Car oil change

SKumar said:
buy the oil and filter myself and bring it to an independent shop.
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Seriously? That's like walking into a diner with your own bacon and eggs, and asking them to cook for you.
SKumar said:
Just once so far, and they actually appreciated me bringing supplies, so that's at least one mechanic out there.
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I'm sure that they were trying they're hardest to be nice.
 
A Toyota dealership probably uses 0W-20 on 90% of their cars, and the rest are 0W-16 on the hybrids, Both are synthetics to meet manufacturers specs and keep the warranty intact. Before 2009 it was 5W-30

They are probably pumping it out of 55 gallon drums either into a can, or piped to the lube area.

Companies like Dennis K Burke are pretty well known and I can't say I have heard of them delivering mis-marked product, or in the case of bulk into tanks the wrong stuff.

Seeing oil heavier than 20W is getting less and less frequent, at least in my world.

Some Fords require 5W-20

But once the oil gets warm it goes to 20W viscosity pretty fast.

And the reason for that is many cars are using the engine oil as hydraulic fluid in displacement on demand and variable cam timing mechanisms, you use a heavier oil in a Ford that wants 20W and the cam phasors go ballistic.

I'd be more concerned that the additive package in the oil meets the manufacturers specs, for example GM and their DEXOS spec on top of an API spec, especially while under warranty because if there is an engine failure you know that they are sending a sample to a lab to verify it meets their specifcations
 
shootymacshootface said:
Seriously? That's like walking into a diner with your own bacon and eggs, and asking them to cook for you.

I'm sure that they were trying they're hardest to be nice.
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If it is some strange oil or hard to get filter sure as long as we are asked ahead of time

if you walk in bringing your own oil and filter, I'm handing you the used oil and filter to take it with you, the place you bought the oil has to take the used oil back... go see WalMart or try to give it to Amazon.

I do that with tires, if I didn't supply them, you take the old ones with you. They will be in the trunk and back seat where the tires you bought from tire rack were when you dropped the car off

We make nothing on oil changes as it is.
 
shootymacshootface said:
Seriously? That's like walking into a diner with your own bacon and eggs, and asking them to cook for you.

I'm sure that they were trying they're hardest to be nice.
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Up until 5 years ago, I would show up with oil and filter and, if he had time, my mechanic would change my oil for $10.

Of course, this is a guy that I built a relationship with over 20 years, and I would pay in cash and not price shop. Crazy, I know.
 
Grendizer138 said:
Up until 5 years ago, I would show up with oil and filter and, if he had time, my mechanic would change my oil for $10.

Of course, this is a guy that I built a relationship with over 20 years, and I would pay in cash and not price shop. Crazy, I know.
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Hope he got a happy ending....
 
PS for the guys that do their own, these funnels that screw into the valve cover are the balls, and are about 20 bucks on Amazon, but they are vehicle specific so get the right one for your car.

I have a whole set of them, one funnel and all the adapters that screw on to the funnel and thread in where the oil fill cap goes, it makes adding oil so effn easy because there is no mess

www.arestool.com

Oil Funnel for Honda and Nissan

Make Your Next Oil Change Easier The ARES Oil Funnel for Honda and Nissan includes everything you need to refill oil on Acura, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Ford, Hyundai, Honda, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Suzuki. The screw-on funnel combination helps prevent spills and allows for hands-free...
www.arestool.com www.arestool.com
 
Thing is that some independent garages are small businesses, with very few employees. They struggle to keep up when it's busy, and lose money when it's slow. It varies greatly depending on what time of year it is. If they are running their business well, they buy parts and supplies at a slight discount, and charge customers list price, which is slightly more than you would pay at the parts store if you walk in off of the street. Profits from parts is part of the business model, and it helps keep the doors open. If the independent garages have to close because they cannot keep up with overhead, everyone would be forced to return to the dealer for a proper rodgering, or have to do everything themselves.
Specialty parts, no problem, they usually don't mind at all, and will probably enjoy doing something different.
 
shootymacshootface said:
Seriously? That's like walking into a diner with your own bacon and eggs, and asking them to cook for you.
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No better way to get off to a bad start than bringing parts you bought to a mechanic and ask him to install them. That is a good way to piss them off.

I guess some people don't realize that the shop actually makes $$$ on the parts. So whatever they figure they lost on the parts sale they are going to add that to the labor rate and probably jack it up even a little more.

Some things just aren't worth skinflinting on.
 
appraiser said:
PS for the guys that do their own, these funnels that screw into the valve cover are the balls, and are about 20 bucks on Amazon, but they are vehicle specific so get the right one for your car.

