Dear Jiffy Lube, Screw You

[PepperElf]

my worst suck ever... wasn't from an oil change, but a car inspection.

the place (firestone in virginia) scraped my NY State REGISTRATION stickers. I came back to complain and ... i may have been SCish but fuck... without those stickers my car can get towed! They tried to tell me the law says they have to scrape them and "end of story". I was able to get the ripped up stickers at least. (only saving grace was that I was due to re-register anyway, so even if they *hadn't* been stupid, i would have had to pay for new stickers)

After that... well first I never went back to firestone again. And whenever I got the car inspected, I checked ahead of time to make sure they weren't going to touch my Registration sticker. ... Oddly enough, every other company was like " They did what? That's illegal!"


hell... even Sears knew it was illegal to scrape a registration sticker... and they didn't even do inspections!

[draftermatt]

My friend's dad is a mechanic at a Buick dealership. He tells the story of a newer car that came in and needed a brand new engine (still under warranty).

The owners of the car had been taking it to Jiffy Lube who's techs would screw off the oil filter, put a new one on, top off the oil and send them on their way.

I could tell more stories from my friends who have worked there (like hearing "here's the certification tests, and here's the answers, be back in an hour" from the manager), but I won't.

[Jbball]

$70 tire rotation? Ultra-scam. It's as simple as the tech taking off your tires and putting them back on. Should never cost more than $10, if that even.

[Lil Bunny]

Pardon my ignorance, what are these inspection things some of you guys are talking about? Just curious here.

My Jiffy Lube is Firestone. They were close to where I lived so I kept going there like a moron. I finally got sick of the "OMG YOUR CAR IS GOING TO BLOW UP NOOWWWWW!!!!11!!!!" sales technique. Seriously, just had the radiator worked on, I highly doubt I need another flush. But oh my gosh if I don't do something soon I"ll be stuck on the side of the road and then what???eleventy?? Insert your choice of car part there... I wasn't even born at night so keep moving.

[Auto]

Jiffy Lube is more expensive but they work fast. Which for many customers matters as they don't want a cheap oil change to take all morning.

Sears may be cheaper but they may take bigger jobs first and get around to oil changes when they don't have other jobs. My dealer's that way. I get free oil changes at the dealership but they're never in any rush to get started. So coming in for my free oil change means I forget about driving that day.

That's the trade-off in America -- you can have time or you can have money but you can't have both.

[Chromatix]

There's a general principle you could apply here: Good, Cheap, Fast - pick two.

The trick is that if what you're using doesn't satisfy at least two of those criteria, it's time to find one that does. If your Jiffy Lube is charging a lot to be fast, but isn't doing the job properly, then that isn't worth it.

But you'll be very lucky to find a place that satisfies all three, so if it's not satisfying the two criteria that are most important to you, then it's also time to shop around.

[Automan Empire]

Gaaaah! I'm IN this business, so this is close to home for me.

The car is the second most expensive posession most people have. We rely upon them for our daily lives, and they are complex machines that can be royally screwed up in the wrong hands.

Knowing this, WHY, oh WHY would anyone take their car to a shop that is a synonym for FAST or CHEAP?

Iffy-lube ONLY does work that takes 5 minutes and is very profitable. They are selling CONVENIENCE, not quality auto maintenance. These are franchised chain stores that are owned by people who are BUSINESSMEN, not MECHANICS. They hire "techs" near minimum wage then train them to do the simplest thing on a car. They sell cheap oil and DIRT-cheap filters that often have manufacturing defects. They reel you in with convenience, then HOSE you on add-on jobs with price points under $100 and completion whille you wait. The profit is enormous, while the value to the car driver is dubious at best.

Now, Sears. How many times do auto repair bureaus and attorneys general have to close and fine those places for people to stop bringing their cars there? The oil change is a loss leader- it costs me more than this to offer an oil change. Free rotations? Do you think that they're doing it out of the goodness of their hearts? NO! It is a ruse to get you in there every few thousand miles to try to sell you brakes and other stuff. It is well known in this industry that a customer is 150% more likely to say YES to a brake job if they have one of your brake pads in their hand. Once they've reeled you in with the cheap oil change, thinking this means all their services are cheap, then they hit you with very expensive other recommendations, which people often go for. They aren't to great at fixing cars, but they can play a customer like a stratavarius. I really hate seeing a car where someone spent $600 replacing things that almost never go bad. But, as P.T. Barnum sorta said, there is a new generation of drivers that have not yet been screwed over by a chain auto place, born every minute.

