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Quick Oil Change Shops substandard work?!?

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Been using a locally owned quickee oil change shop a couple towns north of here for a while, can't say they do much other than change the oil. But now I have a problem.

Friday I went in for an oil change with the VW Touareg. Its a pretty fancy SUV but despite its rather luxury bias, its actually quite a capable off-road vehicle. As such, it has a big "skid plate" under the engine. The oil change place fights with that skid plate every time I take this vehicle into their shop. They change the oil, fight with the skid plate, finish the job and send me on my way.

So yesterday I pack up the family to head out to dinner and see a play at the local community playhouse. Get about a mile from home and all of a sudden we hear scraping/dragging, as if the muffler was dragging on the ground.

Get out to inspect and see the skid plate has come loose. Go over 30mph and the wind turbulence forces it to bend downward and scrape the ground. Call the folks we are meeting, inform them we will be late for dinner, and head home in a low speed crawl.

Swap cars and head back out. Get about a block past where the skid plate broke apart and we see one of the neighbors cows is loose. Great, already late for dinner. Now we have to find the neighbor and chase down a runaway cow. Eventually made it to dinner, and the community play.

So today I lift up the Touareg and take a look. 4 screws are missing, 2 little brackets are missing. The skid plate itself is not damaged badly enough to worry about, so that is good. Its just small parts. BUT I DON'T HAVE the correct small parts.

What to do? What to do? Duct tape? Nope, its greasy down there, no way to get tape to stick. Look around and find some washers and cotter pins. I fashioned a temporary fix by sort-of securing the skid plate. It will hold for a few days, maybe a few weeks. I'll be back at the oil change shop in the morning for them to make it right.

Anyone else have problems with shops like this?
 

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Don't use them at all. Too many horror stories. Only reason the Prius goes to the dealer is the damn plastic skid pan needs to come down. Other vehicles go to a local shop whose price is right and I can stand there and watch him do it while we shoot the bull. His price is cheap enough that I don't need to do it myself. I like to look my vehicles over under a lift when I get the chance.
 

Av8r3400

Gone Flyin'
Back when I knew the owner of the local quickie change place I would go there. Since I have also had bad experiences with my VWs and my Dodge Cummins. (Wrong oil, incorrectly changed - with the canister filter system on a VW you need to change the filter first then drain the pan because the dirty oil from the canister drains into the pan).

I now go to a little mechanic shop that gives me windshield business. They treat me right and I can reciprocate in kind.
 

BRGTold

Bronze Member
SUPER Site Supporter
Lots of bad story's from the quick lube down the road..Pan plugs stripped or falling out....been yrs since i've been to one..always came home a qt.low..:hammer:
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
When a person begins the climb up the ladder to be a "service tech", the lowest rung, and lowest paid, position is the grease monkey; the guy who changes your oil. He's least qualified and least paid. With the four lifts I have in my two barns, none of my vehicles have ever had any service work done except by me. I also document date, product, miles, and include receipts in the owner's manual.

When I bought my daughter a Mitsubishi Montero, I found it only had 1 bolt holding it's skid plate on when I went to change the oil. Off to the local hardware store to their metric isle to replace all missing hardware with stainless metric. I assumed since I saw an oil change sticker in the window that the quickie oil change place chump just got it to stay in place the last time he changed the oil. Law suits are difficult against them. They always argue that there is no way you can prove the bolts didn't vibrate loose. If a judge had any sense, they'd know that if the missing bolts were torqued to the proper specs, the odds of vibrating loose are actually about zero. And, yes, every nut and bolt on the vehicle has a factory specified torque setting.
 

mla2ofus

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
Nope, don't trust 'em. My nephews GF had hers changed at a quickie and they stripped the drain plug threads. Luckily they now make an oversize drain plug that fixes the problem. The quickies probably created this market for the plugs. IMO anytime someone is doing something against the clock that shoudn't be, you're just opening the door for Murphy.
Mike
 

tiredretired

The Old Salt
SUPER Site Supporter
Never would I trust them with my vehicles. What it done right? Do it yourself is my philosophy.
 

300 H and H

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Don't know anything about those places...Must be 50 miles or so to the nearest one from here.....

I buy engine oil 200 gals at a time.:wink::whistling:

Regards, Kirk
 

Rusty Shackleford

Automotive M.D.
SUPER Site Supporter
I know about those places. I've seen people have to replace their entire oil pan due to an overtightened/stripped out drain plug from Jiffy Lube and the like. Since I started driving, I'm the only person to ever change the oil on my cars. Yes it's cheaper to use the quick lubes and whatnot, but they keep it cheap by using shit filters and junk oil. I'd rather pay the extra money to get the good stuff and do it myself, knowing that everything is done the correct way. And surprise, surprise, no problems!
 

waybomb

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
Sometimes I use the quick lube places, but usually I open the oil filter housing, let the oil drain, and then use a topsider to suck the oil out of the pan through the dipstick tube. While its working, I prepare the new filter, tighten it all up.

Don't even get my hands dirty. No jacking up the car since the filter is up on top in front.

Love these cars! Turning 292,000 this week.
 
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