Oil change at jiffy lube question

these weren't no MOBIL1 filters, they were those cheap Chicoms they buy in bulk, I didn't really trust them so I peeked under the hood and saw the oil dirty/dusty filter with a white marker x on it I guess that's the code for rip this sucka off.

 

Maybe they put conventional oil in it that's why it's 3000 or maybe they did change it from conventional to synthetic which would piss me off and $113 jeez my dealer is like $70 or $80 .

 

Jiffy lube strikes again

 

If you can tell oil is 'bad' by looking at it you should open your own lab.

Actually short trips (I'm assuming it short by the way you say 'just') are harder on oil than long trips at a steady operating temp.

Wait till 10k, send a sample to Blackstone labs and they'll tell you how much life was left. So you'll know your best OCI in the future.

 

You can definitely look at oil and tell if it’s been ran for a while or not. But having it tested is definitely a solid idea. I know short trips are horrible for the car I meant we won’t be doing anything crazy. It’s the daily commuter and family car.

 

You got the hosed... hard. Odds are *if* you got synthetic (and I have no particular reason to say they're lying about that, but I also wouldn't put it past them) unless something special was requested or (maybe) called for, you got whatever bulk tank they can call "synthetic" that costs the $3/qt or less.

I deal with a locally owned group of them at work, and I generally like that group, they're good customers and relatively low maintenance, they just buy whatever we have on the shelf aside from oil, filters and brakes and don't bitch. But even they have me shaking my head sometimes when I watch them get in over their heads trying to fix something... and I also know that "the upsell" is the other half (besides cheap labor) of how you stay in business doing bargain basement oil changes and little else.

I can only imagine one owned by a less involved owner, or run by less scrupulous managers. I've heard the horror stories, and occasionally even seen some of the tamer ones from the relatively well-run group I deal with. At least I sometimes sell them drain plugs and oil pans... so they're not just putting rubber wing-nut plugs in everything they screw up.

 

Never ever go to Jiffy Lube! They added something other than brake fluid to my wife's car a long time ago and completely destroyed the entire brake system. Thank GOD I had a receipt showing they had added brake fluid. Boy that cost them a ton of cash.

 

Jiffy Lube is crap,if you want some major problems ,keep on going there.Do your own for 1/3 of what Jiffy charges.

 

What year is your wife's RAV4? My fiance drives a 2015 and there's a few heads up items I'll share if yalls is similar and you're going to DIY.

1. The oil filter housing is plastic and can become brittle due to it's location and constant heat.

2. Dealership and quick oil-change places like to over torque the canister and you can often break it when trying to remove it.

3. Make sure you get a *properly* fitting oil filter wrench to minimize this risk. You'll have to look at it for this to make sense, but the housing has maybe 14 flat spots around the circumference of the head as well as 3 grab tabs on either side. Both are mean to be surfaces to grab for undoing the housing. Make sure the tool you buy has a body that mates to both of these features and not just the tabs, the tabs break first.

4. If you need to, buy a new plastic oil filter housing from Toyota and start fresh (I think ours was $50, or $80). Don't be tempter to buy a nice aluminum one from NAPA to replace the less than ideal plastic. They don't seal (we went through 3) and while their $35 price and metal body is attractive, the genuine Toyota one is fine, so long as you treat it as it's meant to be treated.

5. Buy good OEM filters from Amazon, they're cheap and grab some oil and drain plug washers from them while you're at it. A good synthetic oil change with new oil, oil filter and drain plug washer is $40-45 each, even using genuine Toyota filters/washers.

6. When installing the oil filter housing after the oil change, DO NOT BE A MONKEY AND SUPER-DUPPER TORQUE the housing to the engine. The o-ring seal is on the inside edge of the housing and torquing the crap out if it will do nothing to ensure a seal. Snug it up and call it good. It won't leak and you won't have to break it getting it off next time. Most shops don't get this and over-torque it every-time, a nice game of Russian roulette when it comes time to take it off. I've simply "snugged" it up the last few oil changes and it has never leaked a drop.

I think that's about it, all the things I've learned specifically about DIYing the oil changes on my ladys RAV4. Very different setup than my Tacoma. My Tacoma is cake...that RAV4 gave me some headaches through the aforementioned learning curve.

Jake

 

Always

Always do oil changes every 3k miles. NEVER go over 5k miles on a Tacoma!!! Fuel injectors have a habit of leaking thinning the oil over time. $113 is ridiculous! Pennzoil Platinum is $20 and change for 5 qt bottle at Walmart. If you buy Toyota OEM filters by the case of 10 it costs about $60.

 

Do your own oil change. If you don't, Scratch an x in the filter to see if they changed it and make sure the oil is gold not black after.

 

I'm a disabled Vet so I can't do my own maintenance on my truck especially oil changes . I've brought my truck to either Jiffy lube and Valvoline oil change centers and never had an issue

I also stay with my truck inside the service bay and watch them perform the oil change and they don't mind at all . Just this last Thursday I had my oil changed at Jiffy lube and while it was there I had my tires rotated and also a fuel injection service done and no issues

Now not sure it's because I'm a Veteran and have Miltary decals on my truck and I always wear my USMC Veterans hat but again never had any problems

 

Thank you for your service

 

Dude Jiffy Lube started the whole 3k mile oil change BS back in the day. Somehow they apparently new more than every automobile manufacturer in existence. 5k on conventional and 10k with synthetic all day every day.

 

13+ Rav4 takes synthetic oil. Toyota recommends changing it every 10,000 miles. My local dealer usually has a coupon for $60 so I take our 2014 there.

 

Almost not even worth responding to this ridiculous post, but assuming someone will actually listen to this advice....

Do this....

Run your 1GR-FE for 3k miles, change the oil and keep it.

Run your 1GR-FE for 5k miles, change the oil and keep it.

Run your 1GR-FE for 10k miles, change the oil and keep it.

Do a simple visual, touch, strain, smell test on each sample. Your 1GR-FE suffers from the same issues as all of ours. The heat effect on the fuel injectors on cylinders 5 and 6. If you are stupid enough to try this, then send them to Blackstone for analysis.

Now, replace your engine.

 

When it comes to oil changes and other basic maintenance, you are pretty much fugged unless you do-it-yourself.

Dealer - Jiffy Lube...there is no difference. They both hire the same kind of people. ASE techs do not change oil.

If you cannot do the DIY thing, your best bet is an independently owned repair shop that's been around awhile.

In the end, people who change oil for a living are only concerned about how they are going to pay for their next Galaxy phone upgrade. Your vehicle is of no interest to them.

 

I will give my standard answer regarding oil threads.

I’ve been driving for 42 years, have owned more than 25 vehicles...I’ve NEVER had an engine fail by using an OEM filter and the cheapest oil I can find on sale. When using dino, I change every 5-6k miles, synthetic 8-10k miles.

I’m in sales, drive 50-60k miles annually, pretty much change my own oil every other month...thank God for my Fumoto valve but that’s a whole other subject that’s been debated on here...

Happy Easter TW!

 

I change my own oil and based upon Blackstone lab analysis go 12,500 miles between oil changes. Stay the hell away from jiffy lube

 

Here you go OP, this is worth a read:
https://www.cheatsheet.com/money-career/how-jiffy-lube-got-a-reputation-for-ripping-off-people.html/