Opinion on quick oil change centers?

[Adambomb7777]

The question is, does Valvoline's machine suck every drop of oil out? What if it leaves half a quart in there?

Everytime I went to valvoline they drained the oil by undoing the drain bolt. I have 3 locations near me and they never did the suction method. But this was also 5+ years ago so maybe that’s changed

 

[SC Maintenance]

If any car dealer touts "free oil changes for life", that's an open invitation for them to point out all the deficiencies and hazards on the vehicle, and they WILL find some!

Southeast Toyota - Toyota's master distributor in the Southeast - forces everyone to buy a ToyotaCare platinum plan. Its on their Mulroney sticker. It entitles you to regular maintenance at no additional cost for 5/60K. So that was certainly not free.

And yes they try to upsell every time after a couple years stuff you clearly don't need.

The dealer does include a "oil changes and lifetime power train warranty". It was $399.00. I told them don't want / won't pay. They said everyone must buy it. I said I walk. Was last day of the month, they left it on but deleted the cost. Then every time I declined a service their sales pitch was that my liftime warranty would be void. I told them it was never worth the zero dollars I paid to start with.

In 5 years of dealer trips, I paid exactly $55, on one visit apparently the tire rotation was covered but the oil change was not. Car is out of warranty now, and won't be going back likely. Having it to do again over, I likely wouldn't bother from go.

 

[RyanY]

"Several quarts" remain in the engine? Seriously? You must be getting motor oil confused with transmission fluid.

It varies across cars/engines, but some oil is always left behind. For example my Odyssey 3.5L dry fill is 5.3 qts but only 4.5 qts oil change with filter (0.8 qt difference). OTOH a Tundra 5.7L has more; 8.9 qts dry fill vs. 7.4 oil change with filter (1.5 qt difference).

But i acquiesce, "several qts" is probably an overestimate for most cars.

 

[Drewby83]

My favorite is when they try to sell windshield wipers and hold a passing state inspection over your head just to sell you subpar wipers that streak all over the windshield within a month.

 

[Urshurak776]

I had to take the company vehicle to an oil change place. They opened a new Mavis not far from me. Great group of folks. They do good work. I still prefer to do my own oil changes and will continue to do so as long as I can, but if I had to take a POV to them, I wouldn't be too worried about it.

I have had some pretty bad experiences in the past with our shop truck. Left oil cap off. Left air filter latches unlatched, etc.

I posted last week about a nail in my tire. Tech pulled wrong tire off...I had to knock on glass window and tell him wrong tire......that was at the Mazda dealership.

 

[02zx9r rev2]

When we traveled from Louisiana to Massachusetts to visit her family when we still lived in LA, I took her Altima to a Valvoline instant oil change place and had no problems with it. Then took her dad’s car as well. Had I had my tools and whatnot I would have done it myself

 

[CarlB]

I don't like it either - it is rarely as effective as pulling the plug.

The Germans seemed to use it in the mid 2000's but in recent models, they seem to have gone back to pulling the plug.

It's a 50ml difference on 3.0 Jaguar engines, extracting leaves behind 50ml extra of the 7,000ml total used during the change. The oil fill cap opening even has a specific provision for the extractor.

 

[supton]

I used it when I lived in an apartment, but went back to my own doing when I got a house. Saves on cost, can do on my time.

Besides. Why take my car someplace where I have no idea what kind of idiot will be working on it when I can work on it at home and know for sure?

 

[AutoMechanic]

As someone that’s worked for a major chain quick oil change place. I cannot recommend them but of course it depends on ownership and management too. There are just too many horror stories to tell about the franchise I worked for all the locations I worked at were bad. Not like leaving the drain plug loose bad (though it did happen more than once) but things like stealing peoples wheel lock keys so they would have to come back to us to get the wheels taken off and several other things too like upselling and “doing” alignments when we didn’t have an alignment machine. Other stuff too. The tipping point for me however was when we got in a load of oil and it was really dark brown/black with metal shavings in it. They wanted me to put it in cars and I said nope not doing that and walked out.

 

[Cheetah-kins]

I've posted before that I've always had my cars' oil changed at Valvoline - different cars and different locations on both the east and west coast. I've never had a bad experience at one and in fact always leave them great feedback. They're fast, polite, don't upsell stuff - just occasionally recommend possible services needed - like diff fluid, and have never damaged any of my vehicles. I really believe the company has integrity. And I like their oil.

OTOH, I once had my oil changed at a Jiffy Lube when I was far from a Valvoline location. What a terrible experience. They gave new meaning to 'upselling' including recommending fixing chips in my windshield for 'free' if your insurance covers it. Total scam imo, that drives up everyone's premiums. Jiffy Lube is heavily franchised and it has been my experience in life that franchised businesses - whatever they may be - are often bad about trying to load you up on extras and things you dubiously 'need'. This comes from the insane costs franchisees have to deal with when having a parent company. Regardless, I will never be using them again. Not sure if Valvoline locations are ever franchised, but if they are they've avoided my previous comments.

 

[JeffKeryk]

One reason I like the MityVac is there is no excuse to hold off on an oil change or got to a Quickie Lube.
And my engines are cleaner than yours...

 

[D60]

I'm astonished at how many people use them as the concept is foreign to me. I regularly see problems from them, with the most common being cross-threaded drain plugs, stripped fill plugs (alloy t-cases) and filters that are way too tight or alarmingly loose.

One thing I don't think ANY will do is pre-fill a vertical filter. I know this probably matters little but to me it falls into "it's the little things." I absolutely HATE to hear those first few seconds of clatter and wait for the oil pressure gauge to register.

Just tonight I put a fresh filter on a '12 Kia and pre-filled the filter, but then I do it EVERY time the design allows.

 

[fdcg27]

Millions of cars are serviced at these places every year and one hears of very few problems.
The guy changing oil at a dealership isn't an ASE master either.
I DIY mine and have for the past fifty years, but for those who can't or won't, these places serve a legitimate purpose and seem to do decent work.

 

[lbhsbz]

The question is, does Valvoline's machine suck every drop of oil out? What if it leaves half a quart in there?

So what? Doesn't matter.