Jiffy Lube et al

[Jeff]

Hey Group:

I need opinions, in the past I have used the rapid lube places with very
good experiences, I now drive an 04 OBW and wonder given the different parts
you have to remove if it is better to stay with the incontinence and cost of
dealer oil changes.

What is your experience with the quick oil change places and a Subaru?

Thanks in advance.

Jeff

 

[kaboom]

Hey Group:

I need opinions, in the past I have used the rapid lube places with very
good experiences, I now drive an 04 OBW and wonder given the different parts
you have to remove if it is better to stay with the incontinence and cost of
dealer oil changes.

**You meant inconvenience, right?

What is your experience with the quick oil change places and a Subaru?

**They are always trying to sell you more stuff. Tranny flush, air
filters, etc etc. I want to put a sign in the car window: NO! I didn't
mind bringing my old Chevy there. My previous car, a Jetta, I only
took to the dealership. I don't trust quickie places with it. My new
car (as of Dec 17th), a 2005 Impreza RS wagon, I'll take to the
dealership, also. The $30 oil changes will be a welcome change from
the almost $100 of the Jetta dealership in Ann Arbor, MI.

kaboomie

 

[BobN]

That's funny, I never paid more than $25 for oil changes at my Subie dealer,
and with the coupon it was $20.

I wouldn't want those jiffy places to touch my car.

 

[Theodrake]

**You meant inconvenience, right?

Well considering what some dealers charge for an oil change I've almost
wet myself

 

[Mortimer Schnurd]

Hey Group:

I need opinions, in the past I have used the rapid lube places with very
good experiences, I now drive an 04 OBW and wonder given the different
parts you have to remove if it is better to stay with the incontinence and
cost of dealer oil changes.

What is your experience with the quick oil change places and a Subaru?

Thanks in advance.

Jeff

I wouldnt take my lawnmower to Jiffy-Boob!
From the hard sell, the $15 air filters, the "your transmission oil is all
red! it needs changing quickly", the stripped out oil pan threads, the loose
or cross-threaded oil filters and over inflating your tires....
It's a fucking rip-off.
Dont forget how they put in bulk PENNZOIL even after you requested something
else.
Just say NO to Jiffy-Boob.

 

[Jeff]

**You meant inconvenience, right?


**They are always trying to sell you more stuff. Tranny flush, air
filters, etc etc. I want to put a sign in the car window: NO! I didn't
mind bringing my old Chevy there. My previous car, a Jetta, I only
took to the dealership. I don't trust quickie places with it. My new
car (as of Dec 17th), a 2005 Impreza RS wagon, I'll take to the
dealership, also. The $30 oil changes will be a welcome change from
the almost $100 of the Jetta dealership in Ann Arbor, MI.

kaboomie

Yes, this is a classic example of what I tell my students about spell
checkers.

I will have to print this and show it to them.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Jeff]

Hey Group:

I need opinions, in the past I have used the rapid lube places with very
good experiences, I now drive an 04 OBW and wonder given the different
parts you have to remove if it is better to stay with the incontinence and
cost of dealer oil changes.

What is your experience with the quick oil change places and a Subaru?

Thanks in advance.

Jeff

I think I am going to stick with the dealer, although the dealer up here is
pretty pushy about add ons, they want $600 for the 30,000 major service. I
am going to cross check what they want to do against the maintenance
schedule and see what really needs to be done.

Have a good day all

Jeff

 

[kaboom]

That's funny, I never paid more than $25 for oil changes at my Subie dealer,
and with the coupon it was $20.

**It's probably less, that amount was thrown out by the salesman at
the dealership when I bought it. Were the coupons mailed to you from
Subaru?

kaboomie

 

[Frank]

If same as my '03 Forester, it's a do-it-yourself job. I have ramps
and do oil on both my cars, not so much for the cost savings but for
the time it takes to drive to dealer and wait or leave car. If other
service needed like tire rotation, I go to dealer or foreign car
specialist I use - whoever is cheaper.
Frank

 

[Jim Stewart]

If same as my '03 Forester, it's a do-it-yourself job. I have ramps
and do oil on both my cars, not so much for the cost savings but for
the time it takes to drive to dealer and wait or leave car. If other
service needed like tire rotation, I go to dealer or foreign car
specialist I use - whoever is cheaper.
Frank

Buy 2 cheap rollaround jacks and you can rotate
your own tires in 30 minutes.

 

[Andy Leszczynski]

Hey Group:

I need opinions, in the past I have used the rapid lube places with very
good experiences, I now drive an 04 OBW and wonder given the different parts
you have to remove if it is better to stay with the incontinence and cost of
dealer oil changes.

What is your experience with the quick oil change places and a Subaru?

ROTO in Arlington Heights, IL (Chicago suburbs) charges $10-12 for an
oil change with the filter.

A.

 

[Dino]

Untrained high-school students who don't give a damn paid minimum wage to
work on my car? No way. I've heard quite a few horror stories from things
happening in these quick lubes shops.

 

[Rick Courtright]

you have to remove if it is better to stay with the incontinence and cost of
dealer oil changes.

Hi,

Check around with the dealers and indy mechanics for oil change prices,
and ask if they can do better if their prices seem too high. I haven't a
clue what my local Subie dealer charges for an oil change, cuz I do them
myself, but his filter prices are in line w/ chain store "next step up"
Fram prices (the Tough Guard series???), so I'm sure he's not too far
out of line for a complete oil change. And he'll install dino or
synthetic at your request judging by the posters on the wall.

