Ford Quick Lane Oil Change Review

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Mar 3, 2005
Messages
2,106
Location
USA
So, after 4 months and 7000 miles on the 17 Fusion I figured it was time to collect my free oil change from the dealership (even though there was 33% left on the OLM). I went back to the Ford Dealership I purchased the car from and they have a separate Quick Lane building on the premises.

I walked in the door around 12:30 and both advisors were assisting customers, although one was finishing up. I was greeted with a huge smile from my advisor and I indicated that I was here for my free oil change. I gave her my last name and within seconds she said "the 17 Fusion"? She asked how many miles I had and suggested a tire rotation for $9. Sold. She took my keys and directed me to the lounge, which was only a few feet away. Told me to help myself to coffee and bottled water.

There were about 4 customers already waiting in the lounge, which was brightly lit. The open lounge had 12 well-cushioned leather chairs, a 65 inch HDTV, a Keurig coffee maker with plenty of pods, and a small dorm sized fridge stocked with Sams Club bottled water. A large window allowed you to view all work going on in the garage area. Multiple signs on the walls indicated the WiFi password.

I took a seat and opened my laptop, connected to WiFi, and started going through my work e-mails. I did have a couple of decafs from the coffee machine. This location had plenty of techs working as they seemed to turnover cars pretty quickly. I would say they had between 10-12 bays for working on the vehicles. Within about 5 minutes, I noticed my car was being pulled into one of the bays.

A single tech handled both the rotation and also the oil change. He took around 45 minutes to do the change, the rotation, and also the inspection which included a battery test. They also took my car through a car wash, although I suspect they have their own washing mechanism. The car was clean, but not really clean as if you went to a normal drive-thru car wash. I paid the $9 for the rotation and was out in an hour total.

I checked the OLM and the tech forgot to reset it. It was still at 33%. A bit irksome in my book. Maybe it was an oversight, maybe the techs are told not to reset it because the general public is just going to follow the idiot light and get an oil change when the car tells them to. In my case, if I did not reset it myself the OLM would be going off in another 3000 miles.

Also, I asked for the coolant to be filled to the MAX line. Wasn't done. I was also told my washer fluid was filled by the tech. Wasn't done. When I got home, I called to give this feedback to a manager and was told he is off today and will be back tomorrow. I will be calling him then.

Normally, this oil change / rotation service costs $39.99 and they gave me a $5 coupon to use next time. So $34.99 is a pretty darn good deal when you consider 5 qts of MC is nearly $20 and the FL-910s filter is around $4.

Even with the slips in service today, I will be back again and will re-evaluate at that time. If they give stellar service, I think I'll keep going back and not change the oil myself on this car. The price is attractive, plus I don't want to personally deal with the underbody shield and the awkward oil filter placement on the 1.5l Ecoboost. Paying someone else $11 in labor to deal with it is fine by me.
 
Not much went terribly wrong. This thread will not have very many pages......
 
Originally Posted By: Brons2
Do they do other brands?

How is the gas mileage on your 1.5 EB Fusion?


They do all brands according to their signage outside.

Excellent mileage. Currently getting a 35 mpg average according to the computer.
 
Originally Posted By: CKN
Not much went terribly wrong. This thread will not have very many pages......


Which is fine. I'm just asking that they demonstrate a minimum level of competency. If they miss the little things, what else was done wrong?
 
So all in all their job accuracy and follow through was crud. Unless this occurred on a Friday, which seems to be a almost legally recognized release of culpability, I'd say they need to polish up a bit.

Am I being "too hard on them"? I'm sure somebody in a few posts from now will let me know that and something to the effects that they "Hope I do my own oil changes because this is just how it is these days." Well, they can go fly a kite and patronize Iffy Lube at their pleasure. I'm getting too old, work too hard for my money to accept "gud'n'tight" or any other "sorta done right" results of paid work. Hey, an oil drip here or there... no biggie..not what I talking about.

As for me, I look at it this way..... Thats ALL they do ALL day. So knowing that and coupling that with the fact that they are spoon fed the requested task by the customer, through a computer system and spoon fed the procedure through a corporate instruction sheet and training videos. What that leads one to realize is that they didnt follow all of the spoonfed system which is the minimum they could do. You werent asking them to give you something for nothing or deviate from authorized pressures or procedure as a "favor".' You paid for a basic service and didn't even get the minimum.

