Grandma Asks: Will My Shop Get Slick On Synthetics?
Saturday June 23, 2007
This letter comes from a woman who would like to be known s Grandma. She comes to us with an oily issue:
Dear Mr. Wright:Well Grandma, that's a tough one. I'm going to have to go with George Michael (or Pat Robertson depending on your generation) on this one, you gotta have faith. Since your car is probably still under warranty, you're going to want to keep up with your regular maintenance. However, most warranties aren't voided by getting your oil changed outside of the dealership.
I am a 55-year old grandma, and there is no way I would ever try to change the oil in my car myself, so I take it to my dealer. I would love to use synthetic oil, but if I request it and pay more for it, how can I be sure they really used it?
Also, I put very few miles on my car (I've had it almost 3 years and only have 12,000 miles on it), so how often should I change my oil?Sincerely, Grandma L.
If you go to one of the many reputable oil change chains, you can actually watch through the customer window to see that they are putting in the oil you paid for. That said, I'd really like to think that no dealership out there is slimy enough to charge you for synthetic oil then use a cheaper lubricant.
Comments
In my opinion, you’re better off by taking your car to a dealer’s garage of the original manufacturer, i.e. GM, Chrysler or foreign, etc. compared to a drive-thru or any other. If you bought your car from a dealer, he will do his damnedest, pardon my English, to protect this reputation by servicing you car to your satisfaction and even more than the minimum.
If you have a brand of synthetic in mind and doubt that the dealer has it or is putting it in, provide your own and ask for the empties like I do. When I bring along the air and oil filters, I’ve even checked to be sure he put them in, which only happened at the start of our relationship. I’ve only had one occasion when I had ask for the one remaining un-opened quart of oil.
As far using synthetic motor oil that won’t be a warranty issue, I use a brand product option that has the label that satisfies the OEM dealer only because he doesn’t understand fully what I’m using. If I would be confident that I wouldn’t make things difficult by using the superior option but doesn’t have the star-burst symbol, I would use the 25,000 mile or 12 month (whichever comes first) option.
Grandma, you sound like you’ve got money falling out of your pockets. Otherwise why would you be so anxious to spend money? If you only drive your car 4000 miles a year, why would you want to use synthetic oil? You should use good quality conventional oil and have it changed once a year.
Do you want to spend extra money so the next owner of your car can drive it another 150,000+ miles? The big advantage of synthetic motor oil is that it will give your engine longer life. But at only 4000 miles a year, my calculations show your car would last about 50 years if the engine were protected with synthetic oil and it lasted 200,000 miles. My guess would be you’ll get tired of this car in 50 years, even if you live to be 105 and are still driving;-)
I’d find somewhere else to spend my money.
interesting. you might think that dealers don’t rip customers. you’re wrong, i’ve had issues with a dealer more than once. took my suv for an oil change and what i do is i mark the oil filter just to make sure they change it but i’ve seen them not replace it and see on the paper work states that it was replaced this actually happened more than once. and one time i had it serviced and specifically told them not to change the oil because i just replaced it with synthetic amsoil. guess what, they replaced it with conventional oil.
Bimmer_w, if that happened to me, that guy’s butt would be grass and I’d be the lawnmower.
one thing that i’ve learned over the years is that if you want certain oil in your car, you can buy it yourself and have someone put it in for you. i take my car to a small family owned place and i always supply my own oil as it’s cheaper. i will say this, finding a good mechanic is key to any repair and maintanence.