Kind of hard to beat a $20 Walmart oil change

[postmortemIA]

I only change my lawn mowers oil, simply because I can't dispose the oil myself without going somewhere out of the way.I take old lawn mower oil to dealer.

 

[manimal]

I'm running a city wide promotion with groupon for a 20 dollar oil change 4 quarts, basic filter and tire rotation with free inspection. Even at my costs- I buy oil 4 55 gallons at a time the 20 bucks is an almost break even affair. I spend a bit more on basic filters and stock a ton so my costs are low enough. Getting 5-8 brand new discrete customers walking into my shop has been amazing. We dont menu item people to death and don't pressure anyone. We do give people discounts on additional services like window tint and detail and let them know when their future needs are /how much pad life etc.

The price point or 20 bucks is almost perfect. Small 4 cyl car shouldn't have to pay 65 bucks but a guy wants to upgrade to better filters or syn and they pay the difference.

Even though walmart offers it this cheap a local honest shop will sell repeat customers ocs for most small cars that cheap.

 

[kitatech]

Good man, manimal.

 

[ballmode]

And I might also add when you visit manimals shop you can either talk about cars, look at various car porn, watch boobies from the show Spartacus on the big screen.... Or just surf AT on the computer

It's like a triple win

 

[NutBucket]

They go by the manufacturer specifications. They have a fancy database that is controlled by your VIN number.

I know the scale of their buying is huge but it still doesn't seem like they should be able to turn a profit at $20.

Also, current car has no oil pan in the traditional sense so if some monkey strips the drain I'd probably have to time sert it or something.

Anyway, there's no way I can argue that $20 isn't a good deal. I can't even buy the supplies for $20. But I'm picky so it doesn't matter.

 

[Fritzo]

And I might also add when you visit manimals shop you can either talk about cars, look at various car porn, watch boobies from the show Spartacus on the big screen.... Or just surf AT on the computer

It's like a triple win

When he franchises and opens in my area I'll be the first in line 🙂

 

[madoka]

My local Nissan dealer charges $20 AND includes a free car wash. Now that's the deal you cannot beat. Plus I trust the grease monkeys at the dealer about 1000x more than a guy at Wal-Mart.

Personally I bring Mobil 1 and they charge me $13.

 

[pandemonium]

My room-mate always makes fun of me for changing my own oil. His focus is on the fact that it's only saving me a few $ at most, and costing me a lot more time instead. I completely agree with him on that aspect because it's true.

So why do I continue to change my own oil?

• I don't trust just anyone to work on my car. The person I bought it from actually had to get the engine replaced because he had the oil changed at Jiffy Lube and they put in too much. Luckily for the previous owner - not so luckily for the Jiffy Lube mechanic - Jiffy Lube covered all of the expenses.
• My car is my baby! It's not a common vehicle, and it's worth more to me than a typical, daily commute junker. I plan on keeping it forever.
• I don't mind working on my car. The satisfaction of doing your own work is part of the reward itself; much the same that building your own computer is rewarding.
• I can deal with if I mess something up; learning experience. Dealing with other people messing something up is a tremendously bigger hassle.
• I have specific requirements for the parts and fluids I use. Some places won't allow customer supplied parts.

Similarly, my roomy also makes fun of me for washing my car myself instead of just going to the car wash down the street and getting it done for a measly $4. On this note, I take pride in my car, and I'm extremely thorough. My "quickest" car wash takes me 2.5 hours to do, because I clean all angles and crevices thoroughly, have several stages that I go through. I also simply enjoy it.

The differences here are really dumbed down by one question: Do you think doing car maintenance is a chore?

If no, then you'll take pride in doing it yourself and enjoy the experience.
If yes, then you'll just get it done as cheaply as possible, at wherever, and be ready to point fingers when things go wrong.

My opinion? Take pride in everything you do, and everything you use.

 

[jaqie]

. . . . there's not much you can screw up in an oil change . . . .

NO. N-O. no. NO!
filler caps being left off, underfilling, using the wrong oil type for the engine, using refurb oil without telling you, oilpan plug being crossthreaded, oilpan plug being LEFT OUT, oilpan plug being not properly tightened, oil filter crossthread, oil filter improperly tightened...

just google "walmart oil change" and sit down.

