Oil change shops in Seattle
- Thread starter paulri
- Start date
f355spider
$50 Site Donor 2026
No recommendations, cause I do all my vehicles and several friends, myself.
With that said, there are many independant small chains that specialize in specific makes or countries of vehicles that get good reviews locally. Also most dealers have oil change deals and that would be a good option to get on their email list.
Groupon app is an option for coupon deals.
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f355spider
$50 Site Donor 2026
That really doesn't exist in the greater Seattle area. Costs and labor are stratospheric. BMW Seattle charges $280 an hour, for example. Toyota Seattle was $200+/hr the last time I was there, which was a few years ago. That is before they tack on the "shop fee", "enviromental waste fee", etc. I use the Toyota dealer in Tacoma...its worth the drive.
My friends claim it is hard to find an independant shop that will do a synthetic oil and filter change for $100 out the door on their econo box (Jiffy lube quoted him $110 plus tax). Dealers with their coupon specials are the way to go...yes there is upsell, just ignore it, pay your bill and leave.
Seattle is often listed in the top 10 list of most expensive cities in the US. Something not to be proud of...But hey, we tax ourselves with a "carbon tax" on gas and diesel because we actually think we can lower the earth's temperature by doing so...
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f355spider
$50 Site Donor 2026
Tell her to find a place with secure parking. Car prowls are out of control in most neighborhoods, so is mail theft, particularly in apartment complexes. Her insurance will jump considerably living here. Seattle and Boston are simlarly sized cities, but we have half the number of sworn officers.Probably a 20-30 min drive around University of Washington campus in Seattle. That's where I'd expect her to live. She hasn't moved in yet, but I like to plan ahead.
"As of early 2026, Seattle faces high property crime rates, frequently ranking among the worst in the U.S. with over 5,000 incidents per 100,000 residents. The 2024 data (38,061 incidents) shows high levels of larceny, vehicle theft, and burglary, far exceeding national averages. Key concerns include repeat business break-ins, vehicle theft, and shoplifting"
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Wait I swear I remember you just getting a timing belt done on your Tundra...
Hey, no state income tax at least.
f355spider
$50 Site Donor 2026
Titus Will Toyota in Tacoma, WA
f355spider
$50 Site Donor 2026
Surprise! We do now, it was signed into law by our governor March 30, 2026. Doesn't matter our state constitution explicitly states you cannot tax property/income unless done uniformly (meaning everyone pays the same rate). Also, we have a state law against an income tax, but they rescinded it, stating it was a "pie crust" law, meant to be broken. The kicker is they put one sentence that says everyone gets a $1M exemption. The 9.9% rate starts above $1M. Since we expect a flood of millionaires to move, that $1M threshold will drop, in order to keep the money rolling in. Also, they did not lower the state sales tax as was expected...
Democrat lawmakers also instituted an "emergency" clause, to prevent the WA State residents from starting a referendum to repeal the tax. It now will require a ballot measure, which will take much more time, effort and money to get the signatures required to put it on the ballot. A legal challenge has already been filed as well...but our state supreme court is quite liberal in their interpretation of our state constitution...so anyone's guess how they might rule.
Former Starbuck CEO Howard Schultz announced his move to FL the say after the law was passed.
Jeff Bezos moved a few years ago, after WA State passed a capital gains tax here...he is also living in FL now. It was hilarious how the WA State Supreme Court wrote a twisted opinion on the capital gains tax did not violate our state constitution banning income tax buy saying the tax was an "excise tax", not an income tax. Unfortunately the US Supreme Court is not interested in taking on state constitution matters due to "states rights" in the 10th Amendment of the US Constitution.
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Fortunately we have a ton of data on this fear from IRS tax returns. It's easy to track people this way and see what happens. These fears never actually materialize.
in 2004, NJ passed a "half millionaire" tax, and the out migration was negligible, and they actually saw their millionaire population soar after it was passed.
In 2012, CA passed prop 30, raising the top marginal rate to 13.3%, and research showed only 0.8% of people it affected moved out of state. In the years following, the millionaires in California ballooned.
They're all talk. The reality is that if you're pulling in over $1 million in W-2 income, you're incredibly wealthy, and you'd be doing a lot worse in many other states. And like you said, it only is a marginal tax on income over $1 million. So someone making $2 million a year would take home $1.901 million. I'm so torn up for them. Additionally this is adjusted gross income, so there are some reductions in it too with retirement contributions and self employment tax.
