Got my oil changed today, never again

[tallyho8]

I won a coupon for a free oil change at a benefit I attended awhile back. I have always changed my own oil but since I am planning a trip to Branson next week and am very busy I decided to let them do it to my new car with 3000 miles.

It's the only auto service center in town and run by a pretty nice fellow so I thought I would get good service. Too bad his employees do all the work. I asked what they did and they said changed oil & filter, checked transmission oil and tires.

When I got home I checked their work because I am very untrusting of others working on my vehicles. My car holds 4.3 quarts of oil. They put in 5 quarts. My recommended tire pressure written on the door is 32 psi but I usually put in 28 psi for a smoother ride. The tires had 42, 41, 38 and 37 psi after they changed oil. I checked it with 2 different guages in case mine was bad. Tires were cold as shop is only 1 mile from my home.

At least they didn't add any oil to my transmission. It took me as long to drain the motor oil out and reset my tire pressures as it would have taken me to do the oil change. I didn't trust them enough to bring it back to them.

 

[nolefan]

I started servicing my own vehicles over 20 years ago for the same reason. I know there are some good reputable garages out there but I would just rather do the work myself and know its done the way I want it done. Plus if it isn't done right I know the dummy who did it!

 

[Homemaintenance]

I let Walmart do mine, trusted them and in 3 weeks oil light came on.

Found loose filter, not tight at all.

Thats it for me, better to do my own and yell at myself for poor work.

Come to think of it, I haven't yelled at myself in a while. LOL

Have a GREAT Day all.

Joe

 

[jimmyj]

I always change my own oil in all our vehicles. It is simpler and faster and I can use synthetic for the same money I'd be paying to change it at a service center.

 

[beenthere]

I go to a local garage and talk to the mechanic as he does the job. I don't like to leave the car with any mechanic that is off limits to me. Sometimes have to, but do not go to those places unless I absolutely have to do it.

When I'm there, it is a chance to talk about the Lions Club we both belong to, and about his family, and other chit-chat. A friendly mechanic is good to know, or get to know.

I learned a while back that changing the oil filter on today's cars that are not on a rack, is a task I don't care to attempt. Even on the rack, it is an arm twister to reach in to change that filter. Also, inspection of the underside is difficult without being on a rack.

 

[2manyrocks]

I'm guessing that at least they didn't strip your oil plug or you'd have mentioned it. At least you checked their work before it damaged your engine.

Yes, I have a car with an oil filter that is accessible only from under the car which is a pain for DIY.

 

[MikePA]

Unfortunately, all 4 vehicles I change oil on have oil filters that can only be reached from beneath. That's what ramps and a creeper are for. Gotta get under there to drain the oil anyway.

 

[ray66v]

This is exactly why I do everything myself. Even warranty stuff.

It's not that I mind paying someone, I mind paying, and usually having to do it all over, afterwords.

My wife used to go to her son in law's shop to get her oil changed. She could see her daughter, and we could assume we did not have to worry about anything being done incorrectly. He always insisted on doing it for free. Though we always insisted on paying, we always lost the argument.

One day my wife was on the highway, on her way home from there, after just having the oil changed. The oil pressure dropped to zero, and the oil light came on. The oil filter had blown off! They came out with another one, and 5 quarts of oil, and sent her on her way.

Seems they had received a case of filters with the female threaded bases installed upside down. This only allowed the filter to be turned about 3/4 of a turn, when you install it.

The worst part was, this had happened to them before. And the guy he had do the job was so incompetent, even with knowing this had happened before, he still did not notice the filter was not threading on properly.

There went any chance I could develop any confidence they would do anything else properly.

I have done her oil changes, and everything else, myself, ever since.

 

[MossRoad]

I am fortunate to have a mechanic that I trust, which is rare theses days. Convenient, too, as he is located exactly 1 block from my work, and 1 block from my wife's work. :thumbsup: Oil change with filter is 29 bucks. He also inspects everything and makes recommendation as to what needs/not needs attention and what things he sees coming up in the future. Hard to find that kind of attention to detail. He is one of two service centers in downtown. He has the better reputation and wants to keep it.

 

[Taylortractornut]

My older brother took a few years off of equipment operation and a friend hired him to run his accident investigation ware house. This included seeing that all the company cars were washed and maintained by the people hired to do so. The owner had a Lincoln that he had bought new and had 80 000 miles on it. The boss told him to take the car to Walmart where it had been changed since new. My brother told him that he could change it since they had their own rack. I happened to be there when they tried to pull the filter off. It was on there so tight it had to be worked off with a chisel. They looked at it and it was the original filter that the car came with.


When the shop foreman was asked he said when they are short handed they get a stock man from the store to help. When I started dating my wife she used The Penzoil quick lube and Walmart for her changes. It ran from 20 bucks to 50. When we got married I changed it for her for about 1900 bucks. Her mother used to complain about it but I tell her that I changfe the oil in 15000 dollar truck motors all day once a month so a Ranger isnt too bad.

A friend of mine bought a new Ford Chassis cab when we had a Ford dealer here. He bought it and they wanted him to let them do the break in change before he put a bed on it. They changed it but they wouldnt let us go back there to see it. He got dow nthe road and the valves started rattleing and the oil light came on. He looked be hind us and down the hill there was a slick of oil behind us. H e told me he bought a new truck and didnt want to get a rebuilt motor. He went up the street to the dealer till it locked up. When they pulled the oil filter the problem was obvious, They hadnt pulled the old oring off the filter base when they changed the oil.