A buddy takes his Ford p/u into the Ford dealer cuz they'll match the
Jiffy Lube down the street for price. He said you have to ask for a
"price match" or they'll charge a little more, but what's it cost to
ask? Some of the other local dealers for several popular makes advertise
very competitive prices, too.

Now, going to a dealer doesn't guarantee nothing will go wrong, BUT
you've got some recourse: my Camry was religiously taken to the Toyota
dealer for oil changes by the previous owner. One time the dealer's
service people managed to strip the pan threads! But a new pan was
installed, no questions asked, no charge, with apologies for having to
keep the car longer than expected, and the owner was shuttled to work
and back. Haven't seen that happen with a quickie place.

So you can count my vote on the side of those who suggest you stay away
from quickie places.

Rick

 

[Michael Pardee]

Over the years I have seen nothing to recommend the Quickie Lubes and a
steadily increasing number of reasons to stay away from them. Stripped drain
threads are legion (and expensive to fix), but I have also had friends and
co-workers who had fluids put in the wrong places, oil drained and not
refilled, and parts broken by JL and similar places.

If you are not a committed DIYer, I recommend you take it to the shop that
does your other maintenance. It establishes you as a regular customer and
can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars when the time comes up
that you really need help.

Mike

 

[B a r r y]

I wouldn't want those jiffy places to touch my car.

Do you really think an actual ASE certified mechanic changes your oil at
dealerships? At $20 a pop? <G>

Dealerships have people called "lube techs", who are promoted from
"parts driver" or "new car washer" positions. These folks aren't even
close to a mechanic, and the examples at bad dealerships are capable of
all of the same mistakes made at bad lube shops. There are good lube
shops and bad lube shops, often varying widely within the same chain.

When I didn't change my own oil (on a Nissan King Cab that was an
unbelievable PITA), I found a local Valvoline and a local Texaco lube
shop to be very good. They allowed me to watch up close and actually
did everything they were supposed to do.

On my Tacoma, I prefer to do my own with a Toyota OEM filter ($3.50 at
the local dealer!) and Mobil 1. With a floor jack, I can change oil,
check the other fluids and filters, and rotate the tires in less than 30
minutes. Doing my own also provides a good opportunity to eyeball the
belts, hoses, battery terminals, and under hood wires.

 

[birder]

IMPORTANT!!!

Make sure they have the little gasket that goes with the oil filter or
you'll be leaking oil in the garage. My 2003 requires a gasket. Check if
you need one for you '04.

Ted

 

[Remco]

Hey Group:

I need opinions, in the past I have used the rapid lube places with very
good experiences, I now drive an 04 OBW and wonder given the different parts
you have to remove if it is better to stay with the incontinence and cost of
dealer oil changes.

What is your experience with the quick oil change places and a Subaru?

Thanks in advance.

Jeff

I wouldn't and learn to do it yourself:
My daughter used Firestone for a quicky oilchange on her Impreza a
while back.

The plug fell out soon after and blew the engine.

When complaining to their manager, he mentioned that "plugs are fine 99
percent of the time. Sometimes they just fall out". Funny, because that
would leave one out of 100 of their customers stranded - we'd see cars
stranded everywhere just because they had oilchanges.
I am not sure what worried me more: the fact they didn't tighten the
plug correctly or them having statistics on plugs falling out..

They ended up paying for an engine replacement but took some
convincing.

Remco

 

[wiz561]

I second the post about buying some ramps and doing it yourself. I do
all my oil changes myself and it's actually not that bad!!! I haven't
done any on my subaru yet, but on my previous cars, I have.

I'm actually taking my car in to the dealer for the first oil change
tonight, and I'm thinking about how much of a pain it is to drive all
the way out there, wait for them to do it, and then drive all the way
back home. Heck, it takes me a half an hour to drive one way to the
dealership (at least)....it would take me all of a half an hour to do
it at home.

I'm bringing it in because I don't have any crush washers and will pick
some up at the dealership. After that, I think that I'll start to do
the subie on my own. If you choose to do it on your own, make sure you
get some ramps and a big, round, oil catch basket. I've seen these at
murray's and k-mart. This way, you won't drop the bolt in the oil and
it doesn't drip any oil on your garage floor.

 

[lkreh]

I've had a good experience in taking my Outback to Jiffy Lube. Been
going for four years. JL charges $30 vs. $18 at my dealer, but the
dealer is ten miles away w/ heavy city traffic. JL does try to sell me
services I don't need, but who doesn't.

 

[-rick-]

I second the post about buying some ramps and doing it yourself. I do
all my oil changes myself and it's actually not that bad!!! I haven't
done any on my subaru yet, but on my previous cars, I have.

I'm actually taking my car in to the dealer for the first oil change
tonight, and I'm thinking about how much of a pain it is to drive all
the way out there, wait for them to do it, and then drive all the way
back home. Heck, it takes me a half an hour to drive one way to the
dealership (at least)....it would take me all of a half an hour to do
it at home.

I'm bringing it in because I don't have any crush washers and will pick
some up at the dealership. After that, I think that I'll start to do
the subie on my own. If you choose to do it on your own, make sure you
get some ramps and a big, round, oil catch basket. I've seen these at
murray's and k-mart. This way, you won't drop the bolt in the oil and
it doesn't drip any oil on your garage floor.

I've resumed doing it myself after many years of Jiffy Lube. I used to spill oil
and ruin clothes but since discovering the Fumoto valve it's quick and easy.
The last one I got with the hose bib which should help me hit the pan.

-rick-