They were already on their way out, and Schultz is retired and isn't drawing income anymore, so frankly he could avoid it easily. The sad reality is that these billionaires have many tools at their disposal to avoid these taxes all together, that wage earners like you and me (I assume anyway—maybe you're a multimillionaire business owner and can avoid a W-2!) can't access. Usually they take out loans against their stock as collateral to fund their lifestyle, have a zero income tax return to file, and then when they die, the cost basis on all of their stock resets, their kids sell whatever they need to pay off the loans, pay zero capital gains tax, and the cycle repeats.
Anyway, not trying to derail the thread any further. Mods this isn't politics—just news, history, and facts!
My FIL used to work at Titus Will. Back when he was there, I would have 100% trusted any work there.
Been years since he retired, no clue how things are now.
GON
$175 Site Donor 2026
Titus Will became another very greedy dealership group. Charging well above MSRP for parts, working tirelessly to find ways to charge the consumer for repairs that are covered under the manufacturer warranty. The Lakewood WA Titus Will dealership is so deceptive, that the Commanding General of JBLM has banned uniformed servicemembers from doing any business with Titus Will of Lakewood, WA.
Some interesting comments here. Based on what I've read, I'll just look for some independent mechanic shops near where my daughter lives with decent reviews, and possibly see if I can find some quick lube places as well, although I think I'd rather try my luck with a mechanic.
The benefit of your plan is, the mechanic will get to know the car. My brother's shop in Santa Cruz, CA was near the University. He had a lot of customer accounts that were parents of the students. Parents wanted him to make sure the cars were taken care of.
Beautiful campus; up on a hill. Santa Cruz is the smallest school in the UC chain. His shop was 2 blocks from the coast. Known as the only sober mechanic in Santa Cruz.
f355spider
$50 Site Donor 2026
It's already happened. After the capital gains tax a few years ago, I had 7 friends move out of state to TX, ID, FL, MT and AZ. I have at least 10 friends discussing moving right now and two are actively searching in ID and OR with a plan to move in the next 60 days...primarily for the capital gains tax, but they also have concerns about the income tax.
I'm holding out, because I don't make near enough to be impacted...but there is no doubt the threshold will drop and it will eventually impact all residents. The Seattle high wage earner taxes have greatly impacted tech employment in Seattle. Amazon, Google, etc are all abandoning office space in Seattle and going across lake washington to Bellevue to expand. Starbucks just expanded their admin office to Tennessee...another state without an income tax. Current office vacancy rates in Seattle are over 30%. But our mayor has a solution, tax building owners for vacancies! LOL
We also instituted a luxury tax on cars and motorhomes over $100k and an additional flat tax on all watercraft. All of which are already subject to a 10% retail sales tax.
All my family lives in parts east of Washington now. Idaho or Montana is looking better and better all the time.
You must know a lot of people who make multiple millions a year! We'll see how many actually make the move out. History shows it's not that many. Also the tax doesn't even take effect until 2028 or so. lol
Until you need a doctor...
f355spider
$50 Site Donor 2026
I'm fully aware of when the tax takes place. Some are waiting on the sidelines to see where the legal challenges go...as well as the possible initiative process. I don't doubt higher taxes may have not had an impact in some locales, that is not the case from what I am seeing here.
The capital gains is now...it was estimated WA State lost tens of millions in taxes per year when Jeff Bezos moved to FL. Local philanthropies take a hit too.
"By moving to Florida in late 2023, Jeff Bezos avoided an estimated $600 million to over $1 billion in Washington state capital gains taxes on stock sales. These savings stem from Washington's 7% tax on long-term capital gains..."
My friend is selling one of his businesses for $6M in July so the pressure is on for him to change his residency quickly. $350,000 in potential tax savings. Just on one transaction.
The sad part is I'm "last man standing"...friends are leaving...I'm staying due to family and well, the tax doesn't really impact me. The threshold will drop and tax everyone in the state, there is no doubt. That is how the federal income tax started out...
UC Santa Cruz is as if someone took a national park and built a college campus right in the middle. Believe it or not, I have another youngun going there. They might need a vehicle if they can't get campus housing next year. Is your brother still operating the shop? You used past tense....
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