Declining those free oil changes...

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Originally Posted By: Neely97
Unfortunately most oil technicians at dealerships are typically flunkies extraordinaire. I am sure there are some great ones out there.
There is good reason to not have dealerships or express lube shops do your OC .


I bought an Accord in '91. It came with "Free lifetime oil changes". The first time in, they overfilled it a quart, and the filter was loose enough to leak. And......I had to wait an hour. Never went back.
 
Free is a good price, and 99.9% of the time dealers do change the oil without catastrophic damage to the car.

(and the 99.9% figure is from the internet, so its got to be accurate)
 
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I was offered one free oil change, which I declined. The main reason was that the dealership is located in an area that has constant, messed up traffic. It is unfortunate that there are not more Mazda dealerships in this area. I have had the car for over three years and have not taken it to the dealership even once. Good thing it has had no issues.
 
Originally Posted By: 4wheeldog
Originally Posted By: Neely97
Unfortunately most oil technicians at dealerships are typically flunkies extraordinaire. I am sure there are some great ones out there.
There is good reason to not have dealerships or express lube shops do your OC .


I bought an Accord in '91. It came with "Free lifetime oil changes". The first time in, they overfilled it a quart, and the filter was loose enough to leak. And......I had to wait an hour. Never went back.


Then the dealer's plan worked to perfection. You likely paid for all of those "free" oil changes in the final price of the car, yet they only had the expense of one of them. Pure profit for them.
 
Originally Posted By: Olas
Take their free oil and their free filter to save a few pennies but do the work yourself to save your vehicle.
If they kick up a fuss,spin them the 'I'm saving you time and keeping one of your lifts available' line.

Yeah, I don't think it works like that.
 
Originally Posted By: donnyj08
also reset your OLM every time you do a change. They can probably scan the computer and see at which mileages the system was reset.

I would accept the free changes if I were you. It's likely an AC/Delco filter and the AC/Delco syn-blend which is made my XOM and Dexos approved.


+1 They are going to use what is specified for your vehicle. I wouldn't be concerned with the product used. Plus they rotate your tires and do a courtesy inspection. Normally I am anal about that kinda stuff but while the car is under warranty it is less of a hassle if something actually goes wrong with the car. The dealership was the only one doing the work..
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Manufacture free oil changes are good. I had some free oil changes when I bought LS400, E430, S2000 and now my daughter '14 Accord, I used every one of them without problems.

Free oil change at quick lube(s) is another story.
You think they're "free" and the oil change fairy pays for them?
 
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I had a wake-up call when I went to look at a potential new ride. Dealer pulled the carfax on current car and said it looks like I haven't had an oil change in 7 years! Of I have had 20 in those 7 years but an OC on my driveway doesn't show up on carfax.
Taking a free dealer OC may not be a bad idea.
 
Originally Posted By: threeputtpar


I bought an Accord in '91. It came with "Free lifetime oil changes". The first time in, they overfilled it a quart, and the filter was loose enough to leak. And......I had to wait an hour. Never went back.

Quote:

Then the dealer's plan worked to perfection. You likely paid for all of those "free" oil changes in the final price of the car, yet they only had the expense of one of them. Pure profit for them.


I wouldn't be surprised if this being careless and sloppy isn't an "angle" they use in the scam.
 
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I guess if you're buying cars of questionable quality to begin with, warranty concerns may be an issue. When you inevitably have problems, it would be nice to have a solid record of maintenance at the dealer.

Cars made with care and attention to detail do not need any type of repair until well after the warranty expires. There is no reason to save receipts, boxes, bar codes, or anything like that.
 
We bought a Lincoln that came with a 40,000 mile service agreement. It was a joke. I would inspect their work when I got the car back. The oil was either overfill or a qt low. The oil filetr I once turned a half turn by hand. I took it for its Transmission fluid change at 30,000 miles and I looked it when I got it back and thought there is no way theu did anything. I called the Lincoln dealership and they assured me it was done and documented and don't worry about it. If that transmission has a issue its been documented/ fluid and filter change. I changed it myself at 60,000 miles and low and behold the little yellow assembly plug is in the transmission fluid. Dealerships are the worse. I had two buddies that worked there and they would tell me constant horror stories about peoples cars. One told me they couldn't get the oil filter out of a Oldsmobile Intrigue (they had this goofy internal one you needed a special socket to change and it was plastic and would strip), so they never changed it. I seen Toyota advertise Lifetime oil changes and asked what is the frequency? The guy said 10,000 mile changes. That's just to long to make me happy. No thanks, if I can afford a new car, I can afford my own oil changes.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
It's not worth the hassle to me. I tell them to keep the oil changes, and I'll do it myself and keep records. The only time a dealership ever changed my oil was for replacing a leaking oil pan gasket under warranty.

