Avoiding Oil Change Ripoffs
Friday June 19, 2009
There's no avoiding the oil change. I guess that's not entirely true. My stepfather avoided changing the oil in his '88 Toyota Celica from the day he bought it new to the day he sold it to my little brother, five years later. When he did finally take it in for an unrelated ailment, there was very little oil left at all. He's either very lucky or Toyota engines were bulletproof back then, or a little of both. For the rest of us, the oil change is a must. If you change your own oil, pat yourself on the back. If you don't there are some things to think about. The oil change itself is not a very profitable endeavor for the repair shop, but many will lure you in only to hit you over the head with an expensive laundry list of repairs later. Between upsells and outright ripoffs there's a lot you can do to make sure you're getting the most bang for your hard won buck. If you're familiar with these tactics you'll be in control next time you drop your car off for the basics.
Matt,
Thanks for getting the updates on oil changes to your faithful readers. Here’s a couple more.
Cabin filter: Many newer cars have a cabin filter that is normally located behind the glove box. Most owners manuals call for replacement at 20 to 30 K depending on both the manufacturer and in-cabin conditions. (If you are a smoker or someone who drives with a window open, you’ll probably experience more frequent replacement of the cabin filter.)
One of the “disingenuous” tactics some quick-lube places use is to show you a cabin filter that looks like death warmed-over, and then indicate that “Dude, this is the stuff you and your family are breathing.” When that happens, just say something like this..”Holy Cow, Dude !! Show me where that filter is located in my car !!” You can figure out the rest of the scenario…also, you can buy the in-cabin filters at the mass-merchandises for about half of what the quick-lube places change for it, and replacement is simple, takes about 5-minutes…..oh yeah, the instruction are in your owners manual and there are many resources on the i-net. Just type in “cabin filter for 2007 Whambat XLT” or what ever your specific car happens to be, and start surfing, Dude.
A word on synthetic oil. I recommend it for most cars as it really is superior to most petroleum-based lubricants. However, if you have a small engine oil leak, please have that repaired before you drop in the synthetic. Since synthetic oil is man-made, the oil molecules are smaller than the oil molecules of petroleum-based oils, and more uniform in size. That means, they’ll find the leak faster and blow a much bigger hole in your wallet…Hope that helps..Phil
One place you half to watch out for is those quick lube shops, for instance Oil Can Henerys.
Their trained to sell you as many services that they can. Even if you do not need them.
I own a 2005 Dodge Neon. I went to Oil can Henrys and they recomended to me. To do an engine oil flush, oh by the way I only had 15,000 miles on the car. They also told me my manual transaxle fluid needed changing as well. If I was uneducatied they would have taken me for well over 150 dollars for services I did not need and that would have caused damage to my transmission and my engine.
Right up until I sold my business last year, we did oil changes the same way since the doors were opened in 1945. We only used quality oils & filters…NO CHEAP STUFF! WE checked all gear cases, greased anything with a fitting, installed fittings when the factory just used plugs, set tire air pressure, inspected the complete underside of the car, then checked all the fluids under the hood, belts, hoses, etc, & lubricated all hinges, locks & cylinders. We made recommendations to the customer & several times showed them why they didn’t need what the quick lubes & discount oil change centers wanted to sell them. By the time I sold the business in Jul 2008, we were using synthetic blend in every oil change & the average cost for a full service LOF was $32.00. Just remember that no discount shop can make any profit or even pay the help the time that it takes to do an oil change, so they are going to try to up-sell whether you need it or not.
Oil changes are not a commodity. Unfortunately, people have been convinced that they are. If you pay some kid a minimal wage to do a job that a real professional gets paid a good wage to do, do you really think you get the same results? I’ve seen too many engines ruined by sloppy repair work, and under trained technicians.
Pay the extra few bucks, it’s worth it.
<a href="http://www.pro-autocare.com"Rochester, NY Auto Repair
I have been changing my own oil since I started driving. I have tried to take it to shops a couple of times and have always been disappointed. It is not that difficult to do yourself and the parts are not expensive. Do yourself and your car a favor and learn how to do the simple maintenance yourself. I found a good video at http://www.oilfiltersonline.com. I buy a lot of my filters there and took a look at the video. Great for someone just starting out. They also have a great application to help you find the parts you will need. Once you have a good understanding of how the process works and all of the appropriate parts, you can change your own oil in less than 15 minutes. One more recommendation – Phil (above) is right on the synthetic oil. It is more expensive but will definitely provide better and longer protection.
This reminds me of a little experiment I did a few years back at an oil changing place. My sister took her 1999 Honda Accord in for an oil change. Before we left, I drilled 4 holes in the air filter’s border (one on each corner) with a small drill bit. We took the car in and they came out a while later with an air filter that was extremely dirty and told us that it was taking away power and fuel economy. Only problem? No holes drilled in it. Hmmm…
So your telling me if I inform my client that their vehicle needs more than an oil change then I’m trying to rip them off?
I know when I tell them that their vehicle needs more service, I’m doing them a service. I can’t tell you how many times have you heard someone say “I just had it at the shop last week, why didn’t they tell me it”
There are a lot of reputable shops out there, don’t assume that we’re all the same.