There are a couple of reasons why I would never use a quick lube place:
1. By the time I pay a premium for a bunch of kids to install OK oil and OK filter I could have purchased the best oil and filter on the market and made sure it was done correctly myself.
2. With the 50 point check or whatever, plus the responsibility to actually drain and fill the oil and remove and install a new filter... you know they will mess something up... fail to correctly tighten a diff plug, over-tighten a tranny fill plug-- something.

So no matter the weather-- if I have a garage or if I do not, I do my own service and use premium products.

Tire installs and things like that I go to the dealer. If they mess something up, I figure they can go back and do it right.

Anything major, I have a mechanic I trust do the work and usually help him out so I can learn a thing or two.

 

The point is... damn I won't try and make a point this threads already left the ballpark.

Keep us updated, hopefully they won't screw you. If they do I imagine you could get a lawyer seeing as how a seized engine in the middle of say a highway trip could leave you in a few pieces.

 

here we go again...

 

Well nice to see I am not the only one in Lincoln.
2 stories.
My dad got the oil in his pontiac 6000 changed at a jiffy lube about 1/2 mile from our house. Pulled into the driveway and shut the car off and the drain plug fell out. He was pissed to have to clean up that mess. I think he got a free punch card for more oil changes.
When I bought my 4runner it had been to a jiffy lube before i got it. I bought it and drove it about 30 miles when the rear end grenaded. I took a look and the plug was missing. Obviously someone checked the diff oil and either didnt replace the plug or never tightened it. PO said he never touched it.

 

thanks dc, ive been looking for just the right time to make my 2,000th post! i am going to petition corey to promote me to mod status so aviator isnt lonley on here.

to the op, sorry to hear about your misfortune. keep after them until it is resolved satisfactorly.

lee

 

I'll admit I've taken my cars to JL and Oil Can Henry's BUT I make sure they show me the dip stick after they've added the oil before I leave. The guys at JL say they don't do that but then I say you will for me. Oil Can Henry's does by policy. I like them better when I'm feeling lazy as they have video cams every where and you can see the tech in the pit replace the filter and actually check the diff fluid etc.

Still there's no replacement for doing it yourself. When I was younger and less experienced I took my Talon to a tire shop Big O Tires in Salem to replace the timing belt. I'm sure you can guess what happened. They ended up having it towed to the dealer who rebuilt the engine.

Good luck.

Rich

 

my shop does oil changes for 15 bucks, and yeah we are told to do a lot of shortcuts... (dont lube chassis, ONLY refill washer fluid, etc) and i make sure to show the customer the torque on the oil pan (just in case), the filter, and the oil level. (if theyre watching.). ALWAYS DEMAND TO SEE WHATS GOING ON.

 

Also experienced the wrath of Jiffy Lube. My girlfriend went to Jiffy Lube and paid for the premium oil change. Since she is a woman the mechanic recommended flushing out her 02' Jetta (which has been well maintained) because he claimed that there was condensation and sludge on the oil cap. Ends up not only did he rip her off, he also stripped out her drain plug hole and ruined her oil pan. After realizing this we went back to Jiffy Lube and showed the manager what had been done, she had us get an estimate for the installation of a new repair from VW($$$$$$). I must say this manager was very professional and took the proper action and made sure Jiffy Lube paid for the $525.70 job. Another reason as to why I spend 10 minutes of my time and am willing to freeze half to death in the winter to change my priceless Yota's oil.

 

A couple of stories;

I used to work for a small, quick oil change franchise (no names but you've heard of it) and it was common practice to take premium brand oil containers and re-fill them using the bulk oil sold with the low-price oil change. It was also common practice to over-sell all services possible even when they weren't needed. The price was whatever the salesperson thought they could get. I saw lots and lots of stripped out oil pans fixed very poorly, plenty of cars leave without ever having the old oil drained and almost every one left without a filter change.

A local Toyota dealership had a technician working for them for years and years who commonly billed timing belt jobs and never changed the belt, oil changes and did nothing at all, etc., etc.

I could go on and on. And I saw this stuff first-hand. I worked for both places for some time. If you can do your own work, do it. If you can't, make sure it's done right!

And don't even get me started on the food service industry! If you eat pre-packaged foods (boxed, canned, etc.) or eat out regularly, suffice it to say your immune system is probably in terrific shape for all the junk it's constantly having to fight off! Buy whole foods and cook it yourself!

 

I steer clear of all those places, I have only been to one before and that was when I didn't have time to change oil before I drove to Myrtle Beach in my Lincoln LS, actually forgot...I never left the car leave my site while I was there and they did try to sell me on a coolent flush, tran flush, and air filter all declined. I do as much as I can when I can. My Fiancee has gone to them before we were together and they always got her for a coolent flush every 3000 miles...

