I love how people can't afford an oil change...

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gabriel9766

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I can't tell you how many times people come in for an oil change and buy a cheap oil change for $16.99 and their car requires a synthetic oil or a special oil and throw a huge fit over the price. I work in Overland Park, KS in the high end neighborhood and ppl bring in the nice new Hondas and Toyota's ect. Most new cars require 0w20 syn and they want the "cheap" oil change. If you ppl can afford a brand new car u should be able to afford the oil for it.

For example today we had a VW jetta come in and she had bought a $16.99 groupon oil change but her car req a syn 5w40 or 5w30 VW approved syn oil. Car also took 6.3Q of oil and a $12.99 oil filter. She pulled out the manual tht said the same thing we told her and she threw a fit and drove off.
 
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Don't know about other makes/models but new Nissan Rogues and Muranos do not require a synthetic. The owner's manual suggests a synthetic, but says a conventional that meets Nissan specs can also be used.
 
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Originally Posted By: azjake
Don't know about other makes/models but new Nissan Rogues and Muranos do not require a synthetic. The owner's manual suggests a synthetic, but says a conventional that meets Nissan specs can also be used.
well on like Toyota's it says to "use 0w20 but if it can not be found u can use a 5w20 but it must be replaced with 0w20 at the next OC".
 
Originally Posted By: SVTCobra
Maybe they spent all their money on the car.
This.

It's astonishing, the number of people I see come in for repairs that can't afford ANYTHING on top of their $600/month payment. Unfortunately, financial discipline doesn't count as common sense.
 
Originally Posted By: edwardh1
how about when BMW folks get their first replacement tire quote.

OMG this also. I love how ppl cant afford tires on new cars. I made sure when i bought my car it was a common tire 215/60/16.
 
Oil is expensive, cars are cheap.

I can do a synthetic oil change on my Mercedes myself. Cost me about $27, the $20 5 quart synthetic deal at Pep Boys with a filter deal on black friday plus some $2/quart Autozone clearance oil. Sure beats the dealer, I think they call it Service A and want about $300.
 
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Oil is expensive, cars are cheap.

I can do a synthetic oil change on my Mercedes myself. Cost me about $27, the $20 5 quart synthetic deal at Pep Boys with a filter deal on black friday plus some $2/quart Autozone clearance oil. Sure beats the dealer, I think they call it Service A and want about $300.


Yup i can do a syn Oil change and filter for under $20 for my car and dealer wants $40 for a syn blend OC and tire rotation.
 
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Oil is expensive, cars are cheap.

I can do a synthetic oil change on my Mercedes myself. Cost me about $27, the $20 5 quart synthetic deal at Pep Boys with a filter deal on black friday plus some $2/quart Autozone clearance oil. Sure beats the dealer, I think they call it Service A and want about $300.

It was $150 in 2000 at my local dealer, then $200 around 206-2008 and $250 2010-2012. I don't know the latest cost of 8.5 quarts M1 0W40 plus MB fleece filter at dealer, probably more than $100-120 in parts alone.

Yes, do it my self with a fluid extractor and oil filter cap wrench is so easy and fast and no mess.
 
One of the things about Volkswagons is that their(relatively) low initial purchase price draws people in.

When it comes time for service, though, you're still paying the "German tax" although it's not a BMW or Mercedes.

I'm often blown away when I hear repair costs on what I'd regard as relatively trivial items on other cars.

I go to church with a guy whose wife had a diesel Beetle. He's very much a DIY guy and her car saw a dealership very few times. Even so, when he did a repair, he often ended up visiting the dealer to get lights turned off or other things set correctly. I know batteries were a consistent problem-every battery change or even disconnecting for other work required a trip in to the dealer to get everything reset.

I know my grandfather was QUITE upset when he took his E350 Wagon in to Jiffy Lube. At the time, his '89 Buick Century(which had about 25,000 original miles on it when he sold it in 2011) was about $25 for an oil change and the Town Cars he drove most of the time would run him about $30. I think the one time he had the oil changed in his Mercedes in his ownership(probably about 8K miles over 3 or 4 years), it was well over $100. Even doing it "right" yourself is relatively pricey between the amount of synthetic you need and the cost of a cartridge oil filter.

On a slightly different note, the switch back to cartridge filters is certainly interesting to me. One of my main car interests is in MGs, and I'm pretty sure the "B" engine(MGA, MGB, and Magnette) used a cartridge filter up until the MKII MGB. The derived "C" engine also always had a cartridge filter. It's not uncommon to see an early B engine with a spin-on mount from a later engine. Spin-on filters on these engines are placed on the right hand side of the engine(passenger side on US cars) just forward and above the distributor. The filter is inverted, and there's no good way to take it off without making a mess. Were it not for the lost cost and ready availability of the correct spin-on filter(I generally use Motorcraft filters on everything, and FL-300 is the correct p/n for the filter on that engine) I'd be tempted to track down a cartridge set-up.
 
