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

I'm sure Jiffy Lube is not the only culprit...

 

**GASP**

I didn't think it was THAT bad...

wow... never ever ever going to anyplace but a trusted mechanic or my own garage.

Thanks for the video.

 

Wow. I will now and forever more ALWAYS change my own oil.

 

But is anyone actually surprised that the people who advertise a 10 minute oil change don't have the time to do any job completely or properly?

Do it yourself of find a trustworthy qualified mechanic or you are almost guaranteed to get screwed on most any auto repair.

Note: trustworthy qualified mechanic and MINI dealership service tech are not necessarily the same thing. My nearest MINI dealership has been as bad as those crooked Jiffy Lube shots and I wouldn't trust them to change the oil in my lawnmower.

 

More than you'll ever know. Something like this happened to me when I was 17. I just got my first car and had a local bmw tuner install some performance parts. A ported intake manifold and a later model exhaust manifold. I was into the car and started working at his shop. The short version is that I later found that the intake wasn't the ported version and the exhaust wasn't what he said it was either. Infact he replaced it with the same version. He actually did the work, but put the same type of manifold back in. He must have known that I would find out eventually as we were prepairing race cars of the same model and talking about me racing for the shop.

I lasted 6 months there, then 2 months at another shop. The second shop made the first look like a model shop. I decided not te be a mechanic after that. 10 years later I took another job as a mechanic. Now I am at a dealer. The dealer's work at a different level, but I have heard some stories.

Ultimately, I have not paid someone to work on my car since. I don't know if I ever will. Luckily I like doing it, but for those that don't or can't, I feel for you.

 

This happens quite often...

I often dont trust garages that dont let you in behind the scenes. I guess i am lucky my friend owns and runs a body and mechanic shop for me to do my own work...

 

Excellent point. Good/Fast/Cheap - pick two.

 

002, I've done a fair amount of work on my past cars, but I remain a bit intimidated with the moderness of the MINI. Plus, I no longer have a garage, which certainly complicates things...

I'll be seeking-out a qualified mechanic for a head install and tranny swap in the next couple of months. If this is something for which you have sufficient experience, and would be interested, please PM me.

Folks, I think we often get hosed on matters for which we lack knowledge or expertise. Having virtually rebuilt my home, I couldn't believe some of the BS my mom heard from contractors while I listened in another room. Probably trying to take advantage of her because she is woman, and that is retired (older)...

Knowledge is power! Sharing this link is just a small part...

Learn to do things yourself, and if you choose not to thereafter, at least you have some foundational knowledge to ask intelligent questions, and have an accurate BS meter .

 

Okay, I've got to say that I do all the work on our cars EXCEPT changing the fluids. Almost everytime I do it, I end up spilling oil all over the garage floor (okay so I'm a klutz!). So I take our vehicles to the local Jiffy Lube to have the oil changed. BUT......I always check the dip stick afterwords. It tells the whole story. The level on the dip stick should be to the FULL line and the oil should look clean. I bring them Mobil One and they give me a discount because of it. If they let me, I hang around and actually watch to make sure they're pouring the Mobil One in to the engine.

Yes, I could save money and do it myself, but I choose not to and over the last 7-10 years, I haven't been burned yet. But I've never had them do anything other than change the oil. I think that's the key to all of this.

--
Mitch & Sherry (waiting for our '06 MCS to be delivered in August '06)

 

All of my co cars (taurus, Grand prix, impala) have been taken to Jiffey Lube over the years because the lease co will cover at the national chains.

This year I have to take my new co explorer to the dealer for service, no Jiffy Lubes.
I wonder why

 

For the record, I worked for Goofy Lube (inside joke) about 20 years ago. At that time, everything was pretty much on the up and up. The service recommendations at that time were a little silly (corporate timetables as opposed to actual mfr. recommendations), but we did the work & we did it well.
2 cents - bodinski

 

I wish there was a more public consumer watchdog group *besides* the local news that would do more of this. The local news has their own bias for making money off sensational stories so I never feel I can trust them either

Prior to my Mini I used a different chain oil changing place and they always seemed to do a decent job. They never pushed extra services, they showed you the dipstick with fresh oil to the full mark and were inexpensive. But the car was a geo so I wouldn't have really cared if they replaced the oil with mustard to be honest. The mini wont be going to any of these chain places.

 

Oh the irony. I usually do all my own work, butv had a couple TSB issues so I dropped my MINI off at the stealership today.....

I left the Redline 5W30 in the fornt seat and they said they would use it.

Maybe this post is prophetic. I hope not.

 

Loved the part when the DM says that is his camrago, but they track down the real owner and tell him that that other guy claims that is his car. LoL Here in Florida that can get you SHOT ROTFLMAO

 

Wow. Can you say "not going anywhere except my garage and BMW?" lol

That blew my mind.

 

but really ruins it for the honest jiffy lube shop owners.

