how come Costco doesn't have oil change, car wash or gas while-u-shop

[QueBert]

then your gf is an idiot and that is why they are making money off of her.

and jiffy lubes try to upsell you on anything and everything. and most people will purchase it because they are idiots like your gf.

Depends on your definition of an idiot, she gets Pennzoil Ultra Platinum which is the most expensive oil I've seen. Does she need it? Absolutely not, but she can't change her own oil so she pays the price for the oil she wants. This thread isn't about who's an idiot or not, people in this thread have mentioned that places that do oil changes don't make money that's why Costco doesn't do them. If I bought the same oil she uses and a filter and did it myself her oil change would be around $65 for her car. So yeah oil change spots make pretty decent money doing oil changes. And for what it's worth she shopped around and $109 was the lowest price in her town, it was up to $159 for Ultra Platinum elsewhere. So considering she can't do it herself, even if it is overpriced, she's getting a good deal for what she wants - it's all relative.

 

[OverVolt]

Generally takes 2 hours for the oil to cool off for an oil change. Probably don't want the liability of employee injury draining hot oil.

 

[pcgeek11]

Oil should be changed when it is still at least warm, that way contaminates don't get a chance to settle.

 

[bruceb]

I would not trust a Jiffy Lube or similar with my oil change. Good chance they overtighten the drain plug or strip it or make it not tight enough. And unless they show you what brand / type oil they are actually putting in, you don't know. I take it to my local GM dealer when I can't do it myself. Prices are moderate and it gets down while you wait (about 30 mins at most)

 

[leper84]

I think it makes sense to have ease of working on your car one of the priorities when you buy one. Even if you don't do the work yourself, you are bound to save yourself some money in labor costs if the car is designed with ease of maintenance in mind.

The complexity of working on some cars (special tools and knowledge) is obviously one reason Costco doesn't want to add a side business of servicing people's vehicles while they shop. There are so many nightmares involved, including trying to keep their shoppers happy.

I bought my car's battery pretty recently at Walmart and installed it myself in their lot and brought them the old one for partial refund.

Best answer in the thread.

There is money in oil changes. Lube shops turn a profit and repair shops keep general service techs on the payroll just for the oil changes.

The problem is when an oil change goes wrong, or when a customer gets pissed after the fact at an up-sold service. There is an insane amount of effort in a good and/or profitable shop to keep customers happy. Its not worth the hit to Costco's image to deal with it.