Jiffy lube or bust

[Rodney Bullock]

There has been some talk about Jiffy Lube and other Oil changing service co. I for one did not trust them at first. Then I took my truck(chevy 1953) in for a oil change. I had my small owner hand book with me, it shows about 20 zerk fittings and I showed it to the tech man after he found most of them he proceeded to change the oil. He first drained it then discovered that he needed a cannister style filter. I had brought one with me so after his sigh of relief I taught him how to remove the extra oil in the cannister and install filter and spring. This first encounter set the stage for them following my instructions when it came to servicing my other cars and trucks. The manager and I now have a great repor and he keeps the filters that I need for my cars in stock. There have been times he has called me to ask if I would not mind someone else getting onr of those filters for their cars. We must educate folks on the care of our cars and not assume:p you know what happens when we do that:eek:

[1just4don]

Their is/was(deceased now) that his daughter took her car to a quick change place somewhere multiple times. He is a mechanic by trade so when they were working on her car they determined no one had changed the filter for a mighty long time.

More than likely tho, given his daughters track record, she just drove it and spent the money she said she did on'feel good' items if you get my drift.

I have NEVER known a place like that not change the filter and rip somebody off for the price of it. These are all indepentent owners of these places(here) and they are working hard for their business success!

Back in the 70's did have a bad experience with an oil change but cant remember where.(cross threaded plug and leaking oil or loose non tight one, cant remember.)

[BobT-47P15]

I took the convert to a quick lube a while back. Amazingly the man found most all the grease zerks. He just started looking for them....after I told him there were quite a few. Did not have the oil changed that time, just the lube job. So far the experience with the place is good. I did not ask, but would doubt they have the cannister filter available.

[Guest Dave Claussen]

I have a positive Jiffy Lube story that makes me think at least the one in my town is on the up and up. We have a 2003 Saturn L300 that we took to the Saturn dealer and no one else for oil changes and regular warranty maintenance. We purchased a maintenance agreement that provided for "free" oil changes etc. The point is Saturn was the only people that ever touched the drain plug and oil filter cap. When our service agreement was up, my wife took the car to Jiffy Lube because it was about 25 miles closer to our house. When they put it up on the rack and started to remove the oil filter cap, oil began leaking from a crack in the cap. The cap was on so tight the the Jiffy Lube tech couldn't budge it. My wife called me and I went to Jiffy Lube to look at the cap in person. The cap was obviously cracked previous to any attempt by Jiffy Lube to remove it. The manager then took his personal vehicle and drove the 50 mile round trip to Saturn to purchase another filter cap and then he and I working together were finally able to remove the cap using a box end wrench and a 3/8 drive ratchet and install the new capand filter. Then we discovered that the drain plug was also stripped out. It had a metric Allen socket that looked more like a round hole than a hex. It was also torqued to tightly. Since he couldn't remove the plug and drain the oil properly, the manager refilled the crankcase with oil and charged me nothing for the oil or the new cap which he paid for himself, or his time and gas to get the new cap.

I took the car back to Saturn and they finally admitted that they were at fault and replaced the drain plug and changed the oil for free. I returned to the Jiffy Lube after that and reimbursed the manager for the price of the cap and his gas. I felt it was the only fair thing to do.

That manager was not in any way obligated to me to repair someone else's faulty work but he did so without any hesitation or expectation of financial reimbursment. I had to insist he take the money for the cap and his gas money. I would trust him and his crew with any of my vehicles. They were all honest, helpful and professional in every way. I were grading them, they would get an A+.

I realize that not all quick change oil places are the same but this particular one has a reputation of quality service. And no, I don't work for them or own stock in the company. Just my opinion about someone who did right by me.

[JerseyHarold]

For what it's worth, I used to work for a Saturn dealer and we sold quite a few of the plastic caps for L-Series oil filter housings. They were/are quite easy to crack.

[Guest Dave Claussen]

This one is made from aluminum, but even that would seem to be destined to fail over time. You'd think that something that was going to be removed and tightened countless times over the life of the car would be made from a more durable material. Maybe the idea was to either save weight or money. If I was engineering it, I would have specified steel or iron and made up the difference somewhere else on the car.

