vas25tl

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NBC news did a story on Jiffy Lubes. I'm not sure how old it is but it was an interesting piece.

There's a reason why manufacturer's don't want you to do any kind of flushes on your cars.

csmeance

All of these services that jiffy lube and other chains do are to make money in both the short run and long run.

As far as some of the flushes go, any sort of FLUSHING with chemicals is NOT endorsed by honda/acura. The only type of flushing they do endorse is natural gravity fed drain and refills to get fluid out. Simply drain, refill and repeat until the fluid has been changed entirely.

And as far as fuel injector cleaning, there are some pretty bad ones on the market which can ruin them, and as well there are really good ones that can damage injectors if used improperly.

silver3.5

long ago, i took my honda accord to jiffylube for an oil change, came back home and check my oil level. NOTHING! my dipstick was as clean as can be with no oil stains anywhere. the mofos didn't put enough, if any, oil in...i called them back and complained but the service tech said he did put plenty of oil in...so it was my words against his...and i gave up and f_ck jiffylube. since then i never went to any 5 or 10-minute oil change place. luckily, i didn't drive far enough to destroy my engine! whewww!

Hapa DC5

Nothing new here.

tnobori1

I took my old mustang to an oil change chain a few times in a row. I then did it myself one day to find that the oil pan was stripped. I went to buy an oversized plug only to find out that they had stripped it beyond 2X oversize (likely over several oil changes). I just do it myself now...

neuronbob

Go to Jiffy Lube, why? :thumbsdow

evilone

I used to work at a jiffy lube when I was 21-22 . I didnt mind because I got free mobile 1 oil changes. All I had to pay for was the fram X2 oil filter.

PortlandRL

Never been to Jiffy Lube and never will. I've heard horror stories about JL and the other quick-change places and if I don't do it myself, I'll take it to the dealer.

Hapa DC5

To be fair all places will have their horror stories. I just prefer doing it myself or having a dealer do it because I know if the dealer screws up there's a lot more resources available to them to make it right.

Some JLs are ran right, but that's very few and far between.

Costco

As said, never been there and never will; I prefer to change my own oil. When I worked at a parts counter, we sold universal drain plugs, which don't have threads on them... useful only if threads on the oil pan have been stripped. Most of the people who bought them were Jiffy Lube workers from down the street.

SouthernBoy

So EX-Lube killed one of their employees who was caught on camera. Wow, that's a drastic step but then again why not? He was willing to kill someone's car. *

I have driven by a Jiffy Lube in my area many times (it's pretty new), and I see a number of vehicles in their parking lot waiting for service. I just wonder if these people know what they're risking. There are other shops within a mile+ of this Jiffy Lube which would do a much better job, but I guess these people are trying to save money. And this is an affluent area. Oh well, ignorance is its own reward.


* The reporter said the employee was terminated; a euphemism for being killed.

CocheseUGA

Jiffy Lube was one of my first jobs. It's always a crapshoot, finding one with employees that actually care about the job they are doing.

In relation to the subject of flushes above, I have yet to see any evidence that using a flush machine on a Honda/Acura will cause damage. I see that statement saying that H/A doesn't recommend them, and other statements stating that it will cause damage, but no actual facts backing up those assertions.

SouthernBoy

If you were to flush an engine in the condition of the one they showed in the video with all of that sludge then yes, there's an excellent change the engine could be destroyed. I have seen an engine worse than this and couldn't believe what I was seeing because the car was only a year old at the time I saw it. The previous owner.... I just don't know how it got the way it was in one year. You could hardly see individual coils in the valve springs. It was a 1966 Pontiac Tempest LeMans with a 326 2-barrel engine and I had pulled the valve covers to adjust his valves because there was some clatter (even though it had hydraulic lifters). What a mess.

CocheseUGA

Cannot see the video at work. I was referring to the oft-mentioned automatic transmission flushes.

RedRyder

iTrader: (1)

It's either do it myself or pay the $30 at the dealer if I am unable.

vas25tl

Agree with everything above. I just go to the dealer. It's $26 for my box, $30 for the Acura, they inspect the car and they wash it. The way I look at it it's $16 for the o/c and $10 for the car wash.

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

^ I would never let my dealer wash my car

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

I never have been to jiffy lube and never will go..

when I was 16 I bought oil for my first car from Kragens and at the time I didnt know much about cars so I went over to jiffy lube to see how much they would charge if they did the labor they wanted the same price as a regular oil change so I said eff that and left never went back

Gfaze

I do my own oil changes. None of my cars will ever be touched by any quick lube place.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

I used to work for Jiffy Lube. I remember a Subaru that came in and the owner paid for a rear diff drain and fill, but the manager on duty told me not to do it. I didnt stay there much longer.

