Oil change: Walmart $12 vs $20 at Valvoline

[JEDI]

my 1st time at a oil change place besides Walmart. Here's my opinion:


Walmart:
Pros: CHEAP
cons: 2 hr wait. but if you have shopping to do, that'll kill an hr.

Valvoline:
Pros: no wait. i was in and out in 15 min. they also top off your fluids. (only thing useful is the window washer fluid.)
Cons: They try to up-sell you on their other services

i dont mind the $20 if it saves me time, but i *HATED* them coming up to me and recommending stuff. they weren't pushy or anything, and were very nice, but it reminded me of my experience w/Midas. (and i got royally screwed over at Midas...$50 to turn rotors, EACH = $100 to turn both front rotors.)

i wished valvoline had a check box not to bug me about selling me stuff. oh well, until that happens, i'm sticking to Walmart

edit: valvoline regualr price = $29, but around my place, they just opened a new store and gave $10 off. add $1 disposal fee= $20

 

[SlowSS]

How about doing it yourself? It doesn't take much of time and you could rest assured that the job was done properly and not under/over filled.

 

[vi edit]

Man, for $12 bucks, I'd easily let somebody else do it. I can barely change oil myself for that price. And it saves me the trouble of crawling around under the car, shopping for the parts, running the risk of making a mess on the floor, and then the trouble of returning the used oil.

That's one hell of a bargain at $12.

 

[majewski9]

12 bucks sweet deal!

 

[Paulson]

And I thought $18 at a local dealer was a steal...

you can't get rid of used oil that easily, so I always just have somebody else do it

and you can top off the fluids yourself so I'd suggest getting to walmart early and not having to wait for 2 hours..

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: Paulson
And I thought $18 at a local dealer was a steal...

you can't get rid of used oil that easily, so I always just have somebody else do it

and you can top off the fluids yourself so I'd suggest getting to walmart early and not having to wait for 2 hours..

walmart opens at 7am. i got there at 7:10, and they already had 10 cars waiting. i asked the salesguy. he said they were all waiting when he got there to open shop. but this was on a sat. weekdays arent bad, but most people (like me) work weekdays

 

[aircooled]

If you don't mind having the lowest payed techs in the business changing your oil then thats fine. Would you go to the lowest bidding dentist or doctor?

 

[slikmunks]

how about the option for $5 diy?

 

[etech]

My Jeep takes 6 quarts of oil, that and a $3 filter makes $9. For $3 I would let them do it in the cold months. I'm getting where I hate being cold. In the summer I'd still do it myself just to let it drain longer and to prefill the oil filter.

The Wal-mart supertech filter has had good reviews.

Does Wal-Mart charge extra if your vehicle uses more than 5 qts of oil?

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: slikmunks
how about the option for $5 diy?

Where are you buying 4+ quarts of oil, an oil filter, and disposing of the oil (legally) all for $5 bucks?
Personally, I go to Valvoline. No mess, no fuss, good service and oil, don't have to wash my hands afterwards, and it's peanuts compared to the convenience.

 

[mastertech01]

My dealership charges 21.95 and you get a free maintenance inspection with that. Of course you can bet everyone tries to upsell when you get there, thats the way the management pays a lot of techs to get back some of that free labor. Ive seen it over done though, and thats just what can cost you return customers. If you do it to serve the customer by identifying true problems and needed maintenance there is no harm, and most appreciate it. Even the quick lube shops in town upsell. If you solely tried to do business on a cut rate oil change you would soon find yourself out of business.

A lot of people who resent upsells are just cheap arses though. Dont want to maintain their vehicle but will be the first to whine when their cars break down from the abuse. If you have any questions on whether an item is needed, inspect it youself.. in other words if they say you need an air filter have them show it to you. Have them save the old parts if you arent waiting to have it done.

Many techs actually hate to upsell too much, because they want to see thier customers come back for more down the road. But often management puts the pressure on them to upsell. The way management sees it, they may never see you again, so they are going to get you while they have you in the door.

 

[weirdichi]

Cheap doesn't always mean quality. I'd pay the $20 extra and get quality service. I've tried Walmart before cuz it's cheap and they ended up makin my oil cap loose and my car leak oil. Save yourself the trouble and go for quailty.

 

[jjessico]

Amsoil full synthetic is the way to go. Be nice to your car and it will be nice back. As for the only useful fluid is windshield washer fluid, I would personaly go without blue squirty juice in order to have power steering, power brakes, or coolant in my engine. I can honestly say I wouldn't care much if I could see out my window without hand wiping it if my car didn't run, but maybe that's just me.