For what it's worth, we still love the car and have not changed our mind about Saturn's integrity as a car company. Especially after they made good on repairing the drain plug and changing our oil. Their service people have always treated the wife like an intelligent person and not just another "dumb woman" like some other garages are prone to do. I'd buy another Saturn with no hesitation at all. They're good folks in my book even after the whole cap and plug problem.

[Guest mikeys toy]

I've spent my life in tow trucks, and have towed vehicles back to quickie lube places due to missing filters/drain plugs, leaking filters/drain plugs

I returned a '90 Celica low mile survivor with a seized engine to Jiffy-lube due to the mechanic forgetting that he'd left the drain plug hand tight. A week later they had rolled some new bearings in (It had spun ALL the old ones) and were in the process of buttoning it back up.

I called the owner of the car and told him he may want to inspect their work IMMEDIATLEY!

Last I heard they had to install a used Japan engine.

my 2c

[bob westphal]

One of my customers took his '47 DeSoto to Jiffy Lube. They couldn't even figure out how to open the hood! UM DUH!! When the owner opened it for them they took one look at the engine and and asked what that funny cannister on the side of the engine was. He closed the hood and took it to the local MoPar dealer. They knew just what to do and had a great time doing it.

[Ed Griffin]

Generally speaking, why in the world would someone take a car or truck like ours to a quick lube n oil change and expect these people to even know anything about them to begin with. Think about it. How much time did it take for you to get to know "your" vehicle? Now think real hard and ask yourself why I would expect these folks to know squat about them?

If you know a place from past experiance that does work on them then thats differant but I cant see anyone expecting to be able to just drive up to any of these places and to expect that they know what should be done or even how to. You should be counting your blessings if you can locate a quick lube n oil that will work with you or even let you bring the vehicle in and be willing to let you show them what needs to be done.

There was a time when I would gawk at the thought of taking any vehicle to one of these places when it could be done by yourself and I still have a hard time with the idea but age has taught me why some people do. Mostly because it's quick, easy and you can afford to. But, thats with newer vehicles, not like the our old ones. You cant and shouldnt expect to be able to just pop in and expect these people to know one thing about "how to" on these vehicles. If you do and then get mad because they couldnt do this or didnt know how to do that then the only person you should really be mad at is yourself.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Ed..long ago before I got my lift I was uptown with the Tiger..thought it would be good to get a lube and oil change with the possibility of undercarriage inspection of the car from down in the pit. Well..as the pit had guard rails around it..my car would not even drive through the bay...so I can still say I have never had one of these places ever service any of my cars. As the Tiger has never been lowered per say, and with the number of cars out there that also sit low..just how in hang do they manage to service the number of cars they did in a given day. The only time my cars go out for service is to the alignment shop or in the case of the bigbutt when I needed an entire front to rear custom exhuast fabricated. I still sing praises about that business...they did the entire job to my exact specifications and for a very reasonable price. I had asked first if they would do it my way and give me an up-front written estimate...they came in a bit under their own estimate.

[norrism1]

Hi all, Well the time I took my 51 B3B PU for inspection. I took it to the Dodge dealer. The Service manager and I went out to look at it with a younger inspector for a prelimenary look. The younger mechanic said it would not pass due to no turn signals and only one tail light. Older Service manager stated grandfathered in so it will pass. Should have seen the look on the younger guys face when trying to expain older vehicles did not have all the things they take for granted on a vehicle now.

Second time I took the truck to Kost tires for an inspection. The Service manager wanted to know if I would let one of the younger inspectors drive it into the bay. I said no problem, should get a laugh out of it. Watched as the truck rolled back a bit, then the lights came on, then the wipers. After attaching my butt back on from laughing so hard went out and asked what was the problem. He said the ignition did not go over to start the engine. Showed him the starter pedal on the floor and got in to start the truck. The Service manager was still laughing himself to tears after I pulled the truck into the service bay.

Now I am not being mean here just that you have to be there to show those who do not know the differences our older vehicles have that we take for granted.

[Rodney Bullock]

I love it, especially when they just know everthing , get in the car and turn the key on and nothing. They jump out hey mister your battery is dead, I start it right up, then you hear the gears grinding, My little girl jumps in:p puts the ctruck in gear and drives it in for service. shows the guy where the oil goes where the dip stick is, how to open the hood. She was 13 then now she is a little lady and is very proper with them you got to love passing the torch:D