I have a whole set of them, one funnel and all the adapters that screw on to the funnel and thread in where the oil fill cap goes, it makes adding oil so effn easy because there is no mess

www.arestool.com

Oil Funnel for Honda and Nissan

Make Your Next Oil Change Easier The ARES Oil Funnel for Honda and Nissan includes everything you need to refill oil on Acura, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Ford, Hyundai, Honda, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Suzuki. The screw-on funnel combination helps prevent spills and allows for hands-free...
www.arestool.com www.arestool.com
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Nice......ordered for Mazda and Toyota. Nothing worse than funnels flipping out of the hole when your dumping oil in.
 
I bring oil and filter of my choice to my mechanic and pay him $45-55 cash, depending on how greedy he feels, for oil change and tire rotation. I've been doing it for twenty years, he doesn't seem to mind.
 
appraiser said:
if you walk in bringing your own oil and filter, I'm handing you the used oil and filter to take it with you, the place you bought the oil has to take the used oil back...
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Holy shit have you actually done that to a customer? [rofl] Charge a disposal fee or just decline the job, but damn! Is it worth a bad google review that'll taint your shop's reputation? [slap]
Coda said:
I guess some people don't realize that the shop actually makes $$$ on the parts. So whatever they figure they lost on the parts sale they are going to add that to the labor rate and probably jack it up even a little more.
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I guarantee my local guy's labor rate is more than anybody else here. But I have no problem paying it. Why? Because he provides excellent service. I know when I walk through those doors, I will be taken care of like family (i.e. won't be handed back used oil [laugh] ). His team goes the distance for his customers (prompt appts, car loan, phone call updates, etc.). I'll never get that treatment from a dealership.
 
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A friend had a very nice 1989 Camry. It had a V6 and screamed. Great car. At 189,000 miles he took it to Jiffy Lube for an oil change. He got that done and then drove home. The engine seized in his driveway and when he looked the underside was covered with oil. Turned out that they didn't have the correct filter in stock so the oil change monkey decided to use one that was "close enough." Only it wasn't.

Jiffy Lube offered him $1,000.00 and he couldn't find a lawyer to take the case.

I wouldn't send my worst enemy to those clowns. Firestone is about the same.

StevieP said:
dealership oil change? No Jiffy Lube or Valvoline oil change places? They have the big barrels and you can see what they're putting in
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Rob Boudrie said:
I change this myself before major service (also the engine air filter). If the dealership tries to sell me a new one, I know they are thieves.

I also discretely mark my tires to verify rotation when I order it. So far, the rotations have actually happened.
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Did you also check the lug nuts with a torque wrench to make sure they were tightened to the factory torque specs ???
 
Garys said:
A friend had a very nice 1989 Camry. It had a V6 and screamed. Great car. At 189,000 miles he took it to Jiffy Lube for an oil change. He got that done and then drove home. The engine seized in his driveway and when he looked the underside was covered with oil. Turned out that they didn't have the correct filter in stock so the oil change monkey decided to use one that was "close enough." Only it wasn't.

Jiffy Lube offered him $1,000.00 and he couldn't find a lawyer to take the case.

I wouldn't send my worst enemy to those clowns. Firestone is about the same.
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My friend had a 2008 Camery with the damn Toyota cartridge filter. Jiffy Lube screwed it on wrong, leaked oil just fast enough to drain it all in a couple of days, wrecking the engine. A lot of the Jiffy Lube employees at the Franklin shop are on work release, to give you an idea of the quality of their staff.

Unless you live in an apartment complex, or have a physical limitation, I do not understand why more people do not change their own oil. Is it a generational thing? Getting my first car in the mid 70's required me to learn a few things to keep it going and an oil change was about the easiest thing to do.
 
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rep308 said:
My friend had a 2008 Camery with the damn Toyota cartridge filter. Jiffy Lube screwed it on wrong, leaked oil just fast enough to drain it all in a couple of day, wrecking the engine. A lot of the Jiffy Lube employees at the Franklin shop are on work release, to give you an idea of the quality of their staff.

Unless you live in an apartment complex, or have a physical limitation, I do not understand why more people do not change their own oil. Is it a generational thing? Getting my first car in the mid 70's required me to learn a few things to keep it going and an oil change was about the easiest thing to do.
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I agree, but I enjoy working on my vehicles, and as I get newer ones I miss the things that I used to be able to do besides oil changes. I realize not everyone wants to do them, or they are not able.

I remember in college I had a rusted out old barge of a town car. I got a jiffy lube oil change as a gift, and since I was at school and it was winter, I took it to them. When I did my own oil change in the spring I removed from my oil pan a drain plug bolt that seemed to be 4 or 5 inches long and looked like a lag bolt for a deck. I know I didn’t put it on there and I have no clue why jiffy lube would have had that in their pit. It somehow didn’t damage the threads. I’m glad it didn’t cause any damage because I couldn’t have afforded any major repairs at that time, let alone trying to find a “new” used beater to get me through college.
 

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