I usually do my own oil changes but took my truck in today because I won't have time to do it myself soon. Anyways, what do you tell the guys that bring out the plate comparing your uses fluids to new fluids. Just amazes me!!!

Oops. Wrong board!

Last time I took mine in for an oil change they called me out there. The guy had all kinds of stuff taken apart under the hood and was telling me my throttle body needed to be cleaned. They could do it for a low $79.99. I asked him to put my truck back together and to just concentrate on the oil & filter change.

I have a family member at a dealership, so I usually take it there. However, a few months back, I took it to one of those quick lube places.

"You have to run synthetic." -- Nah, just put in conventional
"Your oil is really dark, so we need to put an additive in" -- When you change it, it won't be dark anymore
"We have to charge you to remove your skidplate." -- Do you need me to come out and show you the access port on the skidplate?

Avoid the chain places and you avoid all that crap

Time it Lube FTW. No high pressure, at least in my area, and absolutely the quickest oil change I've ever had.

They will however inform you if your warranty calls for synthetic and they use regular and note it on the bill.

I purchase my own synthetic oil and filter at Wallyworld and let my mechanic change the oil. $14.99 later, they also give me a complete system check to inform me of any issues.

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Last time I took mine in for an oil change they called me out there. The guy had all kinds of stuff taken apart under the hood and was telling me my throttle body needed to be cleaned. They could do it for a low $79.99. I asked him to put my truck back together and to just concentrate on the oil & filter change.

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I can't verify the story, but an old neighbor from when I lived in the Houston area told me that his daughters boyfriend took his car to a certain big store that sells everything including automotive work as well (I'll narrow it down a bit -- it wasn't Walmart) for new tires. He looked through the door and saw them inspecting the brakes without any authorization at all.

They told him his brakes were going to fail unless he had immediate work at some high dollar figure. He told them they weren't authorized to check that and all he wanted was tires so they put it all back together.

His brakes subsequently failed before he even got out of the parking lot.

Took my company truck to a place off of Harvey because it's required by my fleet company. My battery went dead in the process, funny because battery wasn't that old and I haven't had any problems from it. I apologized for the inconvenience and asked them to just let me push it out of the way so they could service other customers. They refused to let me move it until they got a new battery in there. Was belittled by the high school drop out about how I don't anything about vehicles ect. Funny though work for a large ag company and grew up farming, I work with equipment that cost more than his house on a daily basis. Needless to say I won't be going back.

Stories like these are the reason I take my truck to Hoss's Garage for pretty much everything. He's about the only guy I completely trust not to take shortcuts and to take his time and make sure the job is done right. And the best part is he doesn't charge me for labor!

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Last time I took mine in for an oil change they called me out there. The guy had all kinds of stuff taken apart under the hood and was telling me my throttle body needed to be cleaned. They could do it for a low $79.99. I asked him to put my truck back together and to just concentrate on the oil & filter change.

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I can't verify the story, but an old neighbor from when I lived in the Houston area told me that his daughters boyfriend took his car to a certain big store that sells everything including automotive work as well (I'll narrow it down a bit -- it wasn't Walmart) for new tires. He looked through the door and saw them inspecting the brakes without any authorization at all.

They told him his brakes were going to fail unless he had immediate work at some high dollar figure. He told them they weren't authorized to check that and all he wanted was tires so they put it all back together.

His brakes subsequently failed before he even got out of the parking lot.

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Firestone is the champion of up-selling imo. They inspect everything and always try to up-sell. Although I've never had anything break that they inspected.

And generally they have identified things that needed to be replaced, such as a rusted caliper that was causing uneven pad wear. I said "thanks, but no thanks" and replaced it myself.

Kwik Kar in Lewisville has been telling me for years that my power steering fluid is too dark and is going to destroy the power steering pump (or something along those lines).

I'll feel like a dumbass if it does finally happen.

I've had good experiences with Mobile on William J. Bryan. I took my truck to the Villa Maria Chevron before the owner died. He was a good friend of ours so he we knew he wouldn't cheat us. Mobile changes the oil, cleans the air filter, tops off everything else and you're out the door.

