Quick Lube Rip-off

[The Critic]

So, a few of you may have heard that I went "oil shopping" for my cousin's 00 or 01 VW Golf with the 2.0L 4-cyl engine. Earlier this week, my uncle and I purchased a 5qt jug of Mobil 1 Extended Performance 10w30 for $28 from Walmart, and a Mobil 1 M1-205 Oil Filter for $12 from AutoZone to use in an oil change for this car.

Since it wasn't convenient for me to change the oil in the car (it was in a different city), my uncle took the oil back with him and planned to bring the oil/filter and the car to a shop to have it changed.

He originally planned to take the car to Jiffy Lube, as it was convenient (as his normal mechanic is on vacation), even though they charged $25 just for labor. (Big Deal $40+$25= $65, less than the $85 the dealer normally charges)

Yesterday, he found that it was more convenient to take the car to a local shop by his house, which happened to be a Pennzoil Quick-Lube outfit. Instead of charging $25 for the service, they charged him $36 to change the oil/filter even though he brought his own oil! I guess their shop policy is that they don't give any credit even if you bring your own oil/filter!

Rip-off....

Mike

 

[Audi Junkie]

Soulda just let them do it with their stuff until you had a chance to do it right. Do you have a Wal*MArt with auto services? They are pretty good and a lot of oil choices. I'd have done the OC for you (VW is one of the makes I will work on) but you'd have to supply the oil and a ticket to CA. Coach is ok.

BTW- any 15w40 works great in that car/climate. Jumping right into M1 & EP right away w/o a few cleaning runs of dino is not ideal. You sorta need a thicker oil anyway. 10w40 conventional...Motorcraft or Clean HM is do-able. I use Chevron Supreme 10w-40 and Syntec Blend. High Mileage oils too like GTX.

 

[Quattro Pete]

It's amazing how dealer labor prices vary across the country. My friend in Wisconsin takes her Jetta (same 2.0 engine) to the dealer and they charge her $30 for the oil change. This includes OEM filter and their oil (cheap dino though).

 

[The Critic]

AJ,
The car has been running on syn for at least the last few drains if not since day 1. No Mobil 1 0w-40 was avaliable, so my next choice was naturally the shear-stable, Mobil 1 Extended Performance 10w30 with an HT/HS of 3.2cp, as instructed by Tooslick.

Syn is still the way to go in this car, as the labor charges rack up quite quickly when you do shorter drains with dino.

I still think Mobil 1 Extended Performance 10w30 will do fine in this engine and I'll probably UOA it to confirm. Besides, I'm trying to find the lowest viscosity oil that'll work in this engine without compromising fuel efficiency seriously. Mobil 1 0w-40 was really my first choice but wasn't avaliable. Maybe I'll run Amsoil 5w-40 next time.

 

[Gary Allan]

You should have at least taken a gallon jug (assuming bulk feed) and had it filled with the other stuff ..and taken the filter home dry.

 

[gudmund]

maybe you should of had W-M change it for you since you bought the oil from them. Bet they wouldn't have charged that much. The EP is a great oil as you, Michael, can see from the Suzuki Swift oil samples you put on this web site for me and I thank you for that! The EP did great after running the 15000 mile run-I'm very pleased with it and thanks again. Ted Hoefer(gudmund)

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Before they opened the hood, I would of asked for an out-the-door price. When they stated $36, I would of offered to pay them $25. Had they refused, I would of drove away.

 

[Craig]

I send all my Amsoil customers to my local quick lube and they
charge $15.
Craig

 

[Dark Jedi]

went to a local muffler shop that did mine for $10 and was my own filter and oil. it only cost $20 to get your oil and filter changed at the pennzoil place and use their oil abd filter.

 

[parkertown]

My local quick lube charges $30.50 for an oil change with 5qts Havoline and a Pennzoil filter. If you supply your own filter they knock off $4 (pretty good), and if you supply oil and filter they charge $20 labor.

 

[q2bruiser]

When it is freezing here and I don't feel like crawing under the car (usually once a year) I take it to my local Grease Monkey and they charge me a single $10 bill. Not a bad deal.
J

 

[AmericaWestCMH]

The Wal-mart out here charges $11 if you supply your own oil and filter.

 

[black thunder]

Wow thats outrageous.

where i work we recently had a $14.99 oil change sale. and thats with Purolator Oil filters and Citgo bulk oil.

plus we check a lot of stuff and grease the chassis componenents if there is fittings.

 

[johnsmith]

Getting an oil change at Walmart is a cardinal sin for hippies like me, but if you can stomach it, the local one here charges about $14 for a Supertech oil/filter change (up to 5 qts.), and about $20 for a Supertech filter/pick your own oil off the shelf change (Havoline, Pennzoil, Castrol, etc).

A radio show I used to listen to played advertisements for "The $5.95 oil change" @ Illini something or other. Bet they used some great stuff!

 

[VTEC01EX]

Tire Kingdom around here still occasionally does $8 oil changes. I don't know what they use, but there's almost always a full parking lot when they offer it. For me it's worth the hour laying on my garage floor to know it's done right.

 

[ted s]

MANY shops wont even do it with your oil/filter.

 

[brianl703]

My experience has been that even the shops that refuse to install "customer supplied parts" make an exception for oil and filters.