Hopefully Saved Another One from Jiffy Lube!

[sciphi]

One of my classmates was talking about where to get her oil changed, and that it's been ~4200 miles since it's last been done, and how it's 1000 miles past due. I told her oil was a hobby of mine, it was fine to 5000 miles, that modern engine oils are vastly superior to oils available when her older car was made, and not to worry about changing until somewhere near 5k miles. Yes, it's a blanket statement, however one I feel pretty confident in making after reading on this site.

The topic then turned to where to have it done. I suggested an independent mechanic first, since they depend on repeat customers and not volume to survive. Somebody else tossed out Sears, and another person chimed in to avoid Jiffy Lube as too expensive. I ended up suggesting Wal-Mart, since they are fairly inexpensive for the basic oil change with a fine oil and filter. Hopefully she listens to the herd and stays away from Jiffy Lube. So, another one possibly saved!

 

[CARMandP]

Well, walmart oil change in my opinion isn't any better than JiffyLube. They use the same "quality" people to work on your car and use the same pressure tatics to sell you stuff you probably don't need. I never take my car to any form of express oil change place. I would go to the stealership before them. Of course, being a mechanic with my own shop helps but I never recommend express oil change places.

 

[Mr Nice]

Quote:
Well, walmart oil change in my opinion isn't any better than JiffyLube.


I agree 100% that Walmart isn't any better than Jiffy Lube.

Go to ripoffreport.com and you can read many horror stories about Walmart and their lube centers.

 

[mpvue]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
...one I feel pretty confident in making after reading on this site.

... I ended up suggesting Wal-Mart, since they are fairly inexpensive for the basic oil change with a fine oil and filter. Hopefully she listens to the herd and stays away from Jiffy Lube. So, another one possibly saved!


you need to keep reading.

cost should have nothing to do w/ it, remember, you get what you pay for.

 

[mikeg5]

yeah my vote is mechanic.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Did you ask her what kind of car she drives first? I hope it's not some sludger or something with a turbo in it that needs synthetic or something.

 

[Pablo]

That's like sending somebody away from the devil to beelzebub.

 

[ThirdeYe]

I would rather go to Wal-Mart than Jiffy Lube however, the few times that I did take my car to Wal-Mart, they didn't try to sell me something unnecessarily. But from what I understand, they raised the prices of their services recently. And plus like others have said, I don't believe their quality of service would be any better, you have just as much of a chance of getting a flaky worker there as you would at Jiffy Lube or any other oil change place. You should've offered to do it for her! Be a man!

 

[skate1968]

I would always go to a privately owned lube place for the oil change. I'd watch him do it -- never any problems.

My mechanic would do most all other tasks listed on my maintenance schedule. My mechanic sees my car often enough without having him do the oil changes.

 

[Gary Allan]

I'd lean toward WM too. I think that they're too busy to employ the "snag and snare" upgrade technique that Jiffylube made famous. That's just an impression from the inside view of Kmart type service centers. There was no "get them in for an oil change and hammer them with accessories" mentality. You just plowed through your work as fast as you could.

 

[eljefino]

WM's plan is to strand you in their store for an hour at least while they poke along on your car.

So you buy stuff. Even a hot dog from the "radio grill" makes them money.

I bought tires there and they did a splendid job-- perfect balance, lug torque, etc. Made good on their warranty too.

They have a 2nd person check lug torque and maybe drain pan bolt torque so they don't get sued. Am happy this fear motivates them.

Plus at WM you can pick your own bottles so you feel in control.

 

[sciphi]

I know, I know, it's Evil 1 or Evil 2. I suggested WM because they're so focused on the bottom line they "tend" to do things right the first time. I've had some negatives, but they've been set right pretty quickly. After all, the best customer is a satisfied customer who keeps coming back. Also, you're back there for other stuff, so having a bad experience with an oil change will hurt them as well when you need groceries or a TV for the den. Jiffy Lube doesn't have that, so they can do whatever with a fair bit of impunity. And even WM's services aren't as expensive as other places. Recall I did first suggest the independent mechanic. Wal-Mart is likely where it will end up, however, and their track record is much better than Jiffy Lube's for both price and quality of service. It's like two bad apples, pick the less-rotted one.

