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i had to replace a radiator once. the next day i got my oil changed and the kid tells me that its time to replace the radiator fluid - i believe they are going thru a script. its just up-selling you can say no to but the screw-ups are scary.
All of those quick lube places recommend service based on mileage. If the manual says you need x service at y mileage, they will offer it to you. They have no clue if you got the work done any where else.
you ever sit in the lobby and listen while you wait?
one place in the time i waited i saw two guys come in complaining that the oil light came on two miles down the road. turns out they forgot to put back the plug after changing the oil.
another place, every woman that walked in was told she needed her timing belt replaced.
i had to replace a radiator once. the next day i got my oil changed and the kid tells me that its time to replace the radiator fluid - i believe they are going thru a script. its just up-selling you can say no to but the screw-ups are scary.
All of those quick lube places recommend service based on mileage. If the manual says you need x service at y mileage, they will offer it to you. They have no clue if you got the work done any where else.
I don't like the way they constantly try to upsell me on services I don't want or need. "We recommend a transmission flush/wiper blades/radiator flush, etc. . . " I get that they need to make money, but I'm there for an oil change and that's all.
I had a bigger problem at the place I went the time before last. I was looking for a new place, since I had moved and my old place, one I really liked, was too far away. I found a Groupon for an oil change for $24.99. After checking the good reviews and reading the fine print, which listed an expiration date and nothing else, I went to the oil change place.
When I got there at noon on some weekday, I found it odd I was the only customer there. I told them upon arrival I had a coupon for $24.99 for a conventional change using Valvoline and presented it to them. The service guy was nice and they started to work on my car, a 2006 RAV 4 V6. 10 minutes later they were done and when he rang me up, he announced it would be $47! I was dismayed. What happened to the $24.99? The man said my car took 6 quarts of oil, thus they charged more, and I had an oddly shaped filter, and somehow that cost more as well. I told them the coupon said nothing about these upcharges. He said, "That's just how we do it." I said, "Well you're not doing it that way today." When he saw I refused to pay that much, he retrieved the manager, who reluctantly agreed to honor the coupon. I never returned to that place.
I have done research and found that my car takes 6.1 quarts. If I'm using a coupon, I'm fine with paying what the coupon says and I know I have to abide by a coupon's conditions. But I'm not cool with an oil change place upcharging me or using bait and switch tactics and expecting me to swallow their BS just because I'm a woman.
That's not right. You should have been told before the service was performed. Sometimes the customer is wrong, but if they want a happy customer who will return, they need to do something about it.
i shopped around when i moved to pensacola for a place to do my oil changes. The first 2 wanted to replace windshield wipers, do automatic transmission flushes ... All sorts of stuff. I found a place that just changes the oil and filter, tops off the windshield wiper fluid and calls it good. And they use the oil ford recommends for my truck. My experience -- the places with names you'd recognize all around the country are the worse. You know like 'young men with lots of energy'
Never heard of these and I am pretty much a gearhead. I will have to ask some mechanic buddies I know about them. I know a guy who was on a NASCAR pit crew; maybe he has heard of them. I kind of trust the OEM plug right now and I change my own oil. I also lube my own chassis as the 'lube and screwya' joints don't even though they are supposed to.
Yes - par for the course... When I think about it, these places have done right by me perhaps 50% of the time and the other 25% here's what happened:
1) They "adjusted" my tire air pressure to the point where it set of the TPMS
2) They didn't fill my vehicle up with oil after draining it
3) They charged a ridiculous amount of money to replace a couple filters
4) They refilled with oil of questionable quality which didn't look good after just 3k miles
5) They stripped the threading on the oil pan by mis-threading the old change bolt
6) They stripped the actual oil change bolt head itself
I kept giving them the benefit of the doubt but enough was enough after three years of problems created by the place I was going to for two of my family's vehicles. I befriended the owner and manager at the outset, but that didn't seem to help much so I just stopped going when the issue happened regarding them not refilling the oil after draining. That nearly killed an engine and definitely caused some sort of damage.
My recommendation - do your own changes... it's not hard and with the proper equipment it's not messy either (I use Fumoto valves so I don't even need a wrench).
Never heard of these and I am pretty much a gearhead. I will have to ask some mechanic buddies I know about them. I know a guy who was on a NASCAR pit crew; maybe he has heard of them. I kind of trust the OEM plug right now and I change my own oil. I also lube my own chassis as the 'lube and screwya' joints don't even though they are supposed to.
See below of things that will NEVER happen with a Fumoto oil drain valve
Quote:
Originally Posted by belovenow
Yes - par for the course... When I think about it, these places have done right by me perhaps 50% of the time and the other 25% here's what happened:
1) They "adjusted" my tire air pressure to the point where it set of the TPMS
2) They didn't fill my vehicle up with oil after draining it
3) They charged a ridiculous amount of money to replace a couple filters
4) They refilled with oil of questionable quality which didn't look good after just 3k miles 5) They stripped the threading on the oil pan by mis-threading the old change bolt
6) They stripped the actual oil change bolt head itself
I kept giving them the benefit of the doubt but enough was enough after three years of problems created by the place I was going to for two of my family's vehicles. I befriended the owner and manager at the outset, but that didn't seem to help much so I just stopped going when the issue happened regarding them not refilling the oil after draining. That nearly killed an engine and definitely caused some sort of damage.
My recommendation - do your own changes... it's not hard and with the proper equipment it's not messy either (I use Fumoto valves so I don't even need a wrench).
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