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Yeah $69.95 oil change ? They purposely advertise in an effort to adjust pricing. The near $70 fee for an oil change is more of a scam than necessity or the norm. $29.00-$35.00 IS already the absurd level, butnolonger nolonger includes free rotation. It's to the advantage statistically for a garage to check fluidsd even air filters since the addons put icing on the cash cow cake? To advertise that the oil change includes these "free" checks is a part of the scam. Make no mistake the power of suggestion is part of the process to jack prices to a new norm. Don't go to any of these rip off artists and be careful . If your well healed financially at least guarantee your getting synthetic and not some scum bucket oil without a known name.
Things go up. No surprise here. As long as their prices are clearly visible with no surprise up charge I have no issue with their pricing model. The market will dictate whether it works or not.
But no, I won't pay $70 for an oil change especially when they use generic filters and bulk oil.
I always get a chuckle out of reading the oil change price menus at shops. High mileage and synthetic are marked up ridiculously high. The 5 qt jugs of HM oil at Walmart are only $1-2 more than dino, and syn is max $10 more. I balked at the thread here the other day about a poster paying close to $100 for a syn change on their Altima at Jiffy Lube. Do oil changes yourself people, or find a trusted garage that lets you bring in your own oil & filter and charges you a reasonable fee for labor
How is $29 an absurd level? I change my own oil, and a six quart change using a synthetic blend (manufacturer recommended) costs about $40. If I were paying to get it done I think $60-$70 would be fair considering what it costs to do it on my own.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by clawsondude
How is $29 an absurd level? I change my own oil, and a six quart change using a synthetic blend (manufacturer recommended) costs about $40. If I were paying to get it done I think $60-$70 would be fair considering what it costs to do it on my own.
Yes, I pay $29.95 which includes checking brakes and rotating tires, checking all fluid levels and synthetic blend at the dealership. I used to change oil myself but with the hassle of disposing of the used oil, messiness, and paying retail for good oil and filter there was no longer any savings. Last time I looked Mobil 1 synthetic at Walmart was $22.88 for 5 quart jug, Motorcraft filter $5.99, total within a dollar of what I pay for the blend and same filter including labor.
I would suggest that you go to the parts store and check out the price of oil and a filter. Maybe you can justify crawling around under your car and disposing of the oil to save a couple of bucks, but I can't. My guy charges $29.95 to service the car, top off the fluids, and inspect pretty much everything. I'm happy to pay it.
I do like to do it myself once in awhile, but that's just to look things over under there for myself, not because of any illusion that I'm saving a ton of money by doing it.
Last edited by duster1979; 07-20-2016 at 10:22 AM..
Yeah $69.95 oil change ? They purposely advertise in an effort to adjust pricing. The near $70 fee for an oil change is more of a scam than necessity or the norm. $29.00-$35.00 IS already the absurd level, butnolonger nolonger includes free rotation. It's to the advantage statistically for a garage to check fluidsd even air filters since the addons put icing on the cash cow cake? To advertise that the oil change includes these "free" checks is a part of the scam. Make no mistake the power of suggestion is part of the process to jack prices to a new norm. Don't go to any of these rip off artists and be careful . If your well healed financially at least guarantee your getting synthetic and not some scum bucket oil without a known name.
I don't see how paying ~$50 is absurd for an oil change. Shops need to make money.
I change my own oil - and my cost for oil/filter varies from $30 to $140 depending on which car.
Not to mention in order to do that, I had to also invest about $250 in jacks/jackstands/pans/wrenches/cleaning wipes etc.
Then theres the labor of doing it/disposing of the oil, etc.
Just looking at the raw parts, paying an extra $10-$20 for someone else to do it is pretty reasonable IMO. Of course, I do it because it's just more convenient, not to mention I enjoy it.
I think what's ridiculous are the $40+ charges for air filter changes. Typically <$10 for the part, and it's a 2 min job that requires zero equipment or crawling around.
I change my own oil, not because of money but because I hate driving my car to a shop to get it done because of time. I can be done with oil change within 20 mins at home. Used to take prius to dealer because I had a prepaid service contract. When that ended I started doing it myself. I hate waiting 3 hours to get it done. What a waste of time
I would also remind people that there's no money to be made in changing oil for under $40. Adjust expectations accordingly
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