It’s been quite awhile since I went to an oil change place, and was charged $75 by Oil Can Henry’s for an oil change with new air filter and they don’t vacuum out the interior any more. The advertised price at the curb was under $40.
The customer waits in their car rather than a waiting room, and drives out the car themself. They used to park the car outside then hand the keys off to the customer in the waiting room. While waiting in the car, they gave me a series of instructions, turn this off, turn that on and so forth, so I couldn’t just sit there and read the courtesy newspaper. I’ll go somewhere else for the next oil change. The last place I went to had a waiting room with a coffee machine.
Everything seems the same here. Coffee was a little old but I’m sure it would’ve been changed had I complained. They’ve never done any cleaning on the car. The only other service they provide is checking the air on the tires, and this caused the usual back and forth since I keep it much lower than recommended to smooth the ride.
$37.95 for the oil change (normally $32, but I have a larger than usual engine requiring extra oil and more expensive filter).
Add 20 bucks for a new air filter and I’m was the door for $67 and change (after tax).
I can’t detect any change over the last year. I handed them the keys when I walked in, and buried myself in a book. 20 minutes later they pulled my truck up to the front door and wished me a good day. Same as always.
I don’t know. Sounds about normal to me. The advantage is that you don’t need an appointment and can pop in anytime. And, actually, I priced buying an air filter on my own once and it turned out that the one at the oil change place was actually two cents cheaper.
If you want to take the time to make an appointment and such you can go to a dealership where they will not make you stay in the car and they might clean your car out. But, it’s not worth it to me to lose the convenience otherwise.
And the key to sticking with a $40 oil change is to just say NO to every other little ridiculous thing that they offer you.
I have to admit, I’m not sure that I think that getting a new serpentine belt for my car was ridiculous. I’m not quite sure whether I needed the coolant flush, and I figured the fuel system flush couldn’t hurt–my car is getting old enough to need some pampering.
But yes, I went out for a “little while”, and returned $300 poorer, two hours later.
Just my 2¢, but I would be very wary of suggested “extra” services at Quick Lube Franchises.
It’s very difficult if not impossible for most consumers to evaluate the necessity of such add-ons. Beyond that, Oil Change Technicians are not always so adept at performing auto repairs and may actually damage your vehicle.
For anything even remotely expensive or seemingly even remotely complicated, I would recommend politely declining the repair and take the car to a trusted Mechanic.