So, I got tempted today by the $19.95 quick change oil advertisement out in front of my local Meineke Car Care Place. Quick in and out and great price. They even rotated my tires as part of a special.

Now I am starting to wonder why it was so cheap.

Anyone have any details, experience, links, etc. on the quality / reliability of the oil and filters they use?

Thanks,
el9

 

they probably used a dino oil and a cheap filter.

double check to see if everything is tightened (oil drain bolt, filter) also check the oil level.

if all checks out, you're fine.

 

there always running specials but check out what Filter they used im curious just for the hell of it..

 

Bulk dino oil plus a no name or Fram filter would cost them about $3 in parts. The Tl doesn't require a great oil and filter so that's nothing to worry about. What I would worry about is the labor. Stripped drain plugs, forgotten oil, and double filter o-rings are somewhat common happenings. Or in my case the one time I took my GF's car to one of those places they didn't replace the filter, they just kept my $16 Amsoil filter. I didn't find out until the next oil change when the Mobil One filter was still on there from 10,000 miles ago.

 

...I'll take a look at the filter to see what brand it is next time I get it up on a lift.

 

I took my old mini-van for a quicky oil change at Big 10 tires. Watched the tech do the job. No oil was put in. Brought to the managers attention and he said "NOT AGAIN". Came out to check it and sure enough, bone dry. He filled it himself. They had already bought one engine and he didn't want to buy another. Just be careful. Reminds me, I gotta do the oil change on my wife's 350Z. Got the Mobile 1 oil and filter ready to go.

 

Hopefully the monkey didn't impact gun your plug back on. I've personally heard of many people who had to replace their oil pans because the plug was messed up by a quick oil change center.

 

You would think with this being the #1 issue they would do something about it. If I owned a big chain, the first thing I would do is put the techs in a week long "drain plug tightening" class.

I've seen some places that use two guys and the second yells out loud the various check points such as fill plug and oil level. Should help with forgetting to put oil in.

 

You'd be lucky if they even changed your oil filter. Those places don't make money on oil changes.

 

I heard a guy that worked at one of those places say that sometimes they just wipe the filter off so it looks like a new one. If it's a customer that comes in all the time they would already have one of their filters on it so they just wipe it off in case they look at it.

 

The old adage: You get what you pay for.

 

Early on my GF (now my wife) used Jiffy lube for her truck. The quick oil change stripped the bolt and I had that hassle for a long time afterwards. Quick oil change specials have a few ways to make money at such a low price:

1. Don't do the promised work as some earlier postings state. They make money if nobody bothers to check if the filter changed (that's why I mark my filter now).

2. They hire the cheapest labor and that will do stupid things like forget to fill your oil or strip drain plug threads. Do you really want Bozo's working on your car?

3. It's a portal to slam you for another more profitable repair. I stopped going to a quicky oil change places after my CV boot spontaneously ripped (it looked like a can opener did it in). I would never go to a place that does other repairs as a result based on that experience.

For anyone that has the minimal tools and garage space to work on their car, I would even debate how 'quick' the change really is when you factor transit, wait, verify work is actually done, and payment times. Perhaps you can do the work yourself even quicker just staying at home and doing it yourself.

 

this thread really should give every member the motivation to go out and get redline and a royal purple filter and diy

 

I am suspecting that the horror stories I have heard in the past have actually happened to me.... And led to the demise of my wonderful 1999 Accord prematurely.
Jiffy Lube did a number on me.

They won't have a chance to ruin my 08 TL Navi Ebony on Ebony.

 

If you get tire rotations at cheapie places, mark the inside of the front wheels. It can be as simple as taking your finger and marking an X in some of the brake dust (if there is any). I bet you at least 50% of the time they tires aren't rotated, but you're still charged for it.

And I can't tell you how many times I've seen them strip the threads on the drain plug because the idiots run them down with an impact gun. Many of them don't use the proper oil either, a lot of the places everything gets 5w-30 or 10w-30 (whatever they can get the cheapest in bulk that month).

 

+1 on you get what you pay for. It wouldnt be the cheap parts that would worry me, it would be the labor. I would not like someone being in a rush while working on my car even if it is a simple thing like changing the oil.

