Watch the Quickie Lube guys

[AndyG]

I’m not sure this belongs here but it did happen at a shop and it got discovered at my little shop-

My ‘05 Vette got taken to Express Oil Change because I could not get under it to service it I thought-

Well I got to looking into it and got the confidence and figured out how to safely left the car and was in the process of doing my own oil change when I found out the oil drain plug was finger tight.

We had just driven the car to Florida and back a couple of weeks ago that way.

It was literally a few vibrations away from catastrophic failure

You have to give an O-ring credit it doesn’t take much for them to work but I can hardly believe it did.

Basically this echoes what we get into on the main forum all the time and that is we own tools partly for self defense.

 

[GregBelleville]

Pretty much sums up why I have trust issues with my vehicles being worked on by anyone but me.

You'd think an oil change would get done properly at a place that specializes in doing them, but those places are notorious for all sorts of shenanigans.

 

[Rickyd]

I've seen and heard too many stories of "mechanics" forgetting to refill engines before starting them,leaving the drain plug loose or out.oil filter stupidity and every which way for an overworked guy(may or may not be on drugs,yes dealer techs too) doing repetitive mind numbing jobs can screw them up. Many of these were "fixed" and sent out the door without the supervisor or customer knowing.

I never let anyone change my oil. And when tires get done I have my own torque wrench to double check

 

[steelhd]

I occasionally use the quick lube places but with precautions. I mark the oil filter to be sure it actually gets changed and after the work I park nearby and double check everything. So far so good.

 

[inkedrose]

Had a client go to Grease Monkey. They drained her trans fluid, double filled her engine oil and sent her on her way. Trans blew up shortly after... she's still in litigation

 

[AndyG]

Had a client go to Grease Monkey. They drained her trans fluid, double filled her engine oil and sent her on her way. Trans blew up shortly after... she's still in litigation

There’s no telling how many stories like that are out here...

 

[DuckNut]

I have lifts in my garages and all service (almost all- except warranty work) is done in my garage by a guy i have known and has taken care of my cars for many years.

Even before this, I performed the service myself. Been over 20 years since I paid someone to change oil.

 

[Plumber1]

We took our 2021 Ford F550 to one of those for an oil change places. When they removed the filter the old gasket did not come off so when they installed the filter it was then double gasketed. A week or so later all of oil drained out and blew the Diesel Moter that had less than 30k miles. It was at Ford for almost 3 months before they could get a new replacement motor installed. It cost them $$$$$$$$$ plus they had to supply us with a Ram 3500 for the time our truck was at Ford.

 

[JMT]

The right fluids in the right amounts in the right places at the right intervals is important.

I do all five of our vehicles.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

I let the shop change our 4runner because Toyota inexplicably ruined the 4.0 in the 5th gen by taking the top mounted can and making it a bottom mounted cartridge.

I take it to the family owned shop I worked at in high school. It's under different ownership but based on my interactions with the techs I trust them more than I would most of the coworkers I had there 25 years ago. The bar is low...the current staff can hold a conversation and lacks meth teeth and prison tattoos. One of them drives a TJ.

 

[BlueC]

I worked at a quick change place for a while back in high school. A finger tight plug or double gasket filter isn't uncommon at any shop. What I did learn, and hate, about quick change shops was their scams for ticket mark-ups, and upper level management really pushed that. The shop I worked at, and I'm sure it's an industry-wide thing, trained employees to "up-sell" services, some needed, some not, and they'd teach dirty little tricks to help with the sell. One trick I remember well was selling trans fluid flush service, a high margin item. The taught us to pull the trans dip stick, drop some new and used trans fluid on a white sheet side by side, then add a little dirty oil to the used fluid to make the trans fluid look filthy before selling it to the customer. Just stuff like that, and that disgust me. I always had low ticket numbers because I refused to do that. I actually got fired because of that, about 3 months after the shop manager got fired for embezzlement.

 

[Tranz Zam]

I do all my own stuff, new or old. I'm not paying some jabroni to touch my stuff.