Jason

 

[Paulson]

The local chevy dealership here looked at my dad's car and told him he had a cv joint boot that was torn, and he just let it go till it ended up busting...

sometimes it pays to listen to them, as they aren't just all about screwing you over.

 

[oniq]

Originally posted by: weirdichi
Cheap doesn't always mean quality. I'd pay the $20 extra and get quality service. I've tried Walmart before cuz it's cheap and they ended up makin my oil cap loose and my car leak oil. Save yourself the trouble and go for quailty.

Happened to me, too. So I went there the next day and they tightened it, no questions asked.

I go to Walmart for my oil changes all the time (I get the 5point or whatever for $18, you get all filled fluids and your car vacuumed), most of the time there is no wait at all, other times theres a short 30min-1hour wait. I'll go browse around in that time, doesn't bother me. Or I can sit in the lounge and watch TV or read a PC magazine from 2001 .

 

[m2kewl]

no matter what price, i change my own oil and other easy stuff.

 

[slikmunks]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: slikmunks
how about the option for $5 diy?

Where are you buying 4+ quarts of oil, an oil filter, and disposing of the oil (legally) all for $5 bucks?
Personally, I go to Valvoline. No mess, no fuss, good service and oil, don't have to wash my hands afterwards, and it's peanuts compared to the convenience.

filter is 2.50, oil bought in bulk with rebate... i guess 5 is kinda low... but... i mean, it's not THAT faroff... and used oil i think my dad takes it to autozone and they dispose of it for free.... or... maybe my dad pays for it... i dunno... he pays for everything, i just change the oil in my car and his car

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: mastertech01
My dealership charges 21.95 and you get a free maintenance inspection with that. Of course you can bet everyone tries to upsell when you get there, thats the way the management pays a lot of techs to get back some of that free labor. Ive seen it over done though, and thats just what can cost you return customers. If you do it to serve the customer by identifying true problems and needed maintenance there is no harm, and most appreciate it. Even the quick lube shops in town upsell. If you solely tried to do business on a cut rate oil change you would soon find yourself out of business.

A lot of people who resent upsells are just cheap arses though. Dont want to maintain their vehicle but will be the first to whine when their cars break down from the abuse. If you have any questions on whether an item is needed, inspect it youself.. in other words if they say you need an air filter have them show it to you. Have them save the old parts if you arent waiting to have it done.

Many techs actually hate to upsell too much, because they want to see thier customers come back for more down the road. But often management puts the pressure on them to upsell. The way management sees it, they may never see you again, so they are going to get you while they have you in the door.

hey, hating upsells doesnt mean i'm an ass. i've just had bad experiences w/upsells in the past(read my 1st post on this thread about Midas). that's why i like walmart.

for example, valvoline suggested that i flush out the engine for $30 to completely clear the engine of the old oil residue. wtf do i need that for at 15k miles???

 

[blahblah99]

For $12, I wonder what kind of oil and filter they are using. My oil filter alone is already $5.50 from Nissan.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

My local dealer had oil changes for $29, but they bumped to to $39 so I probably won't go. The reason I paid that much was because it included a nice hand wash and vaccuum. (I saw that as part of the cost of service)

 

[wyvrn]

 

[Scarpozzi]

I heard that story on Car Talk of a lady that took her car in for an oil change and the place ended up filling her oil pan up with Transmission fluid instead of oil.....I guess they grabbed the wrong hose. Anyhow, it sorta screwed up her engine and the place was hasselling her because they didn't believe they had made that error...

I've only taken my car anywhere to have the oil changed. I only get my oil changed every 7500-10000 miles. I believe the magic 3000 number came from dealerships and mechanics that want to make more money from providing the oil change service. Of course, I'm an extremist with that stuff too. I liked Valvoline's service when I had it changed, but they ended up charging me $28 total for the whole job. I guess my oil filter is more expensive and I have a 4 L engine...so it's a little bigger than an import. I may check out WallyWorld and see what they charge around here.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: wyvrn
Damn Walmart They left the engine cover off my J30 and I didn't notice until I got home. Went back and they f'ing couldn't find it! Damn thieves I will never use Walmart oil change again. I always use either dealer or reputable chain that has lastest coupon I don't mind paying extra at the dealer every once in a while because I know they do it right.

Just tell them to buy you anither one. If they balk then ask for the manger and get the phone number of their manger, etc....


But the filter Wal-Mart uses is the Tech-2000, a very good filter that is made by Champion Industries. They also make the Bosch, STP, and Mobil1 filters, all good filters.

 

[amdskip]

The oil is actually quaker state I believe and walmart buys it dirt cheap.

 

[wyvrn]