SuperTrooper169

iTrader: (2)

My wife used to take her Corolla to Wal-Mart for oil changes when we first started dating, before I knew she was doing so. So one day after getting her oil changed she complained that her car had an overwhelming smell of oil, so I popped the hood and saw the oil filler cap was sitting on top of the engine cover and oil was splattered everwhere. The idiots never screwed the cap back on and just left it there. Thankfully the Wal-Mart was just down the street, otherwise it could have been much worse. That's when I finally asked the question where do you get your oil changed? I just shook my head in disappointment when she told me Wal-Mart. I've been changing the oil ever since.

mrsteve

iTrader: (1)

A girl I used to date took her Mazda 3 to Jiffy Lube for an oil change dispite my objections. I told her that her oil filter required a Mazda oil filter wrench remove the filter without stripping it. She told me her father always used Jiffy Lube and never had a problem.

Three weeks later she blew the motor. Turns out after only one oil change they stripped the threads for the filter or cracked the new fliter trying to get it back on and caused a leak. Nearly all of the oil had drained from the car. The dealership said there was probably about half a quart left in it. The dealership did cover the engine replacement through because the oil pressure light never indicated low pressure. The sensor was faulty. Good news for her but we broke up before she even got the car out of the shop.

SouthernBoy

Oh the humanity, think of the children. Pollution rampant everywhere. Oil spills... oh the humanity.

charliemike

Between this and the "terminated = murdered, not fired" comments I'm not sure if you've been drinking, your cat is walking on your keyboard, or you're kidding.

v6cord2k5

iTrader: (1)

Honda did all my oil changes thru the life of the warranty, I took over as soon as it expired. Mobil 1 every ~5k miles.

skh

Yup, that sounds like a quick lube place... I use to work for Jiffy Lube for 6 years (first job and got me through college...) I always change my own oil. In the quick lubes defense there are some honest people out there that are doing an honest job (I was definitely one of them), in fact the Wal-Mart up the street would send people to our shop because they would strip the drain plug and they knew that I would try and fix the problem by re-tapping their drain pans for them... Also if your engine has large amounts of sediments in it and you have an engine flush done and you blow your engine, it probably wasn't going to be too much longer till the engine gave any way... (PS I never recommended an engine flush) And if Jiffy Lube does an engine flush and your engine blows and you have proof that you have been maintaining your vehicle, they will replace your engine..

Anyways do the maintenance yourself, save some money, and know that it was done right!

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

I do it myself or I have a mechanic I trust. To be honest I have had very bad service at a couple dealers as well. I had an awesome mechanic in NJ and I have one now. If I need anything done that is outside of my capabilities, I take them there.

I have 95K on my Pathfinder and 176K on my I35. The I35 is consuming oil as do a lot of VQ35's but other than that it is solid.

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Lots of threads on the 2nd gen TL forum about not flushing the tranny.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

Lots of threads in 2nd gen TL about trannys in general.

My first car I was convinced by a service center that I needed to flush my transmission. I did it and about a week later I could not get over 3rd gear for a 20 mile trip. Next morning it was fine. A couple days later....same crap. Again it was fine the next day.

You live and learn.

Stapler

I went to them for 6 years or so. It isn't the end of the world, but they aren't exactly mechanics. I always got the basic service, a change of oil with a free lie about vacuuming the carpets. My only real issue is they are too expensive now. I mean I understand a mechanic charging 40-50 bucks for a change with regular oil, but not for a bunch of high schoolers that pour oil on everything.

SouthernBoy

(psst. It's my off the wall sense of humor which surfaces frequently. I can find humor in most anything.)

jchan2

This. I find that unless you have a $10 off coupon for them, they are pricier than just about everyone.

And even with that $10 coupon, it's still more than what the Nissan or Acura dealer charges for oil changes. ($30 at Nissan, $25 at Acura)

Local Honda dealer charges almost $38 though... But, still worth it, in my opinion, though they now charge for the inspection that used to be free...

AZuser

Only been to JL once (and hopefully never again) because it was an extreme emergency. Didn't want to, but no one else was open on a Sunday.

Fixed.

:ghey:

CocheseUGA

And?

mrsteve

iTrader: (1)

First I've heard of an extreme emergency oil change. Where you leaving for a long road trip the next morning or something?

subinf

Never had an issue with the corporate owned ones (no longer). I would approach them like any other shop

Type34

I always laugh to myself when in Walmart, you hear, "Joe Thorp, your vehicle is ready for pickup in the Automotive service area..."

The message is really...

"Joe Thorp, after your wife finishes shopping for mumus and you accomplish that final bite of Big Mac, waddle on over to Automotive to pick up your 1991 Chevy Astro Van with the strawberry air freshener."

Pep Boys, Jiffy Lube, EconoLube, etc. are bad enough, but it blows me away that people have their vehicles serviced at WalMart.......

Hapa DC5

They sold back in '08 all JLs in the Bay Area are now owned by a franchisee.

When I worked for Shell US (JLs parent company) there was a lot of buzz around it.

The franchisee brought in a lot of employees that Shell let go for scamming people, unnecessary upsells, selling work, but not performing it, etc etc.

subinf

I know. The point stays the same though - know who is working on your car. Good service isn't guaranteed at a Jiffy Lube, Dealer, on Independent shop...

Majofo

+1