I decided to go to my local Valvoline Lube Center for the oil change on our van, I went to school with the owner so I figured it would be safe. I told the tech i wanted just the basic $19.95 oil change(5w30 Valvoline ac dino), he proceeded to warn me that if I did not upgrade to synthetic oil, I could ruin my engine as a result. i politely declined his request and stuck with the dino oil. Later i called the owner and told him what happened and he offered me a bunch of free oil changes, but I think I will just do it myself from now on.
Got a job at jiffy lube,
- Thread starter KieferS
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I've seen it happen twice on motorcycle filters. Rare, but it happens.
Rat, welcome to this crazy place.
And, thanks for making me an icon. A legend in my own mind:
In order to "do it myself" you must: 1. do everything three times slower than imaginable, 2. Triple check that everything is back together - gaskets, fasteners, etc.., and 3. at least once a year do something that ends up costing three times as much as having it done at a garage, i.e, my last spark plug change, a stubborn boot, slipped elbow, broken MAP sensor, $110 dollars, much cussing. Priceless.
And, thanks for making me an icon. A legend in my own mind:
In order to "do it myself" you must: 1. do everything three times slower than imaginable, 2. Triple check that everything is back together - gaskets, fasteners, etc.., and 3. at least once a year do something that ends up costing three times as much as having it done at a garage, i.e, my last spark plug change, a stubborn boot, slipped elbow, broken MAP sensor, $110 dollars, much cussing. Priceless.
KS,
Here's a scenario for you:
I drive up to your JL in my 2000 VW GTI 1.8T with 4-speed automatic transmission. I tell you I want to have a transmission service done. What do you do?
Here's a scenario for you:
I drive up to your JL in my 2000 VW GTI 1.8T with 4-speed automatic transmission. I tell you I want to have a transmission service done. What do you do?
I don't always have the time or desire frankly to do it myself, so $23 for the oil and $20 for my mechanic to do the service is $43.
I don't even think twice about doing it - the pain for not doing it is much worse.
I don't even think twice about doing it - the pain for not doing it is much worse.
Easy, drain the trans fluid, don't change the oil and overfill the engine with 4q of ATF.
It is nice that there are a few people at JL who really care but I will change the oil in my own car, inpsite of the fact that I am getting old and it is not as easy getting underneath a car anymore. Thank goodness the oil filter (actually oil filter element) on these Saturn Ions are easy to reach compared to the oil filters on the older Saturns!
All you need to change oil are a decent set of ramps. Change oil by yourself a few times and the ramps are paid for. And they are easy to store in the garage or a shed.
Changing your own oil puts the responsibility on you. You make sure the correct viscosity is used; you make sure that the oil is changed on time and at the proper mileage; you make sure the proper amount is used in the car. You decide if you use any supplements or not (for me, only Auto-RX). If you own a new car or truck you need to have documentation that you have changed the oil properly.
After some of the experiences I personally had at a JL and a GM I definitely will change my own oil. Workers at a JL stole small change I had in my car in the cup container. I will not trust people who will do such a thing. And at a GM I caught employees trying to switch the Mobil 1 oil I had brought in with Mystik 10W-40 (there was no question what they were going to do since when I caught them they were just starting to por the Mystik into the engine).
If you take your car to a JL. GM. or any other quick change place, and if you pay extra (a lot extra) for synthetic oil, how do you know they are actually going to put in the synthetic oil and not conventional oil instead?
There is so much dishonesty today that a person just has to change their own oil. Change the oil for your girlfriend too in her car or truck.
All you need to change oil are a decent set of ramps. Change oil by yourself a few times and the ramps are paid for. And they are easy to store in the garage or a shed.
Changing your own oil puts the responsibility on you. You make sure the correct viscosity is used; you make sure that the oil is changed on time and at the proper mileage; you make sure the proper amount is used in the car. You decide if you use any supplements or not (for me, only Auto-RX). If you own a new car or truck you need to have documentation that you have changed the oil properly.
After some of the experiences I personally had at a JL and a GM I definitely will change my own oil. Workers at a JL stole small change I had in my car in the cup container. I will not trust people who will do such a thing. And at a GM I caught employees trying to switch the Mobil 1 oil I had brought in with Mystik 10W-40 (there was no question what they were going to do since when I caught them they were just starting to por the Mystik into the engine).
If you take your car to a JL. GM. or any other quick change place, and if you pay extra (a lot extra) for synthetic oil, how do you know they are actually going to put in the synthetic oil and not conventional oil instead?
There is so much dishonesty today that a person just has to change their own oil. Change the oil for your girlfriend too in her car or truck.
The way I did it now with valvoline is I actually got out of the car and watch them do the oil change on my Honda Accords. They didn't let me watch at first because they said it is again their insurance policy to have a customer in the work area. I told them I had bad experience with other quick lube places and I want to make sure it is done right. I also said I will stay out of their way otherwise I will take my business somewhere else. So far it had been work out for me and I even get them to spray wash the oil filter area under my Accords after they change the filter because I complained about dripping oil on my driveway and garage floor everytime after the oil change.
