A rant against oil change chains

[Jeremie Boop]

21 hours ago, nevets88 said:

Off topic but what about tire rotations? Don't most places overdo it on tightening the lug nuts? I think there are manual wrenches you can buy that measure how much pressure you're applying?

The Valvoline I go to uses torque wrenches and torque to manufacturer specs for pretty much everything they tighten/loosen. 

 

4 minutes ago, Shooting29 said:

I uses a valvoline oil change shop. My favorite reason is you drive in the front, drive out the back and never get out of your vehicle. Also, my truck has a skid plate that must be removed to access the oil filter. 

I changed my own oil in this truck once and spent $50 on oil and a filter plus time driving around buying supplies and then time actually doing the work, and cleaning up. It's not worth the headache to save $30.

I'll continue to pay $80, be in and out in less than 15 minutes and never crawl around on the ground having oil run all the way up to my armpit. 

Pretty much my take on it, being that both my and my fiance's cars are newer they have those plates or whatever under them too. 

 

2 hours ago, k-troop said:

Now-a-days I just take it to the dealer for scheduled maintenance.  It's rarely "just an oil change" per the service manual, and with newer cars it's only once a year (or 10k miles) anyway.  I'm not a tinkerer, so I'm cool with the dealership giving my car a once-over at least annually.

Yeah, it really threw me off when I saw that it was 10K between changes for my car, it worked out to $130 total, which if broken down to every 3000 came right down to 40ish per change or 65 for every 5000. So the cost really didn't seem overly high considering I went with the manufacturer recommended oil. My previous car I took to the dealership and the cost was higher than it was at the Valvoline so it was a no brainer to make the switch. 

[Wally Fairway]

Jeremie -
While it was more than a little inconvenience for you, it could have been much worse. I had a shop cross thread an oil filter and that caused all kinds of issue, or if they cross thread the oil plug; or cross tranny fluid with power steering.
Any number of worse things could have happened, and have - just be glad there (hopefully) wasn't permanent damage to your vehicle.

I avoid the quick change places because that is the type of help the get. Anyone who has some mechanical ability or training will work in a shop, and that's why I go to an independent shop (pay about $35 +/- ) for an oil change and have a mechanic supervise it if not do the work themselves.

[Jeremie Boop]

3 minutes ago, Wally Fairway said:

Jeremie -
While it was more than a little inconvenience for you, it could have been much worse. I had a shop cross thread an oil filter and that caused all kinds of issue, or if they cross thread the oil plug; or cross tranny fluid with power steering.
Any number of worse things could have happened, and have - just be glad there (hopefully) wasn't permanent damage to your vehicle.

I avoid the quick change places because that is the type of help the get. Anyone who has some mechanical ability or training will work in a shop, and that's why I go to an independent shop (pay about $35 +/- ) for an oil change and have a mechanic supervise it if not do the work themselves.

I'm not discounting the issues you've had in the past, however, I have not experienced that myself. The place I go has a great reputation and many repeat customers. One thing I did not mention before is that it's the same place we brought all of the vehicles to for regular maintenance for a company I worked for in the past, so I knew that it was a good place to go.

[jkelley9]

These threads get me every time. There are way too many stories of corner oil change shops doing everything completely wrong; anything from not changing the oil at all, not putting caps back on, overfilling because they forgot to drain the oil, and even giving customers back their cars without oil.

Then there's the things that the vast MAJORITY of shops will do, every single time:

1. Over tighten the drain bolt, over tightening causes compromised threads and drip leaks

2. Over tighten the oil filter, same problem as above

As for tire rotations, I've only found one shop that hand torques their lugs to the correct specifications (which is not NEARLY as tight as most people would think). Nearly every other shop I've been to tightens them with the 500 ft-lb twin hammer monster impact wrenches. I've actually been in a shop where they snapped a stud off and the guy said "yea the hub was worn out so it's not really our fault" and the poor woman had to pay to get a new stud put in. I didn't want to make a scene and the lady was like "whatever go ahead" but I really wanted to say "I just saw you use your impact wrench for 30 seconds tightening that bolt beyond it's spec." Ridiculous.

Unfortunately I have to educate myself with each car repair I need and often end up doing it myself, because that's the only way I know it will get done correctly. Hopefully one day I can find a trustworthy, skilled mechanic to work on my vehicles.

[ScouseJohnny]

Well, I learned my lesson. What I found a bit comical about the oil change chain place was that, whilst completely f*****g up a simple oil change, they were also trying to up-sell other, more complex services. If you can't change oil, then I'd rather not have you messing around with my transmission, thanks.

As I said - I learned my lesson. I live in an apartment, have no garage or yard, it's not very convenient to change my own oil. But I knew I should only have taken it to the local shop I trust, even though its location is a bit inconvenient. Never, ever again will I choose convenience over quality - because it wasn't convenient.

Seriously, how hard is it to do one, simple thing well? If someone runs one of these joints, can't he just train someone to change oil without making a balls of it? It wasn't major engine work. It was changing oil without selecting the incorrect filter, and remembering to put the oil cap back on.

Sometimes I feel really old (even though I'm "only" 40). Not much pride taken in doing a job properly these days, by so many businesses.

Edited February 9, 2017 by ScouseJohnny

[jkelley9]

On 2/9/2017 at 2:58 PM, ScouseJohnny said:

Not much pride taken in doing a job properly these days, by so many businesses.

This is statement right here is the poster child of 2012-present... lol. Maybe earlier than that.

I wouldn't really know as I didn't jump into the real working world until 2011, then had to buy my own house, pay for all sorts of services and such of course, and came to the gut-wrenching reality that there are WAYYY too many people that don't take pride in their work. 

When I dug trenches for conduit runs for 3 summers and winters, sweating or freezing my BUTT off, I still took pride in my work. When I valet'd cars for an illegitimate business in the freezing rain, I still tried to keep as much water out of the person's car as I could, and took pride in my work. When I worked as a waiter for a labor law-infringing restaurant, I still took pride in my work.

More people need to realize that it doesn't matter what level of work you do, you WILL feel better if you put some pride in it, and often you'll be rewarded for it.