I would have offered to change it myself, except my tools are far, far away and the cost for an equivalent set would have been prohibitive given my current situation of graduate student in hock over my head. Maybe once I get my tools with me I'd offer. My fiancee might have something to say about that one, though. It's complex.

For her situation where a fair number of highway miles are put onto the car, 5k seems a decent number. She's already gone 4000, so another 1k likely won't hurt anything, especially given the commute.

 

[01rangerxl]

Personally, I wouldn't take a car to any place where the employees couldn't give a [censored] less about cars or the customer. Most of the people at JL and Wal-Mart are the same. They only have a vague understanding of what they are doing and they really don't care about you. In the end, this leads to problems you may not notice right away (stripped drain plugs, wheel studs, missing oil caps, etc...), and sometimes bigger ones that you do (no oil in the engine, double gasketed filters, wrong sump drained).

As a disclaimer, there are JL and WM employees who do care and will do the job right. Some members here work at quick lubes. I used to work at one myself. We are the exception though.

 

[oilyriser]

I brought a couple of rims to WM last week for new tires, and the guy said they would be ready in 20 minutes, and I could just wait. Amazing what happens when they're not busy.

 

[MrCritical]

Got an '06 Vibe in the shop right now from Wally.

Engine locked up a half mile after they removed the oil and filter and didn't install fresh oil.

The Vibe ran about 3/4 of a mile before it locked up.

Not the first time for them. I checked with local Ford and Dodge dealers-same experience with Wally and their products.

 

[firemachine69]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
I know, I know, it's Evil 1 or Evil 2. I suggested WM because they're so focused on the bottom line they "tend" to do things right the first time. I've had some negatives, but they've been set right pretty quickly. After all, the best customer is a satisfied customer who keeps coming back. Also, you're back there for other stuff, so having a bad experience with an oil change will hurt them as well when you need groceries or a TV for the den. Jiffy Lube doesn't have that, so they can do whatever with a fair bit of impunity. And even WM's services aren't as expensive as other places. Recall I did first suggest the independent mechanic. Wal-Mart is likely where it will end up, however, and their track record is much better than Jiffy Lube's for both price and quality of service. It's like two bad apples, pick the less-rotted one.

I would have offered to change it myself, except my tools are far, far away and the cost for an equivalent set would have been prohibitive given my current situation of graduate student in hock over my head. Maybe once I get my tools with me I'd offer. My fiancee might have something to say about that one, though. It's complex.

For her situation where a fair number of highway miles are put onto the car, 5k seems a decent number. She's already gone 4000, so another 1k likely won't hurt anything, especially given the commute.



"Hey babe going to my screw-buddy's place to change her fluids out!"

I can just see how well that'd go over...

 

[Mucho_MPG]

 

[sciphi]

It'd fly like a dropped cat. Without the landing on all fours. So why invite disaster?

Even an independent mechanic can make mistakes. My old Hyundai was getting a pre-sale inspection before we picked it up from a mechanic who had a small used-car lot on the side, and he thought the coolant looked bad, so he drained the system and forgot to refill. Caught it inside a mile from the lot, and had a fun conversation with him the next day about his error. Basically cooked the carbon out of the cylinders, and the car (plus the floormat set purchased on his dime) was fine.

 

[JustinH]

When I broke my hand, I let wally do an oil change on my 95 ford tbird.

I bought the mobil oil and the motorcraft filter and they charged their fee to put it in.

I get in the car to go, and drove a few miles, got it home.

Took a look at it, they had pulled the trans dipstick tube out of the car, and left it under the hood, and slammed the hood on it.

I had to fight them to buy a 40 dollar dipstick tube, their tech was the dipstick.

Never again. I change my oil in late fall with good oil so that it will last until spring.

 

[Kestas]

Hmm, I wonder if I'd be able to change my oil one-handed, to avoid taking it somewhere.

Now that I think about it, probably not. I need two hands to dump the drain pan.