Now imagine this applying to a dash tear out for a Takata airbag recall. Couple of screws loose here , a little foam tape not stuffed back in over there. Bingo! You now own a 2016 that has a gouged up interior that rattles like a 1972 pickup truck. Or a job with something technical where the procedure says to check the "backlash again" ... nah we can probably skip that because if the gears wear prematurelyoverbthe next 30k miles or dash rattles or if the antenna wasnt plugged in the customer can be a come back and goog luck proving then that it was their incompetence. No video... no proof these days. They'll claim somebody else crawled in a disassembled the dash or crawled under and messed with the transfer case.

Am I upset? Nope, not my car, not my money. Do I expect the minimum? Yep. Do I cut corners? Nope. Does that make me exceptional? Nope. Its just the minimum.
 
Originally Posted By: Greggy_D
Originally Posted By: CKN
Not much went terribly wrong. This thread will not have very many pages......


Which is fine. I'm just asking that they demonstrate a minimum level of competency. If they miss the little things, what else was done wrong?
Ding, ding, ding! THAT is the reason why I do my own oil changes, too many opportunities for a minimum wage tech to screw up!
 
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Ding, ding, ding! THAT is the reason why I do my own oil changes, too many opportunities for a minimum wage tech to screw up!


I agree 100%. This is the first time since 1987 that someone else has changed my oil. But as I mentioned above, I'm getting older and want to spend my time elsewhere instead of dealing with the underbody shield and stupid filter location on this engine. I expect the service to be done 100% right if I'm paying for it.

I will still change the oil myself on our Edge because everything is easy to get to.
 
Originally Posted By: Greggy_D
Also, I asked for the coolant to be filled to the MAX line. Wasn't done. I was also told my washer fluid was filled by the tech. Wasn't done. When I got home, I called to give this feedback to a manager and was told he is off today and will be back tomorrow. I will be calling him then.


I just went to the QuickLane here a few weeks ago for the Matrix. They do not wash the car which is fine with me. I always reset the Maintenance light myself. I don't want them filling up the coolant since it's Long Life Toyota coolant. It's usually towards the Full line anyway. I also had tires installed there at the same time and the advisor quoted $80 for the install. Oil change is $25 so total bill was $105. Right on the nose with what they quoted. The waiting area is pretty Spartan and this is a huge mega Ford dealer the runs right along I90. They finally added a free coffee machine. So that's nice. I've been here many times with the Matrix for oil changes. The Camry had it's tires installed there as well.

The Toyota dealer nickles and dimes. The previous interval I went to the Toyo dealer and brought my own jug of Castrol Edge EP 10w30. They supplied the labor and filter. The advisor said it would be $20-21. Get the bill and it's $24.31 or something like that. Since tax and a misc fee or two added. They wash the car and the waiting area is nicer. They try to upsell pretty hard here.

Where the QL just advises what I should have done when I can. Much more laid back. Also no apt needed at QL. When I first asked them to install the tires on the Matrix they said no since they weren't purchased there. I bought them via Amazon. But then he came to me in the waiting area and said they could do it. I think he saw my service history there. But he said some people want them to install used tires. He did go out and look at the tires.

The same day I had the tires installed one of the rear hubcaps went flying off when I went over some railroad tracks. So I go back to the dealer around 5:30 or so. I was able to retrieve the wheel cover and brought it in with me. I tell the advisor what happened and he inspects the back of the cover and sees where the metal trim ring is out of some of the plastic tabs. He asks a tech for a small screwdriver and fixes it himself. Take the cover out the car and pop it back on. Now that wheel cover was making a clicking noise prior to them touching it so not their error. Plus they fixed it. These wheel covers are notorious for coming off as well. Hubcaps.com sells both the original one and a new after market one with better retension clips.

Another time they cleaned up an area under the high pressure power steering hose that had a small leak without me asking them to.

I've also had good luck at the Honda dealer as well. Had a fair amount of maintenance done there and they took great care of me. Numerous times the advisor would help me install bulbs that I bought in parts, free loaner car to get lunch while car in for an oil change, free money saving tips, etc. Brought the 10 yr old Accord in there with 165k miles for an inspection prior to me selling it. Only thing on the report that needed to be done was the rear brake light, only a few bucks. Plus I noticed them changing the oil while they were looking it over with two guys. Even though I never asked for the oil to be changed. Sure enough only charge on the bill was for the light bulb. The oil was a darker color though so good for them.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: SumpChump
So all in all their job accuracy and follow through was crud. Unless this occurred on a Friday, which seems to be a almost legally recognized release of culpability, I'd say they need to polish up a bit.