I have had issues with dealers as well...I just do all I can. Did a front sway bar in my Lincoln last spring they wanted 800 to do this for an 8 hour job. I got my father to help and we had it done in 6 hours and only the cost of the bar 150.

Did an intake gasket on a 97 crown vic last summer in the driveway. 4 hours.

I had just done the HG on my toy and I had it apart and cleaned in a day waited for parts and had it together and running in another day also installed a cam.

If you car is out of sight you better really trust them!!!

Research, read, ask and keep it lubercated. Don't over tighten and make sure it stays on!!! With a little blood on your knuckles and your done before you know it.

 

You mean oil will make it run better?

 

Only slightly. In fact, just draining all the oil out gives you like, 400 hp so the slight decrease in reliability is worth the 400hp increase.

:thumbsup:

 

Good to know! I'm off to dump all of my amsoil,and mobil 1. Speed cost, How fast do you want to go !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Update: So Jiffy Lube has been taking forever trying to find another engine to replace mine so I did a little Google action yester day and found a company out in California that had four 3VZE's. The lowest mileage one has just under 80k on it and has just been completely checked to make sure everything is good (i.e. compression, head gasket, etc.). They were asking $1450 for it so I called Jiffy Lube and told them about it and they have since purchased it. The engine comes with a 90 day warranty and should be here on Friday so my mechanic can start the swap.

 

rock on dude good luck with that motor.

 

Still waiting... I called yesterday to find out why my new motor hasn't been shipped yet and the company told me that the one they sold Jiffy Lube to replace mine failed the compression check. However they said they just got a new one in with around 35K miles on it and that is the one they are going to send me. Should ship out on Monday!

 

Sorry to hear that man. We had a tech in the shop do the same in an IROC Camaro with only 30k on the clock. He changed the oil and sent it on its way. A half hour later it's on a rollback and his face went completely white. I asked if he checked the dipstick and the usual answer yes, then his next excuse is the oil pressure light did not come one ( I know for a fact he was just covering his own butt). In the end his punishment was to work every Saturday for 6 months. He screwed up something else 3 months later and was fired.
I can understand mistakes happen, but when I do an oil change in between repairs I first ALWAYS put my oil cap where the hood latch is so that I cannot forget to leave it off (yes it's happened to me on my own 4Runner so I learned fortunately not on a customer vehicle). Next I ALWAYS pull the oil dipstick out so that it will flag my attention when lowering the vehicle. I put my oil in and crank the vehicle for a few seconds. Stop the engine and check my level. Put the mileage sticker on and send the vehicle on its way out.

 

I take my new car to the dealership, got free oil changes for life. I change the oil in my truck and my wife's truck and will never use a quick lube type place again when I was younger I took my truck to one, a real good place that was started by the only mechanic in town that I trusted and they did a great job, and would even clean the windows and vacuum the truck, anyway I had one of the guys ask me about my stereo (I had at the time, 1997, a $2000 system in the truck) and less then a week later it was stolen. Although I could never prove it its funny how he was asking about it right before they took down all my information including address and what not!

Then another story from a friend, he was in the waiting room when a guy drives in in his older Porsche 912 the tech comes in to go over the check list and quote

Tech "We checked your antifreeze and topped it off, it is good to -20"
Customer "It's an air cooled engine there is no antifreeze"
Tech "We greased x number of fittings in the front end"
Customer "It has sealed bearings there are no grease fittings"

There were a couple of other things that where on the check list that didn't apply to the customers car.

Just goes to show you that even a check list doesn't mean it can't still be screwed up!

 

That sucks, good luck with the engine swap hopefully it gets done soon. I know what its like to not have your yota Thats pretty good that it lasted that many miles with no oil. As for getting your oil changed at those places, I would never do it. I take my new vehicle to the stealership cuz it came with a few free changes. After that I do it all myself. And its cold here but I still drag myself under there to drain it and replace the filter. I did oil changes at ford for a little while and I can see how you could be complacent and make a mistake doing such a boring job but I had a perfect record in the 3 months I worked there.

As for making fun of Canadians, DC you wish you wernt a yank, your always trying to talk like us. And ive never heard anyone aboot

 

1. Take rental vehicle.
2. Drive through front window.
3. Enjoy.

I worked at one for a week, maybe two. I was amazed at the caliber of some of these guys.

One had to watch me change a brake light. During the process asked me if I was okay/knew what I was doing.
Well yeah, I took a shop class before, I know how to work a damn screwdriver

Anywho, there was another guy who took a customer's vehicle down the block for whatever reason, before he filled it with oil

Good times.