Has Oil Change Shop Ever Messed Up Your Car?

I see a lot of oil change shops, but wonder whether it's worth taking one. I've taken my car to the same place for many years and get reliable service and oil changes with no problems.

In looking up reviews for some of these places offering oil changes, I see a lot of horror stories. People go in with normal cars and simply ask for an oil change and come out with their car messed up.

Hard to tell if these are true stories or not, but I see so many horror stories that I wonder about it.

Jiffy Lube, for example, has lots of these bad service stories and warnings that there's a good chance your car will get messed up worse from bringing it in to have it worked on.

So does anyone have any knowledge of Jiffy Lube or advice on whether these shops are worthwhile?

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Yes there were stories on this site and V GOD about engine problems after Jiffy Lube performed oil changes so I would be apprehensive about doing them. That is not to say every one of them does bad work, I had mine done once at a very professional one. BUT... several other msc's have oil change shops elsewhere and they are all worthwhile- Intelli-Shop, mymsteryshop.com and bestmark.com( but only for American cars) and some others that I cannot recall for now. Check on jobslinger.com for them...

Shoptastic - I would approach your question this way, is it worth it to make $50-$75 on a oil change shop if there's a decent chance your car could get messed up ? Especially if you rely on your car. I understand that the money is important but can you make 10, 20, or 30 dollars doing a safer shop instead of the car shop? There are plenty of shops out there. Only you can answer that question. I know i like my car.

There are make specific oil change shops which are not just American made. I rely too heavily on my car to take a chance for a "free" or small fee oil change.

Years ago I regularly used cheap chains. That changed after going to a Midas with previous good experiences. This time they flunked my safety inspection for my license plates then told me a car worth $1,200 needed $2,000 worth of work. Needless to say, they were shocked when I told them it would be stupid of me to spend that much rather than put the $2,000 toward a new vehicle.

Now here's the real rub. I took the car somewhere else. It passed and no mention was made of all the leaks Midas claimed. It was then I realized they showed me pinkish power steering fluid on the floor of the garage where my car had been parked. Since I filled the fluid myself, it wasn't hard to check the bottle at home to find the fluid used was actually clear.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

@7star wrote:

Shoptastic - I would approach your question this way, is it worth it to make $50-$75 on a oil change shop if there's a decent chance your car could get messed up ? Especially if you rely on your car. I understand that the money is important but can you make 10, 20, or 30 dollars doing a safer shop instead of the car shop? There are plenty of shops out there. Only you can answer that question. I know i like my car.

Of course it's not worth it. I just needed to confirm my thoughts.

Thanks for doing that and making me feel sane.

Actually, I also wanted to get some opinions on these cheapo places too. It partially feels wrong to just automatically think of them as rip-off shops, because I don't want to unfairly label all the places like that if it's just a few bad apples. But I did see lots of bad reviews too. Then again, I've seen not so great reviews for places that I've had good experiences with too.

But I think Jiffy Lube had so many negatives that it was worrisome for me.

I guess I'll have to shell out $30 for an oil change at my regular place (I have a coupon).

@LisaSTL wrote:

There are make specific oil change shops which are not just American made. I rely too heavily on my car to take a chance for a "free" or small fee oil change.

Years ago I regularly used cheap chains. That changed after going to a Midas with previous good experiences. This time they flunked my safety inspection for my license plates then told me a car worth $1,200 needed $2,000 worth of work. Needless to say, they were shocked when I told them it would be stupid of me to spend that much rather than put the $2,000 toward a new vehicle.

Now here's the real rub. I took the car somewhere else. It passed and no mention was made of all the leaks Midas claimed. It was then I realized they showed me pinkish power steering fluid on the floor of the garage where my car had been parked. Since I filled the fluid myself, it wasn't hard to check the bottle at home to find the fluid used was actually clear.

My mom has so many stories like this. It's not even funny. It makes me really distrust home repair folks and car repair people.

One guy charged my mom $700 to fix something that cost $80 from another guy. It wasn't that the $80 guy missed something (which is always a possibility and why you have to be careful and get extra estimates, do your research, and/or have a trusted person tell you what's fair/unfair), but it was that the $700 guy was just trying to cheat her.

How do these people live with themselves? Instead of working smarter/harder, they cheat others. Sad and upsetting.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/2017 03:19AM by shoptastic.

When I was thinking of doing one, my husband said that it wasn't worth it... It's too risky. I honestly wouldn't even trust a dealership - we had taken our new Honda van in (back in 2007) for the first 3 oil changes at the dealership, thinking that would be safer. Then my husband got a friend to show him how to change the oil, and he said the oil was filthy, didn't look like it had been changed at all. :/

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/2017 03:52AM by aynur.

This post is hysterical! I had the very same dilemma this week. I had read the horror stories about Jiffy Lube before, but also didn't want to pay for a much needed oil change (warning light was on). I vacillated back and forth over the weekend, and even on Monday. This morning I took my car in where I always do and paid $32.00 for a change and tire rotation and most of all .... peace of mind. So happy to know I wasn't alone in my thoughts!

Shopping up and down the Colorado Rocky Mountain front range.

I love my car!

@COMystery wrote:

This post is hysterical! I had the very same dilemma this week. I had read the horror stories about Jiffy Lube before, but also didn't want to pay for a much needed oil change (warning light was on). I vacillated back and forth over the weekend, and even on Monday. This morning I took my car in where I always do and paid $32.00 for a change and tire rotation and most of all .... peace of mind. So happy to know I wasn't alone in my thoughts!

