rant about jiffy lube...

[Doug]

It's not their fault, it's mine, for even taking my vehicle there. Changed the oil in my wife's 2002 Windstar(it has 75k miles and I have never changed it) I got under it and the oil filter was barely on and leaking oil! The idiot light never came on. I checked the dipstick and it was at the bottom of the stick, just barely. So, I felt better knowing it was only little over a quart low and not empty! The oil filter isn't exactly in a great spot, but, it seems to me that they never took the time to make sure it was tight.
I never bothered to change the oil in the van, I just changed the oil in my beloved truck... But, now, I'll always do it myself. Plus it only cost $10 instead of $40.

I should know better. When I was in high school, I worked at a Jiffy Lube. For the most part, most of the techs were pretty good, but there were a couple dinks that liked to force on the wrong filter, etc. I know the owner had to put a new motor in a Corolla because of that...

Sorry, my rant is over.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Many idiot lights come on at two quarts low.

Last month, I checked my daughter's oil level two weeks after she went to Uncle Ed's Lube Shop. It was 1-1/2 quarts overfilled & she was leaving for a 900 mile roundtrip vacation the next day. I loosened the oil plug enough so the oil ran out slowly... guessing when 1-1/2 quarts would enter my plastic oil pan.

I guessed real close.... she ended up being 1/4 quart overfilled... good enough for her trip.

That was a close call. She could of been stranded three states south of here & a court fight with the Lube Shop would of taken a long time to settle.

 

[Mr Nice]

About 7 years ago I took my wife's Altima to a Mobil quick lube. The same thing happened to me, but luckily there was no oil loss, ever since that happened, I just get all dirty and do it myself.

 

[Drew99GT]

I don't know what it is with these places and overfilling. It happens every single time. How do you screw up and overfill by over 1 quart? That's just stupidity.

 

[lewk]

an avg. person would assume oil techs hired to do this would be able to get something this simple right 99% of the time. if you happen to frequent one of these quick lube shops double check the work b4 you leave,the engine u save may be your own.I have abandoned them altogether. I'll buy my own filter and oil and take it to my mechanic if its annoying for me to get dirty that day.he works mainly on older(75k+) and only stocks 20w50.I have a 4.5 qt sump and imo 5 qts is marginally overfilled.I CAN live with that.

 

[cortazzo]

i don't mind getting dirty and doing it myself. I used to take it to my carwash that also has a quick lube section, at least they used quaker state oils. For less than having the oil changed for me I can put on a high quality filter and use synthetic oils...

 

[srivett]

The computer tells them the engine oil capacity so they set the gun and that's that. As we all know the true capacity can be pretty random...perhaps you have 1.5 quarts of sludge in your oil pan. If they don't wait long enough after running the engine or if they quickly jab your engine with the dipstick they'll get a false reading.

When I was working at an oil change place I got a filter cross threaded on a brand new car. I told my supervisor that I only got the filter on 1/2 of a turn and couldn't get it off to fix it. She said to fire up the car because she didn't want to throw out the 50 cent oil filter. There was a mess and we put on a 2nd filter anyway.

Steve

 

[55Test]

A 50 cent filter? Was Fram having a clearance sale?

 

[road_rascal]

Years ago I actually had a dealer underfill my van by two quarts. Which is to say I now do just about everything myself.

 

[Kestas]

It's amazing how much money some healthy car owners will pay just so they don't have to crawl under their car and get their hands dirty!

 

[brianl703]

On many cars you don't need to crawl under it, or even jack it up.

 

[GrtArtiste]

My experiences with quick lube outfits ended in December 2003 when I went to a place that that had used successfully before. The engine oil light came on immediately before I could drive away. The oil was repeatedly checked and shown full, but the light stayed on. Like a fool, I drove away thinking something else must be wrong. The oil light went off while under acceleration, but came on again at idle. I later found out that they had damaged the old filter by removing it incorrectly, and they either reinstalled the same filter or damaged the new filter when they put it on. The entire group of these places in my town soon after closed their doors for about a year, but they have now repoened under a new name. I have no idea if they are the same company, but I won't go back. They even damaged the canister that holds the filter. Fortunately, I have the assistance of a knowledgeable person and I know what to do so the problem won't happen again.

 

[wavinwayne]

I am the exception to the rule

For my first 15 years of driving, I took all of my vehicles to various quickie-lube shops in the Athens, Huntsville & Scottsboro, AL. areas. In all those years, none of them ever screwed up anything. Or if they did, I never saw any signs of it.

I decided to start changing the oil in my cars last year, more from a financial perspective than anything else. I found that I actually enjoyed doing oil changes on my vehicles, so I don't plan to use the quick-lubes anymore.

 

[srivett]

55: They were actually Frams at the time, Quakerstate Frams. Filters are cheap if you buy enough of them in bulk packaging.

Steve

 

[Gary Allan]

quote:

---

I don't know what it is with these places and overfilling. It happens every single time. How do you screw up and overfill by over 1 quart?

---

quote:

---

The computer tells them the engine oil capacity so they set the gun and that's that.

---

Yes, I agree with srivett. The only time that I've ever had overfill issues is with bulk oil delivery systems. This hasn't happened in 25 years simply due the fact that I didn't get dealer lubes for about 25 years. I've never used a quicky lube of any type. Just never had the need to use them.

 

[oilyriser]

The last time (18 yrs ago?) I ever used an oil change company, they disconnected the speedometer cable that ran near the oil filter, but forgot to reconnect it. A Subaru dealer overfilled my car by 1L after rebuilding the engine. They also billed me for 5L of oil. I called Subaru Canada and told them about this, and a couple of weeks later got a refund cheque in the mail from the dealer.

 

[ediamiam]

When I had a manual tranny Toyota Celica, the dealership managed to overfill the tranny fluid by over a quart. Picked up the car from dealer, it was shifting rough, got home and went to check the oil. This is where you pull the plug, and the oil is suppose to barely dribble out the side, about a quart of that smelly sh!t poured out. I didn't complain, just never went back. I got into the habit of quality checking any work done when possible. Jiffy Lube doesnt own the franchise on screwups. I don't think the master mechanic is the guy doing the oil changes, just a minimum wage grunt.

 

[skinnyd]

I had the oil done in two cars two weekends ago. It was at a local gas/repair station. While the guy was doing the work I was standing outside the bay doors watching. (I am sure he loved that)I asked him if he had a chart or something to tell him how much oil each car needed. He replied I just add 4.5 quarts and then check it. "Most cars take 4.5 quarts these days". I thought to myself first and last time I stop by here. This is also a pretty popular shop in town. After paying the bill I had to ask for a receipt. I wished I had asked him this with the first car. I guess its my fault I didn't wait and go to the local Midas dealer I normally go to. So far they have done a good job by me. The local Ford dealer over filled one of the cars when I brought it to them. Last time I go there as well.

It amazes me how hard it is to get someone else to do a proper oil change.

 

[kreigle]

Never been to a Jiffy Lube, but had a Honda dealer overfill a Civic by 1qt - twice - and they left the fill cap off the second time! Haven't been back there since.

 

[XS650]

quote:

---

Originally posted by kreigle:
Never been to a Jiffy Lube, but had a Honda dealer overfill a Civic by 1qt - twice - and they left the fill cap off the second time! Haven't been back there since.

---

I've had similar results from substandard sloppy stealerships shop simians. An oil cap left off once and the wrong oil engine (dino oil when I ordered M1) used at least twice that I know of. They weren't trying to screw me, it was just inompetance. They only charged me for dino oil which is how I found out they screwed up.