Originally Posted By: gabriel9766
I can't tell you how many times people come in for an oil change and buy a cheap oil change for $16.99 and their car requires a synthetic oil or a special oil and throw a huge fit over the price. I work in Overland Park, KS in the high end neighborhood and ppl bring in the nice new Hondas and Toyota's ect. Most new cars require 0w20 syn and they want the "cheap" oil change. If you ppl can afford a brand new car u should be able to afford the oil for it.

For example today we had a VW jetta come in and she had bought a $16.99 groupon oil change but her car req a syn 5w40 or 5w30 VW approved syn oil. Car also took 6.3Q of oil and a $12.99 oil filter. She pulled out the manual tht said the same thing we told her and she threw a fit and drove off.


arent most euro cars 10k+ mile change intervals?
 
Originally Posted By: Yup
Originally Posted By: gabriel9766
I can't tell you how many times people come in for an oil change and buy a cheap oil change for $16.99 and their car requires a synthetic oil or a special oil and throw a huge fit over the price. I work in Overland Park, KS in the high end neighborhood and ppl bring in the nice new Hondas and Toyota's ect. Most new cars require 0w20 syn and they want the "cheap" oil change. If you ppl can afford a brand new car u should be able to afford the oil for it.

For example today we had a VW jetta come in and she had bought a $16.99 groupon oil change but her car req a syn 5w40 or 5w30 VW approved syn oil. Car also took 6.3Q of oil and a $12.99 oil filter. She pulled out the manual tht said the same thing we told her and she threw a fit and drove off.


arent most euro cars 10k+ mile change intervals?
yea
 
I constantly get coupons from my Dodge dealer for $19.99 oil changes, but when you read the small print, doesn't include the Hemi or cars that require synthetic oil. Iam sure the Toyota would live on 5w20 or 5w30 just fine. I would have no problem using the incorrect weight in my cars/ trucks. But some people would freak out, so I see your point, better to turn then away or make it clear, the weight on the special would suffice , but isn't what the manufacturer "suggests".
 
I don't know...people are idiots I guess. They want something for nothing, and pay no attention to anything important...they just want the car with absolutely no thought to maintenance until they want to get it for free....I mean an oil change for under $20 is something from the 80s....or todays' incredibly cheap bulk oil as a loss leader, with an attempt to sell other services!


and I have to do it:

Originally Posted By: gabriel9766
...bring in the nice new Hondas and Toyota's ect....



Apostrophe nazi strikes again: Why are these two words different? No apostrophe for either, but one has one and the other doesn't....(plurals have NO apostrophe) plus etc for "et cetera".
 
I don't run into this problem too often with my customers. But every once in awhile you get that one guy who absolutely refuses. One of my customers has a 2013 Chevy 2500 that calls for Dexos rated 5W-30 and he bought the truck brand new, warranty and all. Brought it in for it's first oil change and even though I warned him it would likely void his warranty, he absolutely insisted on having his Havoline 10W-30 conventional and hasn't changed to this day. I doubt it's hurting anything, but it just amazes me how ignorant people are. Spend all that money on a car and not even use the right oil in it or attempt to honor the warranty blows my mind. The funny thing is, our Dexos oil change is only $10 extra...
 
Just curious what brand of oil and filter do these shops use that charge $16 (materials + labor)? In other words how can they make money at $16 (parts + labor)?

5 quarts of Castrol will cost you $16 at Wal-Mart. I usually buy Purolator filters at Advance.

Sometimes I take advantage of Advance Auto's oil change special for $19.99 which could be anything.
 
Originally Posted By: gabriel9766
I can't tell you how many times people come in for an oil change and buy a cheap oil change for $16.99 and their car requires a synthetic oil or a special oil and throw a huge fit over the price. I work in Overland Park, KS in the high end neighborhood and ppl bring in the nice new Hondas and Toyota's ect. Most new cars require 0w20 syn and they want the "cheap" oil change. If you ppl can afford a brand new car u should be able to afford the oil for it.

For example today we had a VW jetta come in and she had bought a $16.99 groupon oil change but her car req a syn 5w40 or 5w30 VW approved syn oil. Car also took 6.3Q of oil and a $12.99 oil filter. She pulled out the manual tht said the same thing we told her and she threw a fit and drove off.

What type of oil are you guys using for that $16.99 oil change?
 
Originally Posted By: gabriel9766
If you ppl can afford a brand new car u should be able to afford the oil for it.


The irony in your post is off the charts.
Apparently you can't afford to expel the energy is takes to write complete words.
wtf1_zps7bvq5yth.gif
 
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