watch out for texaco quik change oil places!

Z71 · Feb 28, 2006

My dealer will let me stand there and supervise the oil change. It not they would not touch it.

Just one of the nice things about dealing with a same town dealer.

Alan L. · Feb 28, 2006

I find it hard to convince the quick change stores around here that the GM 5.3 V8 should only run 5W30 year round. They insist on putting 10W30 in it and I have had to make them re-change it. I always tell them exactly what I want and tell them their computer database that says to use 10W30 is wrong. The seem to think the GM owners manual has less validity than their own service schedule.

I don't mind changin my own oil, but disposing of it is a problem.

mikim · Mar 1, 2006

For all the horror stories being told here, one of my own, and a couple from family members, I will continue to always do as much maintenance on my vehicles as I am able to do for as long as I am able to do so. Oil changes are still quick & easy and too important to let some ner do well at a quicky spot mess it up for me. I put my old oil in a 5 gal container with a cap, and take it to Walmart once every 2 months to empty.

varmint · Mar 1, 2006

And then there's this story: I was visiting a friend who was a foreign car mechanic, back in the 80's, when he showed me a Buick in his shop- the owner had taken it into a newly opened quick oil change place, but it didn't run right afterwards, so he took it to my friend to check it out. They'd filled it up with oil all right, but they'd neglected to drain out the old oil first! Dah.

Farmwithjunk · Mar 1, 2006

My son has a Dodge pick-em-up with the new Hemi in it. He was out of town for a couple weeks and left me the keys. Also he left a note (and suprisingly, the MONEY) to get his oil changed. He takes it to a Pennzoil quick change place.

The Hemi in a 3/4 ton holds 7.8 quarts of oil. The tech at the oil change place didn't believe that. He insisted "NO ONE EVER BUILT AN ENGINE WITH MORE THAN 5 QUARTS". I showed him the manual. He said it was a misprint. After pouring in 5 quarts, he checked the level. Still low. Add one more. Still low. Add another. STILL low. Then Einstien pours in TWO more. Now it's OVER-filled. He drains some off. Too much in fact. Now we're low again. Add more. FINALLY. after emptying 10 quarts of (expensive synthetic) oil, it was at the right level.

I go to check out. Young Einstien has billed me for TEN QUARTS of oil.

The fight's on.

I refused to pay the bill. He kept threatening to "call his manager". My reply was, "What's his number? I'LL call him".

After an hour of debating the issue, the manager shows up. He's younger (and more Einstien-ish) than the tech. By now, I'm getting the story I insisted on pouring 10 quarts in the engine from the get-go.

After a while, I figured the bill WITH 8 QUARTS of oil, left the money on the counter and walked out the door.

Same place took a BRAND NEW air filter out of my daughter-in-laws car, replacing it with another. They said it was old and dirty. It was installed by my son, not 15 minutes before the car went to the oil change place. They got away with that one.

I'll promise you this much, they won't get another penny from my hand.

sneaky_pete · Mar 1, 2006

( The Hemi in a 3/4 ton holds 7.8 quarts of oil. The tech at the oil change place didn't believe that. He insisted "NO ONE EVER BUILT AN ENGINE WITH MORE THAN 5 QUARTS".)

Even changing your own oil can't keep you away from all the morons. My Toyota Land Cruiser holds 8 quarts in the crankcase and a complete change of the auto tranny (flushing out the torque converter and etc.) is 14 quarts. The guy behind the counter of the nation-wide franchise discount auto parts house wasn't going to sell me that much ATF because it just couldn't be right.

Soundguy · Mar 1, 2006

( GM 5.3 V8 should only run 5W30 year round. They insist on putting 10W30 )

Same thing my texaco station was doing.. exact same engine too..

Soundguy

valleydweller1 · Mar 1, 2006

I too have had similar experiences with those places; high prices, overcharging for "special" oil, and $5.00 light bulbs. I too don't go there.

That being said, I used to work in one. It was a small town, locally owned outfit; the owners used to have an old fashioned gas station/repair shop, but gave it up and just did repairs and oil changes. I was a "lube technician", and rather enjoyed it. There wasn't much pressure to sell people things they didn't need, and the owners were local honest folk who had a reputation to uphold. All in all a very good place to work.

My advice: find a local place that is owned by local folk, not a Quaker State/Jiffy Lube/Oil Can Henry's.

VT_Hokie · Mar 3, 2006

Here is a good one. I had an Eclipse GSX that I took in to the dealership for service and tire rotation. Two days later it started raining and I lost it going around a turn. And no I was not "Getting on it". Ended up smacking the curb and ruining a rim. Trying to figure out what happen the next day I measured the tire pressure. I had 45 psi in the front when I should have no more than 29. I mentioned this to the manager when I ordered my new $220 rim he said he would ask around. When I came in for the rim he said he brought it up at the Tech meeting of about 8 and only half of them said that they ever check psi on a rotation. Still don't know how they ended up at 45. From then on, dealer or not, I double check. And here is the kicker, last month had new tires put on my Honda at a Tire store. 30 psi all around except for the right front, 40 psi. And I was going on a long trip in bad weather that day. If you get anything done, check it before you get off the lot.

Joe1 · Mar 6, 2006

I always check the oil on my vehicle when I get it home after service. Even good honest mechanics can make a mistake.

When in college in the 1960's, I had a friend who worked at at local junk yard. He told me that the local AMCO transmission place bought used transmissions from the junk yard, steam cleaned them and sold them as rebuilts.