live anywhere near Dayton Ohio, I'll gladly teach you how to change your oil and do routine maintenance, I can't stand hearing of people being ripped off like this. Money is tight in today's world, who has an extra 200 bucks to flush down the toilet.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > Nick, Drives a Cobalt LT 11/10/2013 at 20:04

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Doesn't sound like a nice place at all, or just the average service department.

Nick, Drives a Cobalt LT > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif 11/10/2013 at 20:05

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I hate who I work with.

Luckily after today, one will be fired.

So one less knucklehead I will have to deal with.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull 11/10/2013 at 20:08

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And its just terrible that that is the approach they take. I looked under my truck to find the filter barely hand tight and the drain plug still movable by my hands and the plug head was stripped pretty badly. Last time I went there, and made them top my oil back after I fixed their work.

dogisbadob > Nick, Drives a Cobalt LT 11/10/2013 at 20:08

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A lot of those places use the wrong oil filters as well, often way too small.

Do you tell the not to overtighten them as well? This is a HUGE problem with those places. Also, with the tires, does your place use torque wrenches to put the wheels back on, or do they just zip it with the impact?

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > Nick, Drives a Cobalt LT 11/10/2013 at 20:09

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Was it you who had the kid that was the bosses golden boy/snap show?

dogisbadob > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif 11/10/2013 at 20:10

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I've heard of places doing this shit, upselling, etc.

Supposedly Jiffy Lube's goal is to get at least $75 out of every customer. So if you get the synthetic oil change that they charge $80-90 for, they usually don't upsell as much.

Nick, Drives a Cobalt LT > dogisbadob 11/10/2013 at 20:11

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The oild filters we use are usually nearly the same size.

I can't monitor them putting filters on, I make sure they aren't wrenching them on with all their strenth.

And we zip them down with impact guns and torque sticks, I do use an electric impact set to low, and just ease them on and torque the wheels before it leaves.

The others just use a gun and zap them down and call it good....

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > Aaron James 11/10/2013 at 20:12

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No I live in Canada. I can do my own maintenance, but I was away at school and any work on your vehicle in the parking lot where I lived was extremely frowned upon. It was also -25C that week, so crawling under my truck sounded like a terrible time. Little did I know I had to do it anyway to fix there screw ups.

Nick, Drives a Cobalt LT > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif 11/10/2013 at 20:13

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Nope.

The other kid I work with.

He threatened me today, so to challenge him I got in his face and he didn't do a damn thing, I told him to go home, and come in tomorrow and the manager will let him know what's up.

Me the manager and two of the writers talked about it and agreed we can let him go pretty much.

Threatening is the last straw. I said they can write me up, seeing as how I did fire back at him, I did get in his face, and I did say some regrettable things, but not once did I threaten to "Kick his mother fucking ass" as he said to me. I also did not say "I don't give a fucking shit about this company"....So he said some tihngs that are grounds for termination.

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif 11/10/2013 at 20:15

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only once. booked in for an oil change, I had bought oil and filter before hand but was commuting 2 hours each way and didn't have the time or somewhere dry to change it myself.

The service writer wrote up and signed my quote for an oil and filter change, and noted on the order slip that the mechanic was to use the oil and filter I provided.

But they still tried to charge me for wipers, coolant and rotating my month old staggered tires so that the fronts were wider than the back (and they put them on the wrong sides so the directional tires spun the wrong way). they hadn't used the oil I bought, and used the wrong weight oil, and hadn't changed the filter.

At least the shop owner tried to set it right, He almost shoved the invoice up the mechanics arse, gave me a $50 gift card for a parts shop and redid the whole service himself free of charge. I still wouldn't go back though.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > dogisbadob 11/10/2013 at 20:17

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Ya, I have always used synthetic and I got it when I was at shop for the ~$80 bucks. They still tried to get my to do a tranny flush and change my air filter. That is why i get my Pennzoil Platinum and FRAM filter for $35 bucks and do it myself.

Milky > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif 11/10/2013 at 20:18

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This is why my mother has me take her truck in for oil changes. I always love when they try to sell me shit I know I don't need. But isn't that the whole point of the cheap oil changes, to get you in the door so they can then sell you something else.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard 11/10/2013 at 20:19

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Good to see he tried to fix it at least. Just scares me the people they let work on peoples second biggest investment (normally).

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > Milky 11/10/2013 at 20:22

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From the segment above I do see why they do it, these guys who up sell stuff can bring home $65000 to $90000 a year right out of high school.

webmonkees > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif 11/10/2013 at 20:22

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I was there for something unrelated, thought, 'while it's on the rack..'

A Sears service tech once insisted the cv axle, hub etc. had to come off to install a ring on the boot. I unclipped the latch on the ring.