 

[Claytone]

I worked at a quick change place for a while back in high school. A finger tight plug or double gasket filter isn't uncommon at any shop. What I did learn, and hate, about quick change shops was their scams for ticket mark-ups, and upper level management really pushed that. The shop I worked at, and I'm sure it's an industry-wide thing, trained employees to "up-sell" services, some needed, some not, and they'd teach dirty little tricks to help with the sell. One trick I remember well was selling trans fluid flush service, a high margin item. The taught us to pull the trans dip stick, drop some new and used trans fluid on a white sheet side by side, then add a little dirty oil to the used fluid to make the trans fluid look filthy before selling it to the customer. Just stuff like that, and that disgust me. I always had low ticket numbers because I refused to do that. I actually got fired because of that, about 3 months after the shop manager got fired for embezzlement.

One of the Benz dealers I worked at would pull that kind of shit at a slightly less fraudulent level. I peeled out of there as quick as I could. I'm amazed that store is still in business.
The shysters are out there. Unfortunately it makes the rest of us look bad.

 

[ColoJeep]

I'm amazed that store is still in business.

High end Euro trash captive market .

 

[freedom_in_4low]

I worked at a quick change place for a while back in high school. A finger tight plug or double gasket filter isn't uncommon at any shop. What I did learn, and hate, about quick change shops was their scams for ticket mark-ups, and upper level management really pushed that. The shop I worked at, and I'm sure it's an industry-wide thing, trained employees to "up-sell" services, some needed, some not, and they'd teach dirty little tricks to help with the sell. One trick I remember well was selling trans fluid flush service, a high margin item. The taught us to pull the trans dip stick, drop some new and used trans fluid on a white sheet side by side, then add a little dirty oil to the used fluid to make the trans fluid look filthy before selling it to the customer. Just stuff like that, and that disgust me. I always had low ticket numbers because I refused to do that. I actually got fired because of that, about 3 months after the shop manager got fired for embezzlement.

Yikes.

I'm not aware we had any finger tight plugs but the one time I let the know-it-all aircraft mechanic school dropout work the pit is the day we sent one out with two gaskets on the oil filter. Fortunately the guy only lived half a mile away. He smelled the burning oil pulling into his garage and turned around and came back before he got a chance to hear the message I'd already left on his answering machine. He had about a quart left in the pan.

The shop I worked at was family owned and the guy was a standup, honest dude so there weren't any of those lying and cheating shenanigans going on. His biggest problem was having a soft spot for guys supposedly trying to turn their lives around so there were usually about 3 dependable techs and one guy that had no work ethic or motivation to be good at anything.

 

[Mhass]

Stopped at a quick change to have oil and filters done while on leave in the Navy. Was on a cross country move and short on time, but knew the truck was about due for an oil change. So, after stopping for a bit at my father in-law's, in Canton, OH, I swung into a quick lube and let em have at it.
From the bay window, I see the idiot prying on my air cleaner housing with a bigass screwdriver and yell at him.
Shop manager gets involved and the dope says, "I always do it this way." Note-its a 96 dodge and you have to loosen the clamp that holds the air filter housing in place to remove it.
Manager yells at him and says he'll have someone else finish it up.
I watch and it gets done. I check everything before I take off.
About 10 miles down the highway, I'm in a construction zone with jersey walls on both sides and traffic is slowing ahead so I take my foot off the gas to slow down...except, I DO NOT slow down.
So, push the clutch in and the engine pegs. Shut the engine off and stop without killing anyone.
As traffic eases, I manage to limp the truck to a place I can pull off and check the throttle body.
Little moron had broken a piece of plastic off that jammed the throttle body open.
I fixed it and raced back to beat his ass but the place was closed by the time I got there.
I thank God for saving me from a life in prison for murder that day!