I watched these two undercover investigations and then concluded: OH, HELL NO!

[www.youtube.com] This was a covert investigation of Jiffy Lube that uncovered mechanics charging for repairs that were never done!

[www.youtube.com] This was an undercover investigation of Jiffy and EZ Lube showing how they recommend services that actually damage your car and the manufacturer doesn't recommend, but that they say the manufacturer does!

Granted the YouTube videos are a bit old, but they show things that I had feared.

They test multiple places and get pretty bad results.

NO THANKS!

I've been doing oil changes for mystery shops for almost 20 years. I've never had an issue.
YMMV

I would never dream of doing an oil change shop. I have my car serviced by one business and they have all my records. They never say I need things I don't. Oftentimes I might bring it in for a small noise and they have said the car was just fine. I had a light out and they replaced it for free and refused to take any money.

Buy this book from Amazon, etc., or get it from your public library: "What auto mechanics don't want you to know" and a majority of media outlets won't go after these thieving oil change chains and dealers because they are such major advertisers. Even if you have basic auto repair knowledge, they will still attempt to rob you. Most of their staff work on commissions...Castrol is the only chain they did not attempt any upsell to me.

I'll take the old car we use to run the dogs, but not the fussy European cars. Too many horror stories and anyway those oil chg shops never pay enough for synthetic.

I am not at all interested in car service shops. I checked reviews and thought back to previous personal experiences and that was all I needed to decide NEVER. I have used Toyota dealerships, Jiffy, and Pep Boys, and all were negative experiences. A client recommended a family owned place and I have been going there ever since with zero problems. They are fair, respectful, quick, and do good work. If anyone needs a recommendation for a place in Brooklyn, NY, close to Queens, I would be happy to share their name.

I prefer going to Jiffy Lube and others of that ilk because they are limited in what they can upsell since they don't do repairs. If I go to a dealership for an oil change, I leave with 4 pages of "emergency" repairs--"call us when you get home because we should not let you drive out of here with that car." Or, "sign our insurance waiver confirming that you refused the repairs we suggested." And if it's a shop for a dealership, they never ask questions that allow me to comment on this sort of behavior. They just want timings. Where are the narratives when you want them

I have had the exact opposite experience at the dealer servicing my car for the last seven years. If anything, they often let me know what can be put off. While I did not buy the car there, their motivation for taking care of me is to get me to purchase my next car from them. The service advisers were also aware of the way I traveled which would sometimes put some hard miles on the car. They always made sure I felt secure and safe.

Before buying my current car I had an older vehicle and would use it for a lot of brake shops. The wide disparities between the franchises, often on the same day, were downright frightening. If one said I needed new struts, the next would say the struts were fine but new brakes were needed all around. The one after might tell me the shocks were dangerously bad. It went on and on.

@LisaSTL wrote:

I have had the exact opposite experience at the dealer servicing my car for the last seven years. If anything, they often let me know what can be put off. While I did not buy the car there, their motivation for taking care of me is to get me to purchase my next car from them. The service advisers were also aware of the way I traveled which would sometimes put some hard miles on the car. They always made sure I felt secure and safe.

Before buying my current car I had an older vehicle and would use it for a lot of brake shops. The wide disparities between the franchises, often on the same day, were downright frightening. If one said I needed new struts, the next would say the struts were fine but new brakes were needed all around. The one after might tell me the shocks were dangerously bad. It went on and on.

I've not had any major problems with Honda's service center, which is where I go for my oil changes. But I did see some bad reviews for them as well.

I think the worst I've seen is still those small "discount" places like Jiffy Lube.

Maybe you get what you pay for? And, on average, the discount places are worse? I'd hate to stereotype or unfairly generalize like that, but it seems that way in a very broad sense.

If you have a relationship with an auto-maintenance place that you trust, then I'd say it's best to go there for everything. Cars are too valuable to have someone you don't trust mess it up.

All of that to say, I'm sticking with my Honda shop.

lol. No Jiffy or discount shops for me. I'm sure there's good ones out there, but the horror stories have scared me off and I'm not car-literate enough to know what's what.

@LisaSTL wrote:

I have had the exact opposite experience at the dealer servicing my car for the last seven years. If anything, they often let me know what can be put off. While I did not buy the car there, their motivation for taking care of me is to get me to purchase my next car from them. The service advisers were also aware of the way I traveled which would sometimes put some hard miles on the car. They always made sure I felt secure and safe.

Before buying my current car I had an older vehicle and would use it for a lot of brake shops. The wide disparities between the franchises, often on the same day, were downright frightening. If one said I needed new struts, the next would say the struts were fine but new brakes were needed all around. The one after might tell me the shocks were dangerously bad. It went on and on.

What make is your car?

I've never been picky about where I take my cars for oil changes. I've honestly never had any problems. Usually the shops I do for my vehicles are dealerships, and I make a pretty decent profit on them. I'm totally cool with a reimbursement plus $25-$30 fee on top. I've never done one at Jiffy Lube, and probably wouldn't. There's such an abundance of dealership shops nearby, why not go there? I've thought about doing the Midas brake check shops, but I have a mechanic that I frequent already for things like that.

I have a good relationship with an independent repair shop. It might cost a few dollars more to get oil changes done there, but that helps insure they're still around when I need more extensive work done.

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

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