[geeteeohguy]

You are miles ahead to stay away from Jiffy Lube. They have a great reputation for damaging cars and engines.

[JSchmitz]

If you pay a lot, you might get what you paid for. If you pay very little, you will definitely get what you paid for!

[jamesq]

I have always used local mom and pop stores for oil changes. They are not as concerned with speed, more with staying in business.

James Q

[mgarblik]

The quick lube stores rely very heavily on the add-on sales and prey on people in a hurry, not interested in cars and the generally uninformed. Recent example is a 78 year old lady friend who brought me a receipt from a Buick Encore with just over 20K miles on it. She was informed that she "must replace the engine air filter and cabin air filter immediately or risk "ruining the engine and HVAC system" The 2 filters were $170.00, "installed". I looked them up on the NAPA site. The 2 filters cost me $31.00 for the pair and the labor was 12 minutes for the pair to install. That's how they can do an oil change, sometimes correctly, for $40.00. Also, I have had multiple vehicles come to my shop with NO OIL FILTER INSTALLED after an oil change at a quick lube. Most newer engines have a drop-in filter element. I open the cap and no filter inside. The car has a sticker on the winsheld from a quick lube. That's one way to increase the thin profit margins. How would you know the difference? As already mentioned. You get what you pay for. CHEAP<FAST< GOOD. Pick any 2.

[BILL BOWMAN1]

Like going to McDonald’s for a fine dining experience.

[Vid]

I’m waiting for the story when somebody with more money than sense pulls their Tesla into a Jiffy Lube for an oil change… and they do it! “$117.32 please sir…”. Haha


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[Greg Reid]

One of those quick oil change places left the plug loose on my son's Subaru a few years back. Fortunately, he pulled over and killed the engine as soon as the oil light came on. Same thing happened to a friend of mine just a couple of days ago. I'm amazed that this happens so often. It's like mounting a tire and forgetting the lug nuts!
I buy my daily driver oil by the case at Sam's or Costco and choose a decent brand of filter from the parts store. 12 quarts of conventional is under $40 and I've had zero issues with it.

[Formulabruce]

Smallest cheapest filter and cheapest bulk oil.. That hasn't changed

[SRR]

Originally Posted by Vid

I’m waiting for the story when somebody with more money than sense pulls their Tesla into a Jiffy Lube for an oil change… and they do it! “$117.32 please sir…”. Haha


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Had a guy come in the parts store the other day and ask me for an air filter for his Tesla. So, you need an air filter for your ELECTRIC car? Yes! Uh, do you mean a cabin filter? Yes, that one.

[b-man]

Only once in my entire life have I let someone else change the oil on one of my cars.

I took my wife’s new at the time 2013 Civic to the dealer for its very first oil change. The technician tightened the drain plug to the point that the aluminum crush washer squeezed down enough to reduce the I.D. to the point that I had to thread it off the drain plug with pliers.

No damage really but left a bad taste in my mouth, I always use a new crush washer and torque it to spec as outlined in the owners manual. I buy a good brand of synthetic oil and quality NAPA Gold filters in bulk.

https://www.fleetfilter.com

The low price on the filters more than compensate for the shipping cost, works out if you have multiple vehicles plus you can order a bunch with some friends to defray shipping costs. I like having both oil (which I usually buy online) and filters handy, I’m never running out to the auto parts store when it’s time to do an oil change.

[Mr Anonymous]

Due to the "left it loose" failures, they seem to have instituted a process of installing the plugs so damn tight that they are extremely difficult to remove, and the rate of resultant oil pan changes is going up dramatically. Steel plug, aluminum pan, and impact wrench - brilliant. A friend with a Ridgeline paid about $1100 to have his oil pan replaced. Was told by the oil change place that its not uncommon. He swore those quick oil change places saved him so much money over the years... I asked if it was still cheaper when the pan had to be replaced. Silence.

My newly married son is now the maintainer of record for his in-laws' vehicles. Had a suburban to change oil in, the hex on the drain plug was destroyed to the point no socket of any size would fit. He got those left hand theaded sockets with teeth, and used the vehicle weight against the ratchet on the ground to get enough bite to get it out. Resourceful, and saved them the oil pan replacement they were expecting.

[Mr_GTO]

I worked in one 25 years ago. Yes, they hire MORONS because it's an entry level position. When I was there (I worked up vs working down in the pit) and when we got notice of oil drain plugs not tightening up because the pan was damaged we always noted it in the invoice. Many times the owners knew it and were looking to us to fix it.

We would also advise against trans services on old vehicles. I remember specifically a 93 or so Explorer and it was the daughters car and the father insisted on doing a fluid exchange. We advised against it, noted it in the comments, and we did it. Got a call a few hours or the next day that as they tried to traverse the Eisenhower Pass (I worked in the Boulder location) that the trans failed.

When it comes to filters, they had a computer system where you enter in the make model and engine and it would spit out the filter number. They used cheap filters. It was an interesting time in my life.

[unruhjonny]

That picture in post #1 prompted this reply;
Not to contradict all the recommendations (because I also do my own oil changes, and have only once made an exception to this personal practice);

It seems the application guides are also no longer what they used to be;
So although I may not be familiar with that application, it's possible that the smaller one may have been listed as the replacement filter number.

My wife's daily driver as an example (2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4) has nearly every single application catalogue showing the wrong filter for her car.
I believe in most cases, if you go to the oil filter manufacturer's online catalogue it's correct, but all the printed cataloges I have seen call for a (much smaller) common four cylinder filter - and in a pinch it does work, but the proper one is a large body filter that is shared with the V8 engines;
I have made a habit to look up the 2008 Charger SRT for the correct filter.

The picture in post #1 is almost exactly what the correct versus "listed" filters look like for our Caliber SRT.

[KEN CROCIE]

A little off subject, but we have a Valvolene "drive through" oil change shop. . Sounds good until you go there on a 106 deg day and the shop doors are open ( 106 plus) and you have to sit-in the car ( it's on the lift and you can't get out) with engine heat rising into the car and you can't run the A/C because the engine isn't running. What a business model.