Does anyone remember REAL full service stations

[johnachak]

Do you remember when full service meant:
Cleaning the front windshield and rear window?
Checking your oil and all the fluids?
Eyeballing the tires?

It has been a long time since I've seen it.

 

[daves87rs]

Used to be one about 4 miles down from me...he did both, it was a very good station...

 

[CHARLIEBRONSON21]

Right between two of them at work and one the next city over.

 

[crazyoildude]

lol yes i do most stations in the 70's i remember doing that and im sure in the 60's 50's 40's 30's and 20's i only remember the 70's

 

[mrsilv04]

My Dad used to buy gas from a guy who had a gas pump literally in his back yard, next to a gravel drive. You'd go up on the back porch of the house to pay. He was a Marathon dealer. This was about two blocks from our house. This would have been in the mid-70's. The EPA would never allow this anymore.

Downtown, there were two brothers that owned a garage and a service station. They had two gas pumps, and did all repairs, tires, etc. They were a Phillips 66 dealer. They were a full service station.

The brothers names were Quentin and Byron, but they went by "Punk" and "Cheebo"

 

[Bud]

Remember them well. Used to be in the town where I grew up that two guys would come out when you pulled up. One to pump the gas and the other to do the windshield and ask if you wanted him to check under the hood. Lots of times there would be a promotion of some sort where you would get a drinking glass of some type. Had a 65 Vette and wanted to pump the gas myself to keep the attendant from dripping gas on my paint job, and it was like pulling teeth to get them to let you do it. Those days are long gone.

 

[CourierDriver]

I worked at one in 1990 in Chattanooga tn. Its gone now,,a walgreen is on top of it...there is one left in Red Bank tn,,near Chattanooga tn

 

[KB2008X]

Yeah, and you didn't have to ask them to do it, they would ask you if you wanted it done. They'd have the squeeze bottle with the washer fluid in it and that sponge that looked like the 3M Dobie that's used on dishes now, for scrubbing the bugs off. Dad would tip the guy a quarter if he did a good job.

 

[JTK]

Oh yes. I also remember when motor oil came in 24 cardboard and metal can cases. Well under a buck a quart too.

 

[speedyb]

Anybody remember when motor oil was in glass bottles in a rack beside the pumps. They had a metal spout.
I wonder what weight the oil was.

 

[KB2008X]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Oh yes. I also remember when motor oil came in 24 cardboard and metal can cases. Well under a buck a quart too.


And when you went to Sears or Western Auto to buy a case, you'd hunt for a case that looked like it didn't have leakers in it, yet.

 

[Too_many_Cars]

Worked at SOHIO in the late 60's. Oil was PREMIX and QVO. We were just starting to get unleaded. We would wash ALL the windows if the girls were in the car. Made the guys do their own.......... Best part is the owner would let us use the lift on Sundays. Man that would not happen today. We had a ball. 1471blowers BB 427 and 454. Some old Pontiac 455 stuff as well. 327 and 350's everywhere. We did not have a dodge dealer in town.

 

[ag_ghost]

I worked at one for a year in Huntington Beach when the earth was cooling; most of the time I enjoyed it. A high school buddy's dad owned it and my interview consisted of asking about my experience. When I admitted "none at a gas station", Chuck quickly corrected me (to put it mildly) that he ran a SERVICE station... still got the job though.

Chevron Supreme normally sold at 42.9 cents/gallon and we had three grades of oil, 30, 10W-30 and 10W-40.

I was lousy at selling tires but did OK selling batteries and oil changes ("Ask the customer to buy" from the training tape). I'd show the dipstick to the driver so they'd know their oil level as trained.

If I was closing, I'd park my car at the outer island to block idiots that would pull in as far away as they could. My dad was nervous about robberies so he'd often hang with me until closing if my girlfriend wasn't there. Never was robbed though the standing orders were to not resist.
Fun times.
Kevin

 

[exranger06]

There is still a service station in my town, and 2 more in the next town over. I never go to them though; the gas there is more expensive and I'm more than capable of checking fluids myself.

 

[HTSS_TR]

There is a full service island at a 76 station in my area, the cost is about $1.20-1.30 more than self service and it's empty most of the time.

 

[Cristobal]

In college I worked at a Shell station at 8th & Fulton in San Francisco. It was almost 40 years ago. The station is gone and an apartment building was put up in its place.

We did the full service thing. The place was run by this Orangeman from Ulster. I still remember when those vapor recovery nozzles became mandatory. They would malfunction and spray gasoline all over the place.

 

[67lemans]

About all I can really recall is the tube that would ring a bell when you ran over it.

 

[CharBaby]

Yes, my dad owned an ESSO Franchise from '55-'79. It was a full service station. If the customer had time and shut off the engine or pulled the car ahead, we'd check the oil, tires, battery water and all other fluids, & clean the windshield and offer the use of the facilities.

It was hard to take care of customers with all of that attention to detail when there was a line of cars waiting for gas.

You wouldn't believe what customers would ask for sometimes.
Often a customer or non-customer(pulling up to the pumps/bell ringing) would pull in front of the gas pumps, completely blocking the pumps/not wanting gas, and ask if we could bring out the phone book to them or just wanted directions...never getting out of their car and coming inside!

Often it'd be pouring rain outside. This would PO dad to no end! Ya think?

 

[eljefino]

My dad used to go to this guy, it was more of a "mechanic with gas pumps" but he'd at least squeegee the windscreen. It was the next town over, maybe seven miles from home. He'd jump off the couch Saturday morning and make my Mom follow him in the other car and we'd drive this little parade over for gas then home again. Dad thought he was doing the mech a favor as a "regular customer" buying gas even though they probably made a nickel a gallon.

The mechanics were the full serve pump jockeys, a father and son operation. They'd be welding up an exhaust or something then the dinger would go off; they'd drop what they were going, and go pump gas.

This shop was in Massachusetts and they did inspections until the machine got outrageously expensive then they gave up on that. They had a couple of loaner beaters with "repair" plates (a Mass phenomenon) and instructions to the customers that if the cars were pulled over they should tell cops that they were just about to complete the sales tax paperwork. And it would only have been $30 or so to get the required decal!

They were tolerably competent mechanics, replacing plastic shift forks in our 4-speed Fairmont.

 

[skyactiv]

Read the novel Full Service by author Will Weaver.