Wednesday, June 17, 2009

A simple oil change and $100 dollars later...

Yesterday I took my car in to get an oil change. I usually go to Shell, near my house, but I decided I was going to go to Jiffy Lube. 1. It was near my work and I could go on my lunch break and 2. I got a coupon in the mail for $10 off my oil change. So I went to Jiffy Lube, pull up to the bay and ask the guy how long it would take, he replies, "not very long" So I get out of the car and he asks me what kind of oil I would like. I ask if she has synthetic oil (Jeremy suggested that I get it for my car) and he replies, "yes we do". Then he proceeds to point to my windshield wipers. So, about those, they needed to be replaced, really bad...so bad to the point that the rubber was coming off the wipers. I KNOW! Dangerous. So the nice Jiffy Lube gentlemen proceeds to tell me that they are buy 1 get 1 free, so basically 2 for $20, and they are guarenteed. I tell him to go ahead and replace them, as that is one less thing I have to do. He then shows me to the waiting area and there are 2 other people waiting at this time. One of the guys checks out and leaves, the other one is waiting. After a few minutes another lady joins us. Well I know her from the yarn store, so we start conversing. A few minutes later the nice Jiffy Lube gentlemen (JLG) comes in and calls the gentlemen in the waiting room up to the counter. He starts off with "These are our recommendations for your car....." He tells him about the air filter, and about 5 other things. I'm sure the grand total would have been about $1000 or more if the guy had all that done. So....he sits back down and the JLG leaves. All of us in the waiting room proceed to talk about all these crazy recommendations and how they probably make a ton of money off people with all of their "recommendations" Well that guy leaves and it's my turn to be in the "principals office" My recommendations include: air filter (told him NO), coolant was about 2 quarts low (told him OK) transmission flush (told him NO) and clutch service (which I already know, as my clutch needs to be replaced) So with that being said, I was getting an oil change, windshield wipers and 2 quars of coolant. He leaves and comes back after my car is done and tells me all he did and that I can come back any time and have my fluids topped off for no additional charge, no questions asked, etc. I say OK and tell him about my $10 off coupon and he shows my my total $101.00......YES $100 for an oil change! My mouth drops and I asked him to show me the breakdown of the costs. Well he starts with the synthetic oil - it was $79.99 for synthetic. I knew it would be expensive, but I didn't think it would be that expensive. SO.....note to self...ask the price of synthetic oil prior to saying that is what you want!

3 comments:

  1. They had better had FREE doughnuts and coffee for you!

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  2. Why do you use synthetic oil in the first place? What kind of vehicle do you drive?

    Uncle Mark

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