Am I being "too hard on them"? I'm sure somebody in a few posts from now will let me know that and something to the effects that they "Hope I do my own oil changes because this is just how it is these days." Well, they can go fly a kite and patronize Iffy Lube at their pleasure. I'm getting too old, work too hard for my money to accept "gud'n'tight" or any other "sorta done right" results of paid work. Hey, an oil drip here or there... no biggie..not what I talking about.

As for me, I look at it this way..... Thats ALL they do ALL day. So knowing that and coupling that with the fact that they are spoon fed the requested task by the customer, through a computer system and spoon fed the procedure through a corporate instruction sheet and training videos. What that leads one to realize is that they didnt follow all of the spoonfed system which is the minimum they could do. You werent asking them to give you something for nothing or deviate from authorized pressures or procedure as a "favor".' You paid for a basic service and didn't even get the minimum.

Now imagine this applying to a dash tear out for a Takata airbag recall. Couple of screws loose here , a little foam tape not stuffed back in over there. Bingo! You now own a 2016 that has a gouged up interior that rattles like a 1972 pickup truck. Or a job with something technical where the procedure says to check the "backlash again" ... nah we can probably skip that because if the gears wear prematurelyoverbthe next 30k miles or dash rattles or if the antenna wasnt plugged in the customer can be a come back and goog luck proving then that it was their incompetence. No video... no proof these days. They'll claim somebody else crawled in a disassembled the dash or crawled under and messed with the transfer case.

Am I upset? Nope, not my car, not my money. Do I expect the minimum? Yep. Do I cut corners? Nope. Does that make me exceptional? Nope. Its just the minimum.


All this and you are "not upset"?

I can tell you I am upset. I am darned upset to read this review.

No espresso machine?
 
I think what you got is pretty typical. When all those places say free top ups etc, it usually means whatever they can upsell. If a place did everything well, i wouldnt change my own either but truth is, if some do, they are hard to find. Next time, pop the hood and check their work before leaving and have them correct it.
 
Considering the high quality of the oil, that's a pretty good deal for an oil change and tire rotation.

I've had them forget to reset the Intelligent Oil Life Monitor---its an easy thing to overlook. Honestly, I can't remember if they top up the windshield wiper fluid or not. They do check the brake pads and the battery and tell you how much life is left. Those are more important. I've seen the same tech there for three separate changes about nine months apart, so, for what it is, they don't have a lot of turnover.

They never try to upsell me. The closest they came to that was to warn me that the next visit would entail a coolant change---perfectly true and a welcome reminder.

I notice several gracefully aging Fords ahead of me in line when I go there as well as some beat up Japanese cars whose owners are saving a buck.

Ford does a good job of making its cars low-maintenance and Quicklane makes it as painless as possible to do the regular stuff.
 
My Mercedes dealer treats customers like royalty.

Took my SLK to my Mercedes Dealer for new tires and alignment, my service advisor met me at my door under covered entrance. They checked all fluids, battery, and brakes for free. Courtesy car wash and detail, inside and out.

In waiting room, all kinds of treats, pastries, ice cream, fancy coffee, and even free I pads to use . Big screen TV.

The other Mercedes dealer up the road even provides a free masseuse while you wait.

If you have to leave your car, as I did on a Friday for a minor warranty thingy, they gave me a brand new Mercedes loaner to use over the weekend.

I didn't even buy my car from them as I purchased used. Can't say how pleased I am with the outstanding service.
 
Last edited:
Topping off coolant? I wouldn't want to trust anyone else adding something incorrect to the coolant. That's too easy to mess up....and too easy to do ourselves.
 
I’ve used several QuickLanes around the country, they are pretty constantly good. They have never failed to reset the OLM, though the same can’t be said for the TPMS.
 
Originally Posted By: Stevie
My Mercedes dealer treats customers like royalty.

Took my SLK to my Mercedes Dealer for new tires and alignment, my service advisor met me at my door under covered entrance. They checked all fluids, battery, and brakes for free. Courtesy car wash and detail, inside and out.

In waiting room, all kinds of treats, pastries, ice cream, fancy coffee, and even free I pads to use . Big screen TV.

The other Mercedes dealer up the road even provides a free masseuse while you wait.

If you have to leave your car, as I did on a Friday for a minor warranty thingy, they gave me a brand new Mercedes loaner to use over the weekend.

I didn't even buy my car from them as I purchased used. Can't say how pleased I am with the outstanding service.


In house massueses is so 2016.

My dealer actually whisks my wife & I to the airport and then flies us to France for a tour of the various wineries.

Seriously though, the arrogance of some of these posts is quite hilarious.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top