 

[05 White X]

I worked at a quick change place for a while back in high school. A finger tight plug or double gasket filter isn't uncommon at any shop. What I did learn, and hate, about quick change shops was their scams for ticket mark-ups, and upper level management really pushed that. The shop I worked at, and I'm sure it's an industry-wide thing, trained employees to "up-sell" services, some needed, some not, and they'd teach dirty little tricks to help with the sell. One trick I remember well was selling trans fluid flush service, a high margin item. The taught us to pull the trans dip stick, drop some new and used trans fluid on a white sheet side by side, then add a little dirty oil to the used fluid to make the trans fluid look filthy before selling it to the customer. Just stuff like that, and that disgust me. I always had low ticket numbers because I refused to do that. I actually got fired because of that, about 3 months after the shop manager got fired for embezzlement.

LOL I had that trick tried on me years ago, the truck only had like 40K on it.

 

[LukesfirstJeep]

I worked at a quick change place for a while back in high school. A finger tight plug or double gasket filter isn't uncommon at any shop. What I did learn, and hate, about quick change shops was their scams for ticket mark-ups, and upper level management really pushed that. The shop I worked at, and I'm sure it's an industry-wide thing, trained employees to "up-sell" services, some needed, some not, and they'd teach dirty little tricks to help with the sell. One trick I remember well was selling trans fluid flush service, a high margin item. The taught us to pull the trans dip stick, drop some new and used trans fluid on a white sheet side by side, then add a little dirty oil to the used fluid to make the trans fluid look filthy before selling it to the customer. Just stuff like that, and that disgust me. I always had low ticket numbers because I refused to do that. I actually got fired because of that, about 3 months after the shop manager got fired for embezzlement.

It's not just quick change places, but some dealerships operate the same way on mark-ups. Years ago, I had a trip to Boone NC, and realized my Toyota Tundra would be due for an oil change by the time I drove down from PA. Instead of changing oil early, I made an appointment with Boone Toyota. I schedule it first think in the morning and said I would wait.

I dropped off my truck and was walking around the parking lot with my dog. I see my truck on a lift, but no activity. A few minutes later I get a call from the service manager. Boone Toyota's free safety inspection revealed some issues and wanted more money to solve the problem. I said, I'm in the parking lot, I'll meet you in your office and you can tell me what's wrong.

The service manager tells me there was rust on my brake rotors, my cabin air filter needed changed, I needed a top engine clean (I still don't know what this is), and there was one other item. For a paltry sum of $2400, my truck could be made new again.

I told the service manager that I just drove 600+ miles getting here, and the truck never missed a beat. I replaced the cabin air filter last week. Also, living in PA, we will have rust on the edges of our brake rotors, and the brakes work fine. Just do the $40 oil change I asked for.

 

[BlueC]

I needed a top engine clean (I still don't know what this is)

That was another service we sold at marked up prices. Basically, it's to clean up the intake. We used Intake Snake with a "top end" cleaner. You can do the same job at home with an Intake Snake, or rags and small hands, and something like Sea Foam. I do it to my personal vehicles now and then for about $20.

 

[B1Toad]

I was busy so I took my wife's Infiniti FX-35 to Jiffy for an oil change. Instead of removing the under tray, the guy only removed a few of the front bolts, bent it down and made a ramp into his waste drum and just let the oil run. Later when I got home it was dripping on the driveway. I had to remove, clean and re-install. For the time and hassle I would have been better off to just do the whole job myself, not to mention the cost. I followed up with a complaint to corporate which was handed off to the location owner who never contacted me.

Another time while on an extended cross country vacation I was in Florida and I took my F-250 with camper to a quick lube. Apparently they put the new guy on it and I couldn't understand why it was taking so long. When I got back to Arizona I figured it out, they had to go out shopping for a self tapping drain plug after the new guy stripped mine out.

Another time at a quick lube here they didn't have the exit door open all the way up because they were trying to block out the sun, took the swamp cooler out when it hit the door on the way out.

Pretty much resigned to doing it myself these days. I also don't like it when they have my vehicle and a 20 year old kid is telling me to stay in the waiting room. I believe the real reason for that is so you won't see their tactics for upselling you.