I will never go to the place by the old Gattitown, now Planet Fitness. They've tried to screw me over numerous times. I do get my inspection there. They're quick about it.

I just tell my girlfriend anytime she goes anywhere just let them change your oil and that's it. I don't care if they say you engine is going to blow up if you don't do ___. There was an article on these companies giving you false information to do stuff that isn't needed.

I think this is the video that talks about Jiffy Lube scamming people:

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I purchase my own synthetic oil and filter at Wallyworld and let my mechanic change the oil. $14.99 later, they also give me a complete system check to inform me of any issues.

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This is what I do except I buy at Costco and bring down the road to a shop.

This thread makes me laugh. Nissan here in CS finds something wrong with my wife's car every time it goes in for an oil change. If they didnt have "free" oil changes for the life of ownership of this car, Id do it myself.

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I have a family member at a dealership, so I usually take it there. However, a few months back, I took it to one of those quick lube places.

"You have to run synthetic." -- Nah, just put in conventional
"Your oil is really dark, so we need to put an additive in" -- When you change it, it won't be dark anymore
"We have to charge you to remove your skidplate." -- Do you need me to come out and show you the access port on the skidplate?

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and that was funny!

Thanks for the laugh.

I used to own a Suburban. What soured me on GM cars was twofold. First, I bought the Suburban used from a Chevy dealer in town. They had a multipage window sticker taped inside the side window. It was basically the repair history ending with the new short block they had installed. So sweet! A used car with a new short block. Why a new short block you ask? The car came from the factory without rings in the #6 cylinder. I should have been suspicious of this dealer after the history showed that it took a couple of years and 10 or 12 visits to the dealer by the previous owner complaining of high oil usage before they authorized a tear down and found the problem.

Second, against my better judgment I took it to the same dealer for an oil change as they had a killer oil change special running. They used that to point out all the work they should do on the burb. My favorite? According to them, the two front doors were sagging because the bronze bushings in the door hinges were worn out......on a three year old burb with 40K miles. They only wanted $400/door to replace the bronze bushings. I laughed and said...uh. no. I was then warned of how my door latches and strike plates were sure to self destruct if I didn't change the bushings. Uh no.. I sold that car soon after and have never owned another GM car.

Ya gotta realize that upselling to folks that can't or won't do their own wrenching is what pays the bills for the shop. Yes, there are shops that push it on what needs to be done.

I ran an 18 bay shop for Monkey Ward at Willowbrook Mall. We did the "inspection" on each vehicle and quoted repair cost. I can sleep knowing that in my time there, we never cheated any customers. I did fire several guys for trying to up sell unneeded work. That wasn't how we rolled.
MW had a policy that if the vehicle was unsafe, then it had to be towed off the property. This was due to a customer in CA refusing brake work and the shop letting her drive away. The brakes failed right after she left, and someone died in the accident.
We had a ford van come in with the guy saying there was a grinding noise when applying the brakes. After the wheels were pulled, it was clear. The rotors were worn to the vents. No braking surface at all. The pads were worn completely down to the backing plates. The rear shoes were the same, and the rivets had worn through the left side drum, which was rattling around on the housing. All in all, the quote was right at $2K to fix it. The owner refused and then fought us tooth and nail about us towing it to his house on our dime.
I guess my point is that most shops aren't shady like some of them. Kinda like cops.

Rexter is correct.

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Second, against my better judgment I took it to the same dealer for an oil change as they had a killer oil change special running. They used that to point out all the work they should do on the burb. My favorite? According to them, the two front doors were sagging because the bronze bushings in the door hinges were worn out......on a three year old burb with 40K miles. They only wanted $400/door to replace the bronze bushings. I laughed and said...uh. no. I was then warned of how my door latches and strike plates were sure to self destruct if I didn't change the bushings. Uh no.. I sold that car soon after and have never owned another GM car.

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It's pretty well known that a broad year range of GM trucks had front door hinges that were prone to sagging. A design flaw, sure but one that your dealer tried to be proactive and fix. And yet you let it sour you on an entire brand.