We have a 1991 ford probe LX we paid $900 for and there is no way in living hell we will ever take it to walmart for anything but tires, and even that I will insist on watching directly if we ever do.

There is a small local chain called lube-IT express, where we can watch directly, chatting with the guy doing it, and we go there every time the oil needs changed, with this high mileage car it's needed it about every 2500 miles or so because it's 175k miles, 22 years, and we push the 3L V6 pretty hard now and then.

 

[madoka]

filler caps being left off, underfilling, using the wrong oil type for the engine, using refurb oil without telling you, oilpan plug being crossthreaded, oilpan plug being LEFT OUT, oilpan plug being not properly tightened, oil filter crossthread, oil filter improperly tightened...

Or just forgetting to put in the oil. Happened to a girl when she went to one of those express oil change places. As she was driving out of their driveway, her engine seized up because there was no oil in it. The shop still refused to take responsibility and she had to take them to court.

 

[Gillbot]

Those fast lube places are notorious for rushing through jobs and making mistakes. Google ANY of them for horror stories.

 

[madoka]

Those fast lube places are notorious for rushing through jobs and making mistakes. Google ANY of them for horror stories.

The part that got me was how they denied it was their fault when she was still in their driveway.

 

[sze5003]

I would do the oil on my lancer myself but the 2011 model has some annoying plastic cover all over the underside. I take it to the dealer and it takes synthetic 0-20 they charge me around 50 bucks.

As for my bike I've done all maintenance on it myself. If I had a garage with this apartment I would be very happy to even work in my car. I find it really fun and more interesting than writing code but I wouldn't want to do it as a full time job 🙂

 

[Gillbot]

The part that got me was how they denied it was their fault when she was still in their driveway.

That's common though once you are out of their bay it's your problem since they can't verify who did what. Obviously in their roadway is a bit extreme, but unfortunately they are going to try and get out of it no matter what.

 

[Bull Dog]

My car requires 0W-20 (Synthetic) Oil and has an aero panel under the engine bay which requires pulling eight bumper clips to to remove. It'll be a cold day in hell before I trust a quick service place to properly service my car.

 

[NutBucket]

True. Considering you can't even drain the oil without removing the panel I wouldn't be shocked if they did nothing and called it done 😛

Am I just too cynical?

 

[Fritzo]

NO. N-O. no. NO!
filler caps being left off, underfilling, using the wrong oil type for the engine, using refurb oil without telling you, oilpan plug being crossthreaded, oilpan plug being LEFT OUT, oilpan plug being not properly tightened, oil filter crossthread, oil filter improperly tightened...

just google "walmart oil change" and sit down.

We have a 1991 ford probe LX we paid $900 for and there is no way in living hell we will ever take it to walmart for anything but tires, and even that I will insist on watching directly if we ever do.

There is a small local chain called lube-IT express, where we can watch directly, chatting with the guy doing it, and we go there every time the oil needs changed, with this high mileage car it's needed it about every 2500 miles or so because it's 175k miles, 22 years, and we push the 3L V6 pretty hard now and then.

OK, this has never happened to me or anyone I know.

Also, for those people that say "Go look at the horror stories on the Internet" my reply is people never post good experiences on the Internet, only bad ones. This is why you never see websites like "BestBuyRocks.com" or blogs about "My Favorite Experiences with NewEgg". Like I notices with car forums, all you see is people posting about problems, and they tend to be a loud minority.

 

[HeXen]

^Very true, it's usually pretty boring to talk about how you dropped your car off at Walmart, you shopped around for some Cheetos and Lay's snack packs, then they called you and you drove home with no issue.
Even my dog would be bored of such stories. If I ever got ripped off from a mechanic, I never knew it...and that's the best kind there is.

 

[Gillbot]

I have been using the Valvoline quick lube on my work van and truck for over 7 years, never an issue. My personal vehicles I do myself, but that's because I want them done my way with what filter and oil I prefer.

 

[7window]

I dont think there is a right or wrong regarding this issue. As far as negative comments on the internet. If someone said something bad about an establishment and its not true then someone will step in and share their positive experience. You can read up if a place is good or not.