Quicky Lube Places

[Tillaway]

For a while now I have been using some of those quicky lube places.  Not that I wanted to, it was because I had to.  Well today I got around to doing it myself again.  Lets see, messed up drain plug on the pickup (diesel) and the oil filter I barely got twisted off.  The thing crunched in the filter wrench.  They blew the grease seals out from over lubing them.  The idea of the seals is to keep the grease in guys.  :

The other place I took the wifes car to didn't tighten the filter enough.  I finally noticed the puddle of oil where it has been parked today.  I bet it was 2 quarts low when I changed the oil in it.

Oil changing is not rocket science, how can they can mess it up so easily?

[J_T]

Tis bad some folks just work at a place and don't care they just try to get the day over and sometimes low pay. I have only one place I trust to work on my  stuff other wise I wait and do it myself :( My son put a bypass oil filter system on his and O-30 syntheitc oil in it so he could go longer between changes .

[CHARLIE]

Have you ever noticed that the "Quickie" Oil change places have a different crew everytime you go in?  Have you noticed that usually they are just kids?  And I mean the whole crew. I'd be willing to bet you they get little or no training.

[SwampDonkey]

I always do my own oil and grease. One time I wasn't on the ball and replaced the oil filter without checking to see the old seal came off with the old filter. Put the new one on, filled the oil back in, turned the truck on and oil was spurtin like a sprinkler system. >:( Dang nabbit, took the new filter off and seen the problem. Fixed it up and poured more oil in. Darn quickie lube guy. ;D

[Ed_K]

 A friend needed an oil change before going to NY to get some parts, half way there on I 90 the motor started knocking. Seems they forgot to put the plug back in  .

[Woodcarver]

I took my van to a quick lube place close to where I worked for a few months. After several oil and lube jobs it developed a noise in the front-end. I had the dealership where I bought it check it out. It was a ball joint that hadn't been properly lubed. Fortunately it didn't require replacement.

The fitting must not have been taking grease properly and the "quick lube" people weren't willing to take time to do anything about it.  Of course, they never told me about it either. Needless to say they don't have my business anymore.    

[Frickman]

I've had the same type of problems at one of our local lube places. A good friend and customer owns the place, and I thought I'd give him some business. The oil drain plug got mangled and none of the other fluids and rear-end grease were checked. My friend says he has problems finding decent help. I told him he has a problem paying decent help. That was something he doesn't like to hear.

[Haytrader]

When my wife and I were dating, she used the same quicky lube place every time her car needed an oil change. She is one of those that won't miss the time for an oil change by more than 25 miles.

I happened to be with her at one of the times. She, I, and a couple other customers, were in the waiting room when one of the guys comes in the waiting room with a small jar filled with dark liquid. He told her that her radiator needed flushed and the liquid in the jar was from her car. They didn't do the radiator flush but had a guy with a shop across the street that could get to it for sumthin like $55 and did she want it done. She looked at me and I shook my head no. She told me later that she always trusted thier judgment and did what ever they recomended.

When we got to her house and after the car had cooled, I opened the radiator to find the normal green color as I expected. She couldn't beleive they would try to pull a trick like that on her. I asked what all extra she had been charged for in the past. She was unable to remember... :'(
What is sad is that she was just one of several, I suspect.
 >:(

[karl]

It ain't just at the jiffy lube places- I've had the same experience with some of the auto parts chains- do'nt even bother asking for parts for anything pre '90, *DanG "12yearolds" try to tell ya 'they didn't make cars back then" . At least it sounds like what they say through all that lip and tongue hardware.... :..
And lumber and hardware yards ::)If there is one that is'nt constantly wasted from the night before or knows the difference between a 2x4 and a sheet of plywood they make him a sales person.
Construction Subs are adopting the "child labor" force too- came onto one of our remodel jobs to find that the heating "professional's" kid had set an oil tank on cement blocks instead of the usual legs, only to find later that the filter hit the floor, so, using his "vast experience and logic" cut a hole in the floor to clear the filter... ....We DID discuss the logic and professionalism!!!
I am all for kids learning and not just hanging around, but there needs to be supervision and training. Too many busness's are just hiring bodies
Wow! Sorry 'bout the rant- guess I'm getting old and crotchety

[sprucebunny]

I took a Chrysler van to a Chrysler dealer once for an oil change and new front brakes. Kid took it for a test drive . Only made it 1/2 mile with NO OIL.Fried my motor. Now would you really trust an engine those people rebuilt??
So anyone can screw up. I usually change my own and if I have a quicky place do it , I watch them and check before I drive away.

[VA-Sawyer]

Carl,  I don't think of it as "ranting" if you are just telling the truth !

Try going into a hardware store today and ask for an odd item by using its correct name. The kid just gets this dumb look  on his face and says "we don't have those " . If you happen to have an example to show him, then he just might remember where they are.  In a box store it is usally even worse.... try getting someone to help !