I decided to spend more dirt-crawling time under the car than that kind of lottery.

Aaron James > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif 11/10/2013 at 20:26

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yeah, the last thing I want to do when it's that cold is crawl under a car.

Milky > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif 11/10/2013 at 20:49

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I just watched it and am surprised they didn't even do the jobs, and they didn't put dexcool in that impala .... I even know that and I've never owned a GM vehicle. I hope people stop going there.

996C2 > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif 11/10/2013 at 21:06

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I do my own oil changes but years back I take my car in because it was -20C and I'm not willing to freeze my ass off saving a few bucks so in I go. The up-selling started right away after I see the kid pull the automatic fluid dip stick out and look at it while the oil was draining. He walks over with the dip stick - all proud like to show me I'm low on automatic transmission fluid. I said, 'Really? And you know this by pulling the dipstick for the transmission with the engine shut off'? (Anyone see what I did here?) :)

The guy had no clue what I was talking about. I asked him how many transmissions he had wreaked by over filling the transmissions because he had an inaccurate level due to the fact the engine isn't running? He's like - 'The car's engine has to be running'? Oh dear God - who trains you people I reply?

Who here has seen a trail of oil leading out of these rapid lube places and down the street raise your hand? No wonder this segment of the auto service industry has higher liability premiums then the tradition garage segments.

Most of the issues isn't forgetting to add oil or screw the oil pan bolt tight enough - it's the opposite - they get out a half inch drive and screw the bolt on with something like 100 foot pounds guarantying the bolt head is stripped next time you try to get it off or either that - they cross thread the oil pan threads. Over filling with oil is another stupid mistake they make and you'll get a blank look from them when you ask them if they primed the oil filter with oil before they screwed it on.

People also have to watch what they do under the hood such as telling you that your brake fluid is low and then pouring in DOT 3 in a car that requires DOT 4.

I would never get a brake flush from these clowns - OMG... fu=king up an oil change is one thing - brakes... Nope. Not ever.

Bad72AMX > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif 11/10/2013 at 22:23

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Sorry, but if you use the standard Fram orange filter you may as well let Jiffy Lube do your work. Your throwing money away and have a chance at blowing your engine either way. Seriously, they were good at one time, but for 20+ years Fram has been the lowest quality possible with a name brand slapped on.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > Bad72AMX 11/10/2013 at 22:29

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I use the FRAM high milage filters or the ultra filters depending on what they have in my truck. Still have to be better than Bosch or MotoMaster.

Bad72AMX > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif 11/11/2013 at 16:28

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Buy one of each and cut them apart, or go to the bitog forums. You would be surprised. Many of Frams filters are literally the worst available, just as bad as the no name junk. Also, I am fairly sure that both Fram and Bosch are Honeywell products. Not all Honeywell are bad, but many are. Don't mean to offend you, but honestly you are not doing yourself any favors. I strongly suggest using an Affinia product. That is Wix, NAPA, and many OE.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > Bad72AMX 11/11/2013 at 18:00

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No one seems to have much bad to say about the FRAM Ultra on bitog. I have tried filters from NAPA and it didn't seal right, though it could of just been that filter. I typically only use FRAM because they have never failed me. I think I'm going to pick a few different ones up and cut them open to see what looks the best put together.

Bad72AMX > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif 11/11/2013 at 19:20

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The Ultra could well be a quality filter. Honeywell at one time supplied Mopar's OE filters built to their spec, so they have the capability to make a filter good enough for warranty. I've cut quite a few filters apart before. The difference in quality is pretty astounding, from the end cap material (paper, plastic, or metal) to the thickness and amount of filtering material.

I have cut standard Fram orange filters apart and the filtering material is thin and brittle and there isn't much, the anti drain back was plastics rubber (silicone is quality) and the end caps were white plastic. The pressure relief spring was just stamped steel instead of a coil spring. It and a few horror stories are enough to keep me from ever trusting anything with the Fram logo.

I commend you coming to a conclusion by cutting them apart. Post the results to Oppo if you have access.

Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif > Bad72AMX 11/11/2013 at 19:23

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I will see what filters I can find. I live in Canada and really the only brands I have really seen are FRAM, Bosch, Purolator, NAPA, and MotoMaster. I think the USA has way more options.

Buick Mackane > Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif 11/14/2013 at 19:59

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I only went to Jiffy Lube once about 10 years ago. Some young Mexican kid working there tried to tell me I needed to replace my radiator coolant because it was "dirty". I asked him if he tested the coolant first with a Hydrometer and he had no idea of what I was talking about. Never been back and never will go back to Jiffy Lube or any oil change garage.