Quick Lube Success Stories?

[camrydriver111]

On BITOG I always head bad stores about quick lube places. Like how they overfilled your engine or used the wrong oil or stripped your drain plug. Has anyone had any success using quick lube places? Can you drive over 200k miles using quick lube places without engine damage?

One of my family members uses quick lube. I am a little bit worried about their engine. I offered to change oil for them but they think I'm crazy for changing my own oil because it's messy, and takes more time.

The engine does sound a bit different ever since they started using quick lube. It has 50k miles so I don't know if it's because it's finished breaking in or because of quick lube oil. It's hard to describe it. It just had a very tight feeling when you revv it, but not anymore. They put a Kendall sticker on the windshield, but who knows that kind of oil they are actually putting in?

Does anyone have any positive quick lube experiences to help a BITOGer sleep better at night?

 

[RISUPERCREWMAN]

Think about it. The majority of quick lube places hire inexperienced youth who work for minimum wage & don't give a blank ^%$# about your investment ie. Car! Most places have a high turnover rate & hire mechanic wanna bees! Years ago I had a 1993 Camry V6 with well over 200K miles & never even thought about taking it to one of those places! If you value your ride stay away from those places!

 

[Red91]

There are good quick lubes. There is a Castrol Premium Lube in my town that is owned by an honest businessman who does good work, and most of his employees stay there a long time. If I didn't maintain cars, he's who I'd send my mother, brother, and grandmother to.

 

[beanoil]

I can't think of one... Iffy Lube and VIOMG (Valvoline Instant Oh My Gosh) are for those folks that simply cannot get their oil done anywhere else.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: RISUPERCREWMAN
Think about it. The majority of quick lube places hire inexperienced youth who work for minimum wage & don't give a blank ^%$# about your investment ie. Car! Most places have a high turnover rate & hire mechanic wanna bees! Years ago I had a 1993 Camry V6 with well over 200K miles & never even thought about taking it to one of those places! If you value your ride stay away from those places!


To be honest I've never seen one of these quickly places that were the scam variety and all of our local shops have a great reputation so yes there is some fraud in the industry but they aren't all bad.
And let's get serious its not rocket science. As far as oil volume they set the nozzle and it's automatic and it doesn't take a genius to change a filter.
The reason they aren't costly is because of low overhead. So if you'd like to pay more for something that any idiot can do go ahead.
And if a car is an investment it is by far the stupidest investment any human being can make in their life with the rate of devaluation the minute you drive it off the lot so to call it an investment is absurd.
It's an appliance. I don't invest in securities that depreciate like an automobile does. What kind of fool invests in such a manner.
I thought investments were supposed to up in value.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: camrydriver111
On BITOG I always head bad stores about quick lube places. Like how they overfilled your engine or used the wrong oil or stripped your drain plug. Has anyone had any success using quick lube places? Can you drive over 200k miles using quick lube places without engine damage?

One of my family members uses quick lube. I am a little bit worried about their engine. I offered to change oil for them but they think I'm crazy for changing my own oil because it's messy, and takes more time.

The engine does sound a bit different ever since they started using quick lube. It has 50k miles so I don't know if it's because it's finished breaking in or because of quick lube oil. It's hard to describe it. It just had a very tight feeling when you revv it, but not anymore. They put a Kendall sticker on the windshield, but who knows that kind of oil they are actually putting in?

Does anyone have any positive quick lube experiences to help a BITOGer sleep better at night?


I would not attribute how to engine "feels" to anything positive or negative at a quick lube place.

Obviously most quick lube places do a "good enough" job or they would be out of business. Going to a quick lube place at 5000 is better for your car than going to a dealer at 10K. I would guess many mistakes done at quick lube places are not known by the customer.

The best a quick lube place can do is have a neutral experience (they did not screw up the car), maybe if they have good coffee it might be a positive experience.

 

[bigt61]

I had a free coupon for Jiffy Lube and used it on an old beater. No problems - they seemed to do a fine job. No extra charge for PYB which is what I used. I don't know if they stripped the drain plug or double gasketed the filter, but nothing is leaking. The oil is at the correct level. I think in most cases, these quick lube places do an OK job. You just have to be knowledgeable about the value of the upsell when offered.

 

[burchster13]

Our local grease monkey is family owned and I worked for them in college. They are the only place I will have my oil changed. I worked in the pit and all the work down there is double checked by either the owner or tech under the hood. Filters are always changed and if the drain plugs came out hard and we're stripped we offered the customer a replacement.