A lot of places will not allow a customer to be in the work area, however. The only way I will have my oil changed at one of these places is if it is so cold I can't get under my car in my unheated garage. But you can wait a few days until it gets warmer. And in the wintertime I like to use synthetic oil and it gets under my skin thinking about how they may have charged me for synthetic oil (a lot for synthetic oil) and they may actually have put in conventional oil of the wrong viscosity. Another thing that gets under my skin is that from what I have found out 10W-30 oil is actually used at a lot of these places, summer and winter. The car is supposed to have 5W-30 (and some cars and trucks 5W-20). Foreign made cars and trucks can require other viscosities, and how about a Corvette? In order to service all of those different kinds of vehicles (oohs! I forgot about diesels!) you would need several oil tanks. How many oil tanks do you see in these places? Ever count them? How about counting the tanks even at a new car dealership? As far as I know the Saturn dealership near me has one oil tank. Which means probably 5W-30 oil. Is that what the used diesel truck gets? How about the Mercedes with the diesel engine or the gasoline engine that requires a European viscosity? What do those vehicles get for oil? Does anybody at the dealership even care?
If you care about your own car or truck do your own oil changes. Oil changes are some of the most important maintenance and usually pretty easy to do. Just be careful and use good ramps and don't let the car or truck fall on you. The ramps will be paid for quickly and you will spend less and have peace of mind.
If you care about your own car or truck do your own oil changes. Oil changes are some of the most important maintenance and usually pretty easy to do. Just be careful and use good ramps and don't let the car or truck fall on you. The ramps will be paid for quickly and you will spend less and have peace of mind.
Quoted for truth. Sort of like the people that go to holistic healers so they don't have to face "real" doctors... or just skip any and all medical attention until they keel over unconscious.
I would substitute "Camry" for "Mercedes" but have also noticed this with random SUVs. People think if they start off with something either very tough or well engineered (substituting the former for the latter in their heads) they'll hit the ground running. Then they won't have those "greasy apes" ogling them in the waiting room or be forced to make decisions about new air filters, PCVs, tranny flushes, etc.
There is a lot more to car and truck maintenance than just changing the oil. Changing the oil and oil filter using the correct viscosity of oil and correct service level of oil and the proper oil filter is probably the most importantce maintenance however. You need to change the oil filter whenever necessary, check the tires and air them up when necessary, change automatic transmission fluid, etc. A considerable amount of general maintenance studd can be done by the owner.
There are a lot of people who buy a car or truck and than do not perform the proper maintenance. But I don't know if you can rely on getting the proper maintenance at places like JL. I can change my own air filter, change my own oil and oil filter element, air up my own tires, wash and wax my own car. And I save money and feel better doing it myself. I know I am using the proper viscosity and type of oil, I know I am using the correct oil filter element and that the oil filter element is in fact being changed with the oil, and I know that if I put synthetic oil in the car there is in fact synthetic oil in the car and not conventional motor oil.
There are a lot of people who buy a car or truck and than do not perform the proper maintenance. But I don't know if you can rely on getting the proper maintenance at places like JL. I can change my own air filter, change my own oil and oil filter element, air up my own tires, wash and wax my own car. And I save money and feel better doing it myself. I know I am using the proper viscosity and type of oil, I know I am using the correct oil filter element and that the oil filter element is in fact being changed with the oil, and I know that if I put synthetic oil in the car there is in fact synthetic oil in the car and not conventional motor oil.
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Wayne ...that suspiciously sounds (looks) like a trick question there.
Quote:
Wayne ...that suspiciously sounds (looks) like a trick question there.
No trickery here; I'm just curious.
My Dad took his matrix AWD to jiffy lube for a 15k oil change and their computer noted his transfer case fluid was due. He thought it was shenanigans until the dealer confirmed this. I would expect, if there is a trick question to that VW transmission, the JL computer would know. Whether the operator then chose to ignore that would be... human.
EDIT! Just went to the Toyota website and they say the 15k transfer case fluid is for extreme (towing) conditions only! Interesting...
EDIT! Just went to the Toyota website and they say the 15k transfer case fluid is for extreme (towing) conditions only! Interesting...
Threads like these are priceless and make for very interesting and enjoyable reading.
Keifer, I hope you keep this thread alive month after month just to keep us up to date on what you are doing. Be safe. You sound very wise and have a good head on your shoulders for being so young...
Keifer, I hope you keep this thread alive month after month just to keep us up to date on what you are doing. Be safe. You sound very wise and have a good head on your shoulders for being so young...
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Quote:
Quote:
Wayne ...that suspiciously sounds (looks) like a trick question there.
No trickery here; I'm just curious.
Most of the specialty shops have software that pukes out everything a given car needs. I bought tires and the techs had a screen telling them what to pump the tires to. It was wrong since I had bigger tires ..but they CYA'd themselves to factory spec's.
Isn't that one of those "manual automatics" in that thar beast ..errr ..refined Euro alloy??
GA,
No, mine just has a plain-jane 4-speed auto. The 5-speed "Tiptronic" automatics are the fancy-schmancy ones. Both units "require" some special OEM VW ATF, so that's really the reason I asked my original question. I just wanted to see if the guys at JL would attempt a service on my car. They don't even have the proper equipment to check the ATF fluid level, so my guess is they wouldn't touch it.
No, mine just has a plain-jane 4-speed auto. The 5-speed "Tiptronic" automatics are the fancy-schmancy ones. Both units "require" some special OEM VW ATF, so that's really the reason I asked my original question. I just wanted to see if the guys at JL would attempt a service on my car. They don't even have the proper equipment to check the ATF fluid level, so my guess is they wouldn't touch it.
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