 

My MINI dealer wanted to charge 6 hours to install KONI FSD struts. I did it in 4 without the special tools (but had some good advice from this forum's members). I also changed my oil today.

 

I also do almost all work on my cars personally. Those few jobs that I either don't have the ability or enough free time to do myself, I take to a trusted independent. Too many horror stories with the chains.

One example I experienced was working on a girlfriend's car that had been to Jiffy Lube for it's previous service. The oil pan drain plug required a breaker bar to loosen - thank God I didn't strip it!

I also have a company vehicle that I am required to take for service - you guessed it to a chain shop. On the Jeep Cherokee I used to have assigned to me, I always had a hard time getting a complete oil and lube. Remarkably, the Jeep still had grease fittings (balljoints, tie-rod ends, etc). I'd always stand outside to watch what they did from the parking lot and invariably, they'd miss the grease fittings. One time, the mechanic refused to believe me that it had them, so I asked the manager to put the jeep back up and proceeded to point out each one. Took the mechanic almost 15 minutes to find the grease gun!

Another place broke a wheel lug off trying to tighten the lug nuts with an impact gun. The mechanic had the audacity to tell me that the wheel still had 4 lug nuts (on a 5 lug wheel) and that would be fine . Again I had to get the manager involved and they ended up replacing the stud. If I hadn't been watching, he would have put the hubcap back on and I would have never known I was missing the lug.

I know there are honest people that work at these places, but I'm not willing to take a chance to find them. As others have stated, if you can't do the work yourself, please find a trusted independent mechanic for your car.

 

Honest owners? It's the employees. "You get what you pay for" should be updated to "you definitly will not get what you don't for"

 

:impatient lol...

owners of franchies that hire and train honest staff are
getting hurt from this publicity. employees are their
responsibility.

 

I agree. I'm sure this type of stuff has gone on for the history of man, but to me it feels like there is less integrity and work ethic than ever.

On the other hand, when owners are willing to pay living wages they can expect more from thier workers. Don't get me wrong, if I accept a job for a low wage I still do my best.

 

Sure they'll use it. . . . in their own cars!

Unfortunately, unless you pour it yourself or watch it being poured, there will be no way to know

Well, I hope not. Check your receipt to make sure they charged you less since you brought in your own oil.

 

Very sobering stuff....

 

In the late 80's thru early 90's I worked as a service advisor. Three years at a Jeep/Eagle dealership and 2 years at Acura dealership. While I never knew of a customer being charged for a service that was intentionally not done, I considered preventative maintenance services over priced.

This is how both dealerships set pricing back then (my assumption is this is how pricing is still set at dealerships.)

Labor hours on all repairs were set by referencing a universally accepted manual. As I recall there were two different referance manual, Chiltons and another one I can't recall. If the manual said it should take 1 hour to perform a job, the shop charged 1 hour labor + parts, regardless of how long it actually took. The mechanic got paid for 1 hour (this is a simplfied version of how the mechanic got paid, there were other variables.) The manuals estimated repair hours were generally pretty close to actual repair time. Troubleshooting was a bit different. Initial charge was anywhere between .5 to 1.0 hours and that is what the mechanic would get paid. If, after the initial .5 or 1.0 hours had been used and the problem hadn't been discovered, the owner would be called and told further troubleshooting would be charged on a "real time" basis. Preventative maintenance time was set by the dealership and those hours were always longer than the actual time it took to perform a service. The ultimate "cha-ching" was a 30,000 mile service. At that time this meant doing everything, changing motor oil (.5 hrs), transmission fluid and filter (1.0), transfer case (4wd only at .7), differential (.5 each), A/C service (1.0), tune up 1.5), rotate and balance (1.0), alignment (1.0), and a couple other services (sorry memory isn't what it used to be.) Anyway, the whole thing could be done in 3 hours and the mechanic would get paid for 8. At the end of a mechanics 8 our day they would (and therefore the dealership would) could get paid anywhere from 4 hours to 20 hours. This is why dealers push PM and don't want to spend time diagnosing driveability complaints.

Hope this gives a little insite into how dealers service departments prioritize. Sorry if this was just rambling.

 

Let's say I work on a specific vehicle every day and I am doing an oil change. Joe over in the next stall takes 30 minutes to do an oil change and inspection on this vehicle. The job pays .5 hours. I take 15 minutes to do the very same oil change and inspection on the very same vehicle. Should I get paid less because I am faster and better?

It's not about what your mechanic does, it's about what they know. Everyone has to put food on the table but not everyone can have a nice and tidy office job. Busting your knuckles for a living isn't easy.

The dealership I take my vehicle to is perfectly honest and I would trust them for pretty much anything. I'm happy to pay the price to know it's being done correctly by competent individuals. I've seen far too many shops that have no business working on anything but a lawnmower, perhaps. It really scares me...