Thread: Jiffy Lube...is your mechanic ripping you off?

Found this on another site...

http://www.nbc4.tv/video/9152183/detail.html

You will see a commercial first.

I hope I entered this in the right place.

They're not likely to get me.
I know a lady that has bought enough air filters to improve gas mileage that her car ought to make gasoline now. Her new car needed the power steering oil changed because it was the "wrong color." However, nothing can be told by the color. Now it's the color Jiffy Lube uses instead of the color the manufacturer uses, but the steering is noisy now. I gave up on her.

Jiffy Lube has been doing my oil changes for a number of years now and they have never once tried to rip me off.

Isn't Jiffy Lube owned by Dick Van Patten, or did he sell?

I have no idea. All I know is that when I started taking my car there they were the only game in town and I never had any complaints with them so I kept taking my car there. The people are polite, they speak English and they don't act like they don't want my business. It is a rare thing in El Paso, TX for a gringo to be treated courteously most days.

I only take my car there for the oil change and I watch them like a hawk and make sure they drain the old oil and change the filter. Of course they always have a "special" that they try and sell me because my transmission oil is the "wrong color" or I have x amount of miles on the car and the dealer suggests this or that. If my air filter needs changed I tell them thank you and I buy one at Target and change it myself. I decline any other repairs they suggest and let them know I have my own mechanic for the repairs that need done on the car. I don't trust these guys as far as I can throw 'em doing anything else but chang the oil. I figure it's easier to have them change the oil than to drag the car out to my mechanic every 3000 miles and have to leave it with him overnight.

On my vehicles that are out of warranty, I do my own maintenance. Oil and filter changes, changing and gapping the spark plugs, adjustment of valve lash. For chassis lubrication and more involved stuff I use a local trustworthy mechanic. Vehicles in warranty go to the dealer for that stuff. My only contact with Jiffy-Lube is when I walk across their parking lot on my way to work.

I do all my own work but then I have been a mechanic for thirty years.
I am lucky that I have my step son to help with the heavy work that I can no longer do.
There are a lot of bad mechanics and rip off joints out there and just because you take your car to a dealership does not mean you are getting the best service, I have seen some of the worst rip off mechanics there as well as some of the best.
I think your best bet is to find a local mechanic you can trust and will be there when you need him.
Find one that will talk to you and explain the what and why things need to be done even if you do not understand all of it, if they are not willing to talk to you go some place else.

iansmom, they offer me their "specials" too but they are never pushy or ugly about it.

last time I had work done at a dealership, it cost me an arm and a leg and I honestly thought I was going to have to take out a loan to get a simple repair done. I had a Pontiac at the time and they made all sorts of excuses about how hard it is to get to the part. Funny, the local mechanic didn't have any major problems and they gave me a quote of almost a hundred bucks higher on a non-emergency repair than the local guy did.

Jiffy Lube only does my oil changes and my annual safety inspection, actually. If I have car troubles, I see a mechanic. And, of course when our vehicles are new and under warranty we go to the dealership for the scheduled maintenence so they won't have any excuse to deny our warranty if the issue ever arises.