Experience at Havoline Xpress Lube

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Originally Posted By: itguy08


So a company selling a UNIVERSAL coolant that is not UNIVERSAL is knowingly opening themselves up to tons of lawsuits?

What they mean is don't mix Decool with old school green, etc.


Most universal coolants state on the label "For top off use only".
And go on to say that if you are adding a large amount of the product it should be changed entirely and replaced with their universal product alone. Nothing like disclaimers, huh?
lol.gif
 
Originally Posted By: GiveMeAVowel
Well at least they did MOST of the work correctly,
HOWEVER unless the coolant fluid was very low they should have left it alone and simply informed the customer about, and if requested to top off ONLY used the correct coolant!

That is UNacceptable.



The VIOC I take my beater Civic to informed me I was slightly low on coolant (a few ounces, not enough to make a difference). He offered to top it off with their "universal" coolant. I just told him no and bought NAPA's coolant designed for Honda's. I always specifically tell them not to open the air filter case. IMO, that should be kept sealed tightly shut and opened only when its time to change it according to the maintenance schedule. They're cool with that.
 
Originally Posted By: JustinH
My dad has had oil changes done at Valvoline for 10 years.

$25 out the door, and never gave him a problem.

They offer free top offs of all fluid for 3000 miles. He takes the oil burning minivan in there for a quart of oil once a month.

I've got the oil changes down to $14 in my wife's matrix, I'm just too crazy to let anyone else do it, and I have zero patience for upselling.


I've had the majority of my oil changes at VIOC also for over 15 years. I don't get out the door for $25 though, even with the cheapest service and a coupon. Its more like 35.

Is the free topping off for 3000 miles a policy of VIOC? That's surprising they would add a quart of oil to the vehicle after 3000 miles since they still push the 3000 mile change interval. I never heard of them providing that. I'll have to ask next time.

I'm a regular, the guys know me by name and car. I asked them politely not to try the upsell, and surprisingly they don't do it. I would have though they had to due to policy, but apparently not.
 
Originally Posted By: lubricatosaurus
Prestone All Makes / All Models claims that its own R&D scientists/engineers/techs have verified it will play nice with anything out there. I think the warning in Owner's Manuals we see doesn't take that into account, and they are being cautious, even at the expense of being wrong about the universal Prestone product.


I had my Nissan coolant drained/filled at the dealer in probably 2003. I later sold the car to a friend who is well aware of my anal care regimen. About a year later, my friend and his wife took the car on a vacation trip when it overheated. They took it to an indy shop who showed them that the radiator was almost totally plugged. I felt very badly for them, but my friend held no ill will toward me.

Years later, after learning about the incompatibility of coolants, I related the story to the dealer service advisor. After thinking about it, he recalled that there was a period where - in an attempt to save money, they were using universal bulk green from a local supplier. Not sure whether customer experience or some other factors convinced them, but they ultimately went back to using Nissan coolant - and have been ever since. Putting our heads together, we surmised that my change probably was during this period of the switch.
 
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Originally Posted By: gizzsdad
.they were using universal bulk green from a local supplier. Not sure whether customer experience or some other factors convinced them, but they ultimately went back to using Nissan coolant - and have been ever since. Putting our heads together, we surmised that my change probably was during this period of the switch.


Back in 2003, the industry did go through a lot of chemistry lessons. A good example of the hand-wringing going on way back in 2002 is http://www.caranddriver.com/columns/top-it-up-with-green-or-orange-which-antifreeze
These days, Prestone has had plenty of time to field test, lab test, and consumer test its universal product, years and miles make a difference.
 
Originally Posted By: GiveMeAVowel

Most universal coolants state on the label "For top off use only".
And go on to say that if you are adding a large amount of the product it should be changed entirely and replaced with their universal product alone. Nothing like disclaimers, huh?
lol.gif



Yeah and that's exactly what was done - top it off. No herm no foul on anyone.
 
Originally Posted By: itguy08
Originally Posted By: GiveMeAVowel

Most universal coolants state on the label "For top off use only".
And go on to say that if you are adding a large amount of the product it should be changed entirely and replaced with their universal product alone. Nothing like disclaimers, huh?
lol.gif



Yeah and that's exactly what was done - top it off. No herm no foul on anyone.


But they should tell the customer and ASK them if they want it topped off, it only would take a few seconds to do that. No excuse.
The AMAM is still not the correct fluid and the customer should have the choice to refuse it.
 
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
I had this same issue with the new company Transit-they wanted to dump MaxLife coolant in the Specialty Orange, when I told them it wasn't compatible they looked at me like I had 3 heads! Weird thing is, Prestone AMAM (containing 2-EHA) probably would have been fine. VIOC was having a bad day, they actually took air out of the back tires, they didn't believe me that they were rated for 85 PSI cold, being warmed up, they dropped them to like 70 cold. Reminds me why they never touch anything of MINE!



Could they not look inside the door for the placard if their database doent show what's up?
 
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