I decided to change my oil yesterday…it had been changed back in May (5000 miles ago).So I bought a new filter and 5 quarts of oil…put the car up on ramps, etc. It is usually a 15 minute job…but “thanks” to the morons at J-L, it took me hald an hour! They put the drain plug on with an impact wrench! I had to put a length of pipe over my wrench to get enough leverage to undo the drain plug! And, they warped the threads! Stupid idiots…I will NEVER EVER take my car to the morons at J-L.
To those of you who work for this shitty chain: please DON’T overtighten drain plugs-you can do a lot of damage this way! :smack:
The sorry fuckers cross-threaded the drain plug on my Jeep several years ago. I didn’t notice it until I got home and smelled the hot oil. Looked underneath and oil was sprayed the entire bottom of the vehicle. I took it back to them and they claimed that they did nothing wrong!
I said: “Let’s see…I bring a nearly new car in here with nothing wrong…I leave it with you for an hour…now it’s fucked up. Hmmmm…now who do you think cross-threaded the goddamn nut? Me? Some phantom guy who gets his jollies crawling under vehicles and loosening the oil drain plug?”
The manager gives me his card with “free lube job” scrawled on the back, which I promptly dropped in the trash can by the door. Oh yeah, they fixed the problem, with me standing over them to make sure they didn’t fuck with anything else. These places seem to be the fast-food joints of the auto repair industry.
My owner’s manual called for six quarts but they added only five. I had no idea how many times they did this. I used them often and I did not check the receipt after the job. The only reason I discovered it was they were sloppy and some oil spilled on some part outside the engine and it dripped down on to my driveway. I thought I had a leak so I checked my own oil. I showed a quart low so I freaked out. I was shocked that I had lost an entire quart within the twenty-four hours since my oil change. I went to a full-service station just to be sure. When I explained to the attendant that I had lost a quart in such a short time, he asked for the receipt for the oil change. The attendant said it was not a big deal and that it would probably not damage my engine. Still, you are driving a $25 thousand dollar vehicle that calls for six quarts…give me my six quarts and charge me the extra $1.10. I went back and bitched and I am sure they didn’t care.
Jacksen, you do know that these joints offer free top-offs, right? No bitchin’ necessary. 
When I find out a service facility can’t/won’t do it right the first time…
There won’t be a second time. Free “top offs” or not. They charge an arm and a leg to cover that too.
They forgot to put the oil cap back on. Sprayed oil all over my nice clean engine compartment. Yeah they sorta cleaned some of it up and bought me a new oil cap when I brought it back, but the engine was never the same since…always kinda gunky after that. Nope, not bringin’ the new car there…
My experience was the other way around. They put in 6 quarts when my engine requires 5. The only reason I noticed was that my wife mentioned an extra charge on the bill for a quart of oil. I went back and argues with the guy for 10 minutes until I had to pull out the owners manual and show him. I can only imagine how many problems I’d have had proving my oil pump was ruined because of the idiots.
Just like anyplace else, depends on the manager and crew.
11th and Garnett in Tulsa while Jerry is manager, it was a great place. good, personal service done right and with the stuff I asked for.
I moved in 98 and so I don’t know now, but I still try to find a place that does it right regardless of the name on the door and then keep going back.
I never trust car service to the point of not checking it. Been a pilot too long to be that silly.
Fluids, fuel, wings, yeah, now I might be willing to trust my life in it since “I” checked it myself.
YMMV and prolly does…