Does this seem like a bargain?

Joined
Aug 13, 2017
Messages
3,396
Location
WY
Since I do 99% of my own maintenance/repair I was a little surprised about this ad. I am out of the loop. On that jeep they have pictured using walmart derived oil and filter it couldn't be much more than $40 worth of parts. Rotating tires using a lift, 15 minutes? What is the going rate for an oil service and 4 wheel rotation?
425039170_120205762466710736_5233878794316511048_n.jpg
 
A book time of 1.5 for both those services seems reasonable to me. Book time for an OLF (oil, lube and filter) at the garage I worked at in the late 70's early 80's was .75 and a rotation like that was a flat rate of $4. I wouldn't do that service pictured for less than 1.5 if it were me. It also takes time to find the car in the parking lot, put a baggy over the seat, put a cardboard mat in, position it on the lift, set the lift up, check the lift, etc. Then finishing the lugs with a torque wrench. Yeah... 1.5 is what I would want.
 
I guess the question is what are they charging for this procedure? If they can afford to refund $75 if your wait time is more than an hour and a half are they charging like $200? Seems excessive to me but I do know that shop rates are well over $100 an hour most places. Although shop rates shouldn't apply to the derelict/kid fresh on the job who is gonna impact on your drain plug and pour whatever is convenient into the crankcase.
 
They have oil jockeys do it, and its by appointment. When should they ever need to refund the $75 anyway?

Oil change and tire rotation here is around $100 +/-. If they give one away a month I would be shocked.
 
The 4 wheel rotation is subsidized by them looking at your brakes and everything else for the possibility of upsells. Still, if they torque things right, it's a good service.
 
Being like you, I specifically recall a conversation around 2018, where I said I like to DIY because I don't trust others to do something as important as oil. And a former boss said John, if the shop around the corner is $24.95, how much could I save?

For you and me we'll say well we know it's full synth that's about $12 with rebate per 5 qts, blah blah blah but clearly we'll be up to $20 DIY with our time.

Today I'm hearing it's more like $70+ but have never checked myself.

We're not quite $12 anymore with rebate, but we're clearly < $20 per 5 qt with rebate still.

I don't own a Honda but coworkers do, and I just clipped this from a local dealer's website

p.s. I worked at Dominos when we had a 30 min guarantee. This made me rush. Once I got into a fist fight and hey I won. Now I got sued for $2 mil. (we could go into that another day). Having some time guarantee basically is a bad idea, as there's normally an inverse relationship between time and quality.

jjss.JPG
 
Last edited:
I will do a drain and fill on my Honda Civic with a MityVac for less than $20 using 3.8 quarts of Kirkland oil and 10 minutes time. However I believe 1 hour shop time is required for most cars and trucks. Those Jeep Rubicon wheels and tires are large and heavy and the rotation would be more difficult than the actual oil change. Every vehicle is different and it's hard to make a blanket statement for the cost or the time involved. An hour and a half would cover most cars or trucks easily and 1 hour is a better ballpark range.
 
No idea what materials cost but maybe.

Our 2018 Tiguan takes VW 508 and they charge $100-$110 for oil change which is six quarts, cartridge filter and new drain plug and/or gasket. The upside is they do a tire rotation during for another $25.

The cheapest I have seen proper oil is $42 for Valvoline and $10ish for filter and around $5 for drain plug.
 
Dealership oil changes seem to be the way to go $ wise. Often I’ll take my kid’s cars when I visit them. It’s typically $60-$70 for an Dexos oil change including a tire rotation. I paid $100 for just a synthetic oil change at a quick change for the same car in Tampa. It is typical that it takes 1.5 hours at the dealer. Usually, I grab a free bottle of water and some free snacks and go for a walk after walking through the car inventory.
 
Since I do 99% of my own maintenance/repair I was a little surprised about this ad. I am out of the loop. On that jeep they have pictured using walmart derived oil and filter it couldn't be much more than $40 worth of parts. Rotating tires using a lift, 15 minutes? What is the going rate for an oil service and 4 wheel rotation?
View attachment 206845
Subaru $75 last time. Toyota $68. That was over 6 months ago.
 
Dealership oil changes seem to be the way to go $ wise. Often I’ll take my kid’s cars when I visit them. It’s typically $60-$70 for an Dexos oil change including a tire rotation. I paid $100 for just a synthetic oil change at a quick change for the same car in Tampa. It is typical that it takes 1.5 hours at the dealer. Usually, I grab a free bottle of water and some free snacks and go for a walk after walking through the car inventory.
Dealer mission accomplished for that price walking through inventory.
 
Dealer mission accomplished for that price walking through inventory.
That and more so they want service work. I was quoted $1700 for 4 rotors and pads on my CTS-V about 5 years ago. The rotors were straight and it wasn’t a track car, so I pad slapped it with $40 for front and rear semi-metallics and drove it for another 2 years. I mostly do my own maintenance, but in the dead of winter, I do sometimes give away some work. BTW the car gets washed as part of the oil change at some dealers.
 
BTW the car gets washed as part of the oil change at some dealers.
Dealer washes are absolutely horrible for your paint condition. Most use essentially a push broom and a bucket of never-changed dirty water to wash your vehicle, and apply things like wheel acid in inappropriate fashion. Then dry it with a dirty bath towel from 1974 that's been dropped on the ground multiple times and has never been washed in 50 years of service.

You want thousands of microscratches and swirls? Cause that's a good way to get a collection of thousands of microscratches and swirls. Haha
 
Dealer washes are absolutely horrible for your paint condition. Most use essentially a push broom and a bucket of never-changed dirty water to wash your vehicle, and apply things like wheel acid in inappropriate fashion. Then dry it with a dirty bath towel from 1974 that's been dropped on the ground multiple times and has never been washed in 50 years of service.

You want thousands of microscratches and swirls? Cause that's a good way to get a collection of thousands of microscratches and swirls. Haha
On some cars it just doesn’t matter. My son’s car is a ‘13 Cruze that hasn’t been washed since the last oil change. It always looks better after the dealer wash. If it dealer washed weekly, maybe it’d be a swirled up mess, but on a 12 year old car that gets washed maybe 2 times a year, it’s fine.
 
On some cars it just doesn’t matter. My son’s car is a ‘13 Cruze that hasn’t been washed since the last oil change. It always looks better after the dealer wash. If it dealer washed weekly, maybe it’d be a swirled up mess, but on a 12 year old car that gets washed maybe 2 times a year, it’s fine.
Good point. The dealers kind of rely on the 'eh, good enough' crowd for all of their profit leaders, like service. Most people aren't going to care if there's RTV everywhere after an oil pan R/R as long as the actual problem is solved. That's the same demographic that's most likely not even going to notice a bunch of swirls, let alone actually care. Those people are not members of BITOG. 😂

I just like to spread the good word from the book of detailing. Lol. Jic someone were to care, but were 7
5totally unaware of the abhorrent practices and techniques used in the dealer's 'detailing' bays. About the only things worse are the 'whirling dervish' brush-wash tunnels, and the foamy brushes at the self-service car wash bays.
 
Back
Top