As for the quicky lube places.... my dad used to have an auto repair shop. They would get to rebuild 3 or 4 engines a year because someone at the quicky oil place down the street, left out the drain plug again. The cars would get about that far and start knocking. We figured that cars going the other direction from the quicky oil place were rebuilt at the shop on the South side of town  ;D  I always thought they ( the quicky oil places ) would have made more money by hiring good help instead of buying new engines. Go Figure  :
VA-Sawyer

[Frank_Pender]

Yep, and you know Tillaway, I take mine to fellas I had in school.  There has never been a problem.  They still know the outcome if they screw up.   They always wanted to go to the principal rather than deal with me.  Therefore, I use them knowing they will not mess up and report any and all irregularities that show up with inspections. ;D

[Tillaway]

I always do my own oil and grease. One time I wasn't on the ball and replaced the oil filter without checking to see the old seal came off with the old filter. Put the new one on, filled the oil back in, turned the truck on and oil was spurtin like a sprinkler system. >:( Dang nabbit, took the new filter off and seen the problem. Fixed it up and poured more oil in. Darn quickie lube guy. ;D
 

Been there done that, fortunately it was my wifes car.  I had a big pupple of oil in the driveway.  I was wondering why the oil light was not going off.   Dooh!   ;D

[Furby]

Been trying to get parts for the backhoe.
Go into the local parts place that still has the same guys working there many, many years later, show them the part and they go in th back and get one.

Go to a box store and if they can't find a description of it in the puter, they sure as heck don't have it.  :-/
Different crew evey couple of weeks too.

[Jason_WI]

I have forgot about checking if the old gasket from the filter was off and screwed on a new filter. Changed oil the next time to find 2 gaskets on the oil filter. Guess I got real lucky it didn't leak. I usually crank down the filters till I cant turn them by hand and not the 1 1/4 turn they reccomend on the filter.

Ever try asking for farm tractor parts at an auto part store when the kid at the counter had more hardware in his nose, lip and ear than what the hardware store down the road has in stock..... : :

Went to the local Autozone looking for a York LH suction air conditioner pump for our Case 1690 tractor. You would think this would be a simple, easy thing since these pumps are used in many diffent makes of cars. Forget it, if it isn't in the puter they don't have it.........

Went to the local NAPA and ten munites later was walking out with a pump for 109 bux. They will at least take the time to look in a BOOK from there suppliers to make a match.

Jason

[Murf]

I never used to go to those Quickie places, I barely let myself work on my PowerStroke  ;D

Then they opened a new one near me and were offering $9.99 oil changes as a 'Grand Opening Special' so being a wise guy asked if I qualified, sure enough, stupid kid says "Sure thing! But we have to charge you a little extra for the additional oil." So I persisted, "How much more?"

"Well, let's see, 4 litres included, your truck takes 14 litres, 10 extra at $1.99 a litre, that will be $19.90 plus $9.99, it will be $29.89 sir."

Needless to say, I let them change the oil.

I went back later when it needed the next change, just to see what they would say. I was surprised when the same dumb kid said, "Oh no, the opening special is over, the regular price is $10 more."

I sprung for the extra $10, now it costs me $39.89 ....

Now, if I do it myself, it probably costs me about $50 for parts and takes me about 1/2 an hour to do it, then clean up what I spilled on the shop floor or ran down my arm.....

Tough decision......

[Furby]

Yep Jason_WI,
The "GOOD" place went through the trouble of calling everyplace he could while I waited. I spent 1 1/2 hours standing at the counter while he called around the U.S.. Managed to come up with a whole "NEW" system for the part, but still kept calling trying to find the same part I had, just because the "NEW" system may not work, and I wouldn't know until I tried it, and then I couldn't take it back. They went through all this, and I walked out the door without giving them a $.
The box place would have just laughed!

[GF]

Wait till you have them change the transmission fluid and flush it, heard to many times after that they had to have the transmission rebuilt.  I changed the filter and fluid in my 93 twice and it had over 200,000 miles and never had a tranny problem.  

Never had trusted anyone on that type off stuff and never will.

[Corley5]

I've got a quick lube that I always go to.  I know the owners and they are usually working there too.  They always do a good job.  On the the other side of things there's one in Gaylord that I'll never take a vehicle to even though the sign out front says "new management"  I witnessed them first hand forget to put oil in the truck in front of me.  If I had been getting my own oil changed I'd have left but it was a DNR truck ;)  The gal had brought her Blazer back in because they crossthreaded the drain plug and it was leaking.  The guy in the pit drained the oil and put some some kinda new plug in I guess.  The guy on top was busy flirting with the driver of the Blazer and didn't put any oil back in and sent her out the door.  As she was driving out I asked the guy with me if he'd seen them put any oil back in the truck and he hadn't either.  A few minutes later she pulls back in and wants to know if they put oil back in truck.  No they hadn't but had her fill out some paper work, put oil in it and sent her on her way.  When the hood was up on the thing you could see the hear radiating off the engine.  It was toast.  I asked the "man" in charge how long he actually thought the engine was going to run and he assured me it would be just fine : : :  She was gone for the better part of 10 minutes.  My lawyer would have been involved by this time.  The same idiot that didn't put oil in that vehicle then proceeded to work on the Dept. truck and while doing so told me he really wasn't an idiot :.  He really said that .  After adding oil he showed me the dipstick which showed a 1/2 qt low but explained to me that a 1/2 qt low was fine : >:( >:( >:(  That p$$$d me off and I told him that no it wasn't alright I wanted it full which he did.  The place has been under new management since not too long after this incident.