I had 4 years free maintenance(manufacture paid for it) when I bought the 2000 E430. During those 4 years I had 4 oil changes (8.5 quarts M1 0W40) plus 2 brake bleed plus 1 gear fluid and 1 coolant. I made appointment to drop off my car and get free E320 rental for a day. The only cost was 2 gallons of gas for 40-50 miles driving to lunch and some errant.

The free oil changes with other cars were done in less than 1 hours while I waited for it.

My daughter 2014 Accord has 2 years free oil change, she used it 3 times already and still 1 or 2 more oil changes in about 10 more months. So far she didn't have any problem with oil change at a local Honda dealer.

In general, free oil changes at dealers weren't bad.

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Manufacture free oil changes are good. I had some free oil changes when I bought LS400, E430, S2000 and now my daughter '14 Accord, I used every one of them without problems.

Free oil change at quick lube(s) is another story.
You think they're "free" and the oil change fairy pays for them?

I mean manufacture paid for it(free to customer).
 
Brother is an ASE certified tech, had receipts for everything, all the proper lubricants were used, dealer still denied the warrenty when the engine decided to eat itself. The claim was there was sludge on the dipstick, it showed the oil had not been changed. Since pulling the oil pan required dropping the cradle the dealer refused.

Sure, he could have fought it (and I'm still not sure why he didn't) but the battle would not have been quick, or simple. In the end he bought a lift, changed the engine with a used one, then sold the car and the lift.

Just because you have receipts does not automatically mean things will be fine if there is an issue.
 
Originally Posted By: PhillyJoe
I had a wake-up call when I went to look at a potential new ride. Dealer pulled the carfax on current car and said it looks like I haven't had an oil change in 7 years! Of I have had 20 in those 7 years but an OC on my driveway doesn't show up on carfax.
Taking a free dealer OC may not be a bad idea.
Dude was playing you. You should have told him to have a good day you'll take your sludged up trade somewhere else.
 
I always decline the free oil change stuff that GM offers with my new vehicles, primarily because it costs more for the "free' service than doing it myself! Let's see.... I have to shut down my business operation for the morning or afternoon to take the pickup to the dealer. I have just lost roughly $1000 in revenue if I do that. Now I have to drive 60 miles to the dealer to get it done. Well, I have a 2015 2500HD pickup that gets about 14 mpg, so there is almost another $25 down the drain just in fuel. No, my dealer does not have loaner vehicles, and it wouldn't make any difference anyway. My business is commercial trucking. The semi truck gets shut down and is not generating any revenue. A loaner car or shuttle service is not going to change that one bit.

I do the changes and greasing myself. If I can do it on a semi truck and ag tractor, the pickup is easy. I don't save receipts, but I do document the change on the Chevy owners portal on the GM website. I have never had a dealer not honoring warranty issue with any vehicle I have owned in over 40 years, from my personal rides to my commercial semi trucks. I think some folk's paranoia gland is too enlarged.
 
I take advantage of the free oil changes on my MS3(my Mazda dealer provides them as long as I own the car)- and I also let my BMW dealer perform the free scheduled maintenance on my last three CPO BMWs. No problems with the Mazda dealer over the past 8 years, and no problems with my BMW dealer over the past 15 years.
Just lucky I guess...
 
I will decline as well.

I can change my oil in 15 minutes for $20 or less.

The "free" oil change at the dealer requires me to make an appointment and then I have to drive 20 miles to the dealer just to wait for them to get to my car 40 minutes after my scheduled appointment.

Then after another hour or so I get my car back just in time for another 20 mile drive home. Checking for proper oil level takes a few more minutes and the worry about a cross-threaded drain plug never really goes away.

My time and peace of mind is worth more than any free oil change.
 
This free oil change stuff is pure marketing to get the buyer in the door. It is similar to the "warranty forever" stuff that they use to sell vehicles. My last one had the warranty forever thing included. I told the dealer I would probably void it within 3000 miles. The terms of the warranty forever was that the dealer had to do everything, I wasn't allowed to do much more than change a windshield wiper blade. That was a rural farm pickup, and I was true to my word, I voided the warranty within 3000 miles. None of these gimmicks they dream up at the dealerships sway me one iota in my decision to buy or not.
 
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