 

LoL. "Not Again". I pictured the scene in my head and it made me laugh.

 

$19.95 gets the car on the lift so that they can hopefully find things wrong with the car.

 

I hate these places. Quite often, you can go to the dealer and get the same price..or maybe it'll be $5-10 more but they'll wash your car...

 

that's EXACTLY what i was about to say. sure enough, you do get what you pay for ^ @ southern. i can understand why some tend to bite these. cheap + fast. time is MONEY! have you ever seen that jiffy lube video? some retarded fu** drove a customer's car INTO the pit. lol hilarious. sucks for the owner, and the manager oh, and probably the "tech"

 

years ago i stopped in at a franchised spot to do a quick $19.99 oil filter change. (this experience taught me always check your vehicle in and out) 20mins later the manager comes in and shows me a plastic handle. Brings me to my car and tells me the rest of the dipstick must have broken off and is halfway down the dipstick tube. Tells me these plastic parts break all the time and tries to get me to do an oil pan drop to retrive it, quoted me $500 +-, I said no...knowing i had no way of proving it was done intentionally since i havent even checked the oil myself prior. I figured i'd try to fish it out myself with a chopstick and super glue on the end, get it to bond with the dipstick and pull that baby right out. Wrong, someone used a pliar and crimped the metal housing just enough so it wasnt coming back out this way. I said screw it and left it in ever since, just made sure i changed the oil ever 5,000 miles ...lol

From now on, TL is only going to a honda or acura dealer

 

I've never changed my own oil before (helps that my dad used to own a repair shop and we'd get things done for free).

Besides the filter, is there a difference in the quality of oil used? For example, can I just pick up the Costco stuff or do I need something different? (for a 08 with around 30k miles)

 

Dealerships screw oil changes up too. They usually use the lowest paid/minimum wage guy who's just looking to get a foot in the door to do the changes, not their $30 master tech doing oil changes. With that said, if I did not do it myself, I would go to a dealer over a quick change place any day. I think quality on average is better and they have more knowledge and resources to fix what they screw up if they admit it's their screw up.

 

No time like the present to start. There is a wealth of information on this site regarding which engine oil members use and recommend, which filters are preferred, and how to do this correctly. Spend some time and do some searches to get what you want to know.

To start you off yes, there are differences in the quality of the various engine oil products available to you. You will probably find the majority of people on these forums prefer synthetics over dino oil, with Mobil 1, Redline, and Amsoil leading the pack of choices. For blends, Motorcraft has one of the best out there (I believe it is called SynBlend). As for filters, the preferences tend to run in favor of Mobil 1, K&N, Purolator, Wix, and a few others (none of these choices of oil or filters is in order of preference).

I would strongly advise you to spend some time reviewing the procedures used and recommended for oil changes before you attempt this yourself as you have stated you have never done this before. I say this not because it is a difficult job, because it is not, but because you don't want to make any mistakes when doing it. And people do make mistakes from time to time.

Lastly, should you have any questions we're all here to help you along so feel free to ask away.

 

my gf went to jiffy lube for their oil change, they didnt even tighten the drain bolt. when i did the next oil change i found out.

theres 1 "quick" oil change spot i go to with my car, family owned, the guys there really do the right thing, and are actually knowledgeable

 

Don't be afraid to do this yourself. I now guide my 13 year old through the process so that he will be capable when he is older. For about the same price as a "quick oil change" with dino, I can DIY with full syn Mobil 1.

 

the problem isnt that we cant do it, its just some people dont have the space to do oil changes. i cant fit under my car, i dont have a driveway so i can use ramps. thats why people go to places.

luckily i have my friends shop that i do my oil changes and car work at. if i didnt, id just go somewhere else

 

Yep. 100% agree.

 

I live in an apartment so I can't do my own oil change but I do bring my own Mobil 1 oil and filter with me the Juffy Lube, etc. The nearest Acura dealer is three hours away so that's not really an option. I always make a point of chatting with the guys that do my oil change for two reasons. 1: I can watch them and make sure they do it at least close to right. 2: If I get to know they're less likely to try to screw me. Most oil change guys are car nuts so they're more than happy to chat about the latest and greatest in the automotive world.