 

[bustednutz]

My 70 yr old father has a 2000 civic with 219k miles on it. He ALWAYS takes it to his local quick lube in NC. Has the oil changed every 3000 miles. He's old school like that.
Anyway he's never once had an issue with them doing a poor job.
He saves all his receipts in a folder too for documentation.

 

[addyguy]

I've been driving for 21 years....had 6 cars in that time.

I'll be honest, the MAJORITY of the oil changes on those vehicles were done at quick-lubes of one kind or another.

I've never had an oil-related problem with any vehicle...never an overfill (I check), never a leaky filter, never a forced upsell...it's all gone smoothly.

I am most likely going to have to go back to QL oil changes, BC my condo rules have been changes to not allow ANY vehicle maintenance on property. I'm annoyed, but have no worries about my vehicle.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Nobody posted any good/successful(without over-sell) oil change at quick lube on internet. But a slight disappoint oil change(0.001% ?) will be posted and discuss forever.

 

[Whimsey]

Around where I live quick lubes are not inexpensive. You can usually get a quality oil change done at an indie shop for a comparable cost and get better service. Heck even Ford dealers deliver a quality oil change for less than most quick oil change places. But it's better to at least have your oil and filter changed if this is your only option.

Whimsey

 

[Donald]

The quick lube places put their money into areas/products which the customer will notice, the coffee.

 

[turtlevette]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Nobody posted any good/successful(without over-sell) oil change at quick lube on internet. But a slight disappoint oil change(0.001% ?) will be posted and discuss forever.


They're all incompetent. Have you ever seen one use a torque wrench on the oil plug? Eventually they'll strip that out. They all over tighten, because of the horror stories of plugs falling out. How much is it to ask that they invest a few hundred bucks in torque wrenches?

 

[dlundblad]

Originally Posted By: Whimsey
Around where I live quick lubes are not inexpensive. You can usually get a quality oil change done at an indie shop for a comparable cost and get better service. Heck even Ford dealers deliver a quality oil change for less than most quick oil change places. But it's better to at least have your oil and filter changed if this is your only option.

Whimsey


I agree. I can get one done down the road from me for like $24. 6 quarts of conventional whatever (I assume Napa) and a Napa Silver. Usually quick lubes are $20, but in the fine print is specifies 5 quarts of conventional.)

I never understood the whole time aspect of changing your oil though. One can easily burn up a few hrs while waiting on their oil to get changed unless they pick it up at your house, while at work etc.

 

[Leo99]

Both my cars have over 200k miles and saw quick lube places exclusively for the firs 200k miles. Just started to change my own oil recently due to costs of HM oil and the time to get to the quick lube place. I can change my own oil very easily; I hate waiting.

 

[raytseng]

They are fine in my opinion in terms of getting the job done. My cars are toyotas and hondas so lets be honest, the oil change is about as generic as can be. I can bring my own materials and they'll take $2 or $3 off with no fuss avout shop policies

Its not about price its time.

I agree that my local mechanic will do the job cheaper and I have him do the oil change when i drop off car for other services.

However for even just an oil change itself he'll say you need to leave the car for 2 hours.

Additionally the quick lube place I go to is also a full service hand car wash so they both include a car wash in the pricing and get that done in the same trip.

 

[andyd]

My only experience with quickee lubes has been with the work van. No bad experiences. The Pep Boys in Raynham won't get any return service. The Valvoline in Plymouth got a thumbs ups from MDW for the 25 buck oil change on the Camry. The weather wasn't favorable for a drive way job on an unfamiliar car. They may very well get the next OC too.

 

[Ethan1]

Originally Posted By: turtlevette
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Nobody posted any good/successful(without over-sell) oil change at quick lube on internet. But a slight disappoint oil change(0.001% ?) will be posted and discuss forever.


They're all incompetent. Have you ever seen one use a torque wrench on the oil plug? Eventually they'll strip that out. They all over tighten, because of the horror stories of plugs falling out. How much is it to ask that they invest a few hundred bucks in torque wrenches?



You use a torque wrench on your drain plug? I consider myself a stickler for proper torqe, but I really don't find it necessary to use a torque wrench. I would never do suspension or engine work without a torque wrench. I keep a torque wrench in my trunk in case I have to change a tire. But not for a drain plug.

Do you use the torque wrench on your filter?

 

[Ethan1]

And I'm pretty anal about torque. I even use a torque wrench for valve covers and oil pans, which could really be done carefully by hand.