Impressive.

I changed oil for a Texaco Xpress Lube during Highschool. We were constantly told to upsell Air Filters, transmission flushes, radiator flushes etc. that's were the margin was. I doubt they made any money on their 19.95 oil change. Having worked there I will tell you that these chain stores employ bottom of the barrel people so watch your car while it's being done. We had guys that wouldn't change filters, put conventional oil in when the customer paid for synthetic and if you had a foreign car with the filter in between the manifold then you damn well better check to make sure they changed it. For this reason I change my own oil, that and I can't stand oil stains in my vehicles.

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Second, against my better judgment I took it to the same dealer for an oil change as they had a killer oil change special running. They used that to point out all the work they should do on the burb. My favorite? According to them, the two front doors were sagging because the bronze bushings in the door hinges were worn out......on a three year old burb with 40K miles. They only wanted $400/door to replace the bronze bushings. I laughed and said...uh. no. I was then warned of how my door latches and strike plates were sure to self destruct if I didn't change the bushings. Uh no.. I sold that car soon after and have never owned another GM car.

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It's pretty well known that a broad year range of GM trucks had front door hinges that were prone to sagging. A design flaw, sure but one that your dealer tried to be proactive and fix. And yet you let it sour you on an entire brand.

Impressive.

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That was the most egregious attempt to separate me from my money. They had several other unneeded repairs that were suggested as well. And thanks for making my point about sheety products from GM. Thank goodness the dealer tried to save me from the design flaws. Yes, I should have stayed with GM for sure. I should be very happy to spend $800 every 40K miles to have the door hinges fixed. That is industry standard correct?

My opinion of gm is based on a 1988 burb. Huge pile of crap. I've never even considered them when shopping to this day because of that ONE. Lol.

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My opinion of gm is based on a 1988 burb. Huge pile of crap. I've never even considered them when shopping to this day because of that ONE. Lol.

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Well, I have. I won't go back until I've gone through every other option

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It's pretty well known that a broad year range of GM trucks had front door hinges that were prone to sagging. A design flaw, sure but one that your dealer tried to be proactive and fix. And yet you let it sour you on an entire brand.

Impressive.

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When you pay that much money for something and have a bad experience, it's not hard to understand his reaction.

I don;t expect to drive a car off the lot only to be told I need to cough up $2000 more dollars to fix a problem that was there when I bought it.

I am man. I change my own oil. 350k on the F250 and still going.

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Second, against my better judgment I took it to the same dealer for an oil change as they had a killer oil change special running. They used that to point out all the work they should do on the burb. My favorite? According to them, the two front doors were sagging because the bronze bushings in the door hinges were worn out......on a three year old burb with 40K miles. They only wanted $400/door to replace the bronze bushings. I laughed and said...uh. no. I was then warned of how my door latches and strike plates were sure to self destruct if I didn't change the bushings. Uh no.. I sold that car soon after and have never owned another GM car.

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It's pretty well known that a broad year range of GM trucks had front door hinges that were prone to sagging. A design flaw, sure but one that your dealer tried to be proactive and fix. And yet you let it sour you on an entire brand.

Impressive.

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So you expect this poster to PAY for a well known design error?

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Second, against my better judgment I took it to the same dealer for an oil change as they had a killer oil change special running. They used that to point out all the work they should do on the burb. My favorite? According to them, the two front doors were sagging because the bronze bushings in the door hinges were worn out......on a three year old burb with 40K miles. They only wanted $400/door to replace the bronze bushings. I laughed and said...uh. no. I was then warned of how my door latches and strike plates were sure to self destruct if I didn't change the bushings. Uh no.. I sold that car soon after and have never owned another GM car.

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It's pretty well known that a broad year range of GM trucks had front door hinges that were prone to sagging. A design flaw, sure but one that your dealer tried to be proactive and fix. And yet you let it sour you on an entire brand.

Impressive.

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Imagine that, GM wanting to charge their customer for a design flaw. Impressive indeed.

I've been changing the oil in our vehicles for the past 20 years.

It's the only way to know for certain that the work is being done right.