Valvoline Instant Oil Change told me my cheapest option was $68.99. Were they trying to rip me off?

My local Toyota dealership charges $89.95 for a full-synthetic oil change. Then add on the two hour wait.

 

On MY personal vehicle, I’ll admit - he wasn’t very motivated AT ALL - probably due to the high temps we had recently. His garage was sweltering. Luckily, I was able to convince him to do everything, including the zerks and a pulley change with a couple of ice cold beers. That ingrate asked for more but I told him NO, and that he should wait till he got done.

All told it only cost me ZERO money in labor.

I’m an advocate for servicing your own vehicle, and being informed regarding the full scope of services provided if/when you use a mechanic.

Like almost ANY service industry, Mechanic labor rates are a convenience fee, and as you’ve admitted, the entire oil change service industry has been built on chronically under-servicing vehicles.

More to your question -

I provide my employees with fleet vehicles, and They have FREQUENTLY come back from Maintenance services without basic fluids topped up. If our agreement says you’ll fill up the wiper fluid amongst other things And it comes back empty - I know for damn sure you didn’t Bother with much else either.

I’ve used several shops, and I typically get a small discount for volume, a typical service From my current provider is $130 and change, and should include (per contract) oil, filter, Air filter (all my trucks work off-road 90% of the time) Tire rotation, and multi-point inspection including fluid top off.

Over the last 10 years I’ve had to switch shops 4 times, and unfortunately, I’ve had to insist that my staff inspect the vehicle prior to leaving the shop to ensure BASIC Things were done.

It’s one of the THE most frustrating aspects of my job. If mechanics were as good as they all say they are, their collective industry’s reputation wouldn’t be one step below lawyers.

 

What time of day did you go for a 2 hour wait, I've had customers wait three hours cause they come in saturday morning just like the 10 plus other people in line in front of them who have to be seen first, stop going at lunch time, at one hour before close, on saturday till after 12, not our fault everybody wants to come in for a oil change, new tires, tire repair, no start, at the same time when all these dumb motherfuckers want to wait for their car to be done. Then they start bitching about the wait when no one held a gun to their head and make them wait.

 

i didn't understand the first part..

assuming these are midsize/full size trucks, I'd probably be charging around 200-250$ for the same service including the itemized inspection.

Unfortunately, even though their price of $130 seems fair to you, I'd be willing to bet those mechanics are under pressure to go faster.. and things get forgotten or skipped over.

Im just sayin, thats a lot of parts and labor to be packed into that $130 number. This shop agreeing to do that much work for that price says alot about their business model and how they treat their techs.

That being said, I do not have a fleet of vehicles to look after. I can understand the frustration of trying to pencil out all that stuff and keep track of things

 

full disclosure (I double checked) it’s 139 before tax and that doesn’t include the parts cost for the air filter change if required (which isn’t always needed).

First part was I do my own maintenance on personal vehicles so there is no “labor”.


It’s a tiny fleet, and I do what I can to keep my folks working and safe. I understand what you are saying, and I have paid much more than my current rate at other shops.

I’ll pay whatever reasonable price it takes to get consistency, because fixing vehicles ISNT my business. Where that consistency comes from is irrelevant to me as a consumer.

 

Agree especially with the checking the boxes part, in largesse. I went through some crap with Jiffy Lube several years ago and noticed they upcharged me for a 4x4 diff fluid check. I own a 2 wheel drive so clearly that's not possible. Upon calling the owner he found out they'd been slipping the 4x4 upcharge past me the past few times. As I said in addition, if they are saying they did something it's impossible to do then I question if they did the other things that could be done. Don't say you did it if you really didn't, at least there's honesty.

Fortunately the owner took care of the overcharges plus a free oil change the next time I needed one, but I stopped using that particular location. My wife went there once and mentioned it looked like a new crew so that perhaps tells something..

 

Im very clear with people about i will and will not check for a basic inspection.

Its about liability. Most of these new transmissions are sealed up with no dipstick. If a tranny craps out 2 days after it leaves my shop you're going to want to know if i checked the fluid or not. I'm not signing off on anything unless given the time to properly inspect it

 

Exactly, and I've no issue with you or anyone in any profession not doing that for any reason whatsoever if it's not checked off, stated, or (especially) charged for

 

That's how long I wait each time- with an appointment.

 

Appointments dont matter, all that means is that we agree to take your vehicle in to complete work on it at this date and time. It doesn't mean that the mechanic will start working on it at that time, work orders go out in the general order they are written up, exception of that is waiters are dealt with before non waiters 90% of the time.