Don't choose a mechanic based on how fast they can get to your car. You are selecting the mechanics that have no other customers. Ponder WHY, sometime.

Google <shop name> wrecked my engine. Before you finish reading, you'll have a new perspective.

[wraiths_crono]

I would have to agree with: Automan Empire completely, speed in repairs is usually not a good thing, things are over looked IE Walmart for an oil change, ETA 10 min since it was not too busy, oil was changed, I paid and drove away only to have the car die about 10 miles away from the store. Had the car towed to the shop where I worked at, and found (dramatic drum roll please) the oil plug missing. Called walmart, they had it still sitting on the work area, and were in the process of cleaning up 8 quarts of oil from the change station.

[protege]

Pardon my ignorance, what are these inspection things some of you guys are talking about? Just curious here.

Some states require annual safety inspections. Some counties also make you get an emissions test as well. I happen to live in an area that requires both. In fact, Pennsylvania's inspection laws...are why I no longer have the Mazda. After having it fail once on a technicality, and spending a few hundred dollars to get it fixed...and having it fail *again* the car had to go. My feeling was, why put up with it? Trade it in, and let some other sucker fix it

Still though, our inspection laws help keep the shitboxes off the roads. You don't see as many junkers on the roads as you used to.

I should mention that my Corolla is subject to a much stricter safety test than my MG is. Mainly because the MG is registered as a 'classic,' and hit with an annual mileage limit of 3,000. As such, the test on that car is to 1970-year standards...rather than the stricter test we have now. Also, because it was built in '69, it's exempt from the 1970 Clean Air Act and subsequent emissions requirements. (Of course the 'classic' registration would make it exempt anyway...because the cut-off is 1973, IIRC)

[Chromatix]

Most European countries have the inspection test as well. In Britain it's called "the MOT", after the Ministry Of Transport which introduced the test. IIRC, cars under 3 years old are exempt from it, but then it must be renewed every year. An emissions test is part of it.

It's simply to make sure that cars that are completely unsafe are removed from the road in a timely fashion. The car has to be in pretty good mechanical order in order to pass, and all the indicator lights have to work correctly. Of course you will still be pulled off the road if a policeman finds your car is unsafe, but they normally work to a looser standard - it has to be pretty bad.

There was an incident in Britain recently where some guy with his entire family in his Land Rover ended up in a river. Half the kids drowned. It later turned out that he'd modified the vehicle quite heavily, and it had some dangerous defects - one of which probably caused the accident. But it had supposedly passed an MOT not long beforehand, and that defect had been missed. I'm not sure what they're going to do about the inspection place...

[Greenday]

Some states require annual safety inspections. Some counties also make you get an emissions test as well. I happen to live in an area that requires both.

Emissions is part of the safety inspection in NJ. All in one test. But we have it where you only get inspected once every two years. Makes line MUCH shorter.

[blas]

I am so glad there aren't inspections here. As it is, my speedometer or any of the guages rarely work, my left tail light is duct taped in, and I don't even want to go into the rest of what is wrong with Little Blue Boy....

[protege]

I'm not sure what they're going to do about the inspection place...

There are some places like that still operating here. The one I know of, where my father used to take his cars, would pass plenty of vehicles that should *not* be operating. Our '79 Volvo sedan was one of them. Why? Well, after 200,000 miles, it was truly falling apart. There were holes in the floor, holes in the fender, the driver's door wouldn't open from the outside, lights didn't work, etc. Oh, and there was a huge crack in the middle of the windshield--that would have been enough for an instant failure. Yet, that heap passed

Of course that shop got nailed on less than a year later. Turns out, the state DOT organized a sting in which junkers were sent to the shop with known defects. All of them passed. Last I heard the shop not only got hit with a huge fine, but they were also busted for selling *fake* inspection stickers. Talk about stupid...

[Chromatix]

Yes, I think they do "stings" over here as well. It's a common and effective investigative technique.

I don't know under what circumstances they do them, though - whether they investigate randomly, follow up on public concerns, or a combination of the two.

[wraiths_crono]

in AZ, we have emissions testing, if your car is 1995 or older you take it, they put it on rollers, and run a drive in the mountains (0-60 speeds quickly, then sustained 60-75mph) if your car is newer they turn it off, plug in a computer, turn the engine over once, and then send you on your way kicker: both for the same inspection price! gah (hmm tags due in January.. blarg!)