Heard a customer say they can get an oil change for $25 at the quick lube place down the street

I told him I'd rather charge $45 and actually drain the pan instead of just pulling the filter and topping off like those guys do, anyone else see that hack job coming through your bay?

3 comments

3 Comments

vera_campbell1mo agoMost Upvoted

It's funny you mention the $25 quick lube because those places are exactly why I keep a magnetic drain plug in my truck. I've pulled pans on cars that came from those shops and found nothing but sludge and glitter stuck to the magnet, but the customer swears they changed the oil three times that year. You just know they're running the same cheap 5W-30 through engines that need something different, and nobody checks the filter part number either. It's not even about the money at that point, it's about not wanting to see the same car towed back in six months with a rod knock.

ryan_ellis15d ago

Man I feel this in my bones... I swear those quick lube places are just running a long term experiment to see how fast they can kill a motor. I remember bringing my old beater truck in once and watched the kid grab a random filter off the shelf that didn't even match the engine... just jammed it on there and called it good. I've got an old Toyota that takes 0W-20 and every one of those places tries to put 5W-30 in it because that's what they have in the bulk tank. At this point I'd rather crawl under my truck in the driveway and spill oil all over myself than trust someone who got their training from a YouTube video during a smoke break.

victorb741mo ago

Watching people trust those quick lube joints is like watching them fall for those miracle weight loss pills at the grocery store. @vera_campbell you hit it right on the head, it's the same story every time. People want the cheapest fix and they don't ask questions because they don't want to know. Its the same pattern with mechanic shops that promise a transmission flush for fifty bucks or a tune-up for a hundred. Nobody reads the fine print or checks what they're actually putting in their car. They just want the price tag and the promise. And that's how you end up with a rod knock six months later and a wallet a lot lighter.

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