Oil change/fiascos

210delray

I had one of those Fumoto valves in the 80s when I had my '77 Impala V8. It was made of brass and worked quite well. You did have to get under the car. The only downside is that draining takes longer. Also, I thought the company went out of business, and I sold the Chevy in 1989.

Fumoto didn't make one large enough to fit the drain hole of the Volvo 240 I also had at the time (and kept until 2003).

jipster

Do they have those to siphon out transmission fluid?

shipo

Not exactly. The suction tubes are rather small in diameter so that they'll fit down the engine dipstick tube, that said, they also work very well at sucking transmission fluid out of an auto tranny with one of those large diameter tubes.

Best Regards,
Shipo

1racefan

Let me preface this (long post) by saying I really appreciate a good dealership service department. I have one dealership that I use for 2 of my cars, and they do a great job, and go above and beyond. At Christmas, I even give the service manager that I deal with a gift certificate to a local restaurant. Let me also say that I understand mistakes happen. However, I have run into an issue with a dealer that we take our 3rd car to, and would like some advice as to what I should do if anything....

The 3rd car is a Honda Element that is under warranty, so it gets service at a different dealership than the one referenced above. It doesn't get driven much (6,000 miles per year), so I typically get the oil changed in December, and June (every 6 months). We bought it at a Honda dealership that is half way between our house and work. They weren't the cheapest, but we wanted to buy it there, and intended to take it there for all of the service, because they are convenient. We have had the car for a year and a half, and here's what we have experienced...

At the June oil change, I get the car home that evening, pull it out of the garage the next morning, and have about half a quart of oil (new) on the garage floor. I crawled under there, and everything was tight, but there was a mess. I took it back to the dealership, and they spoke with the tech. Apparently the tech set the oil filler into the filler hole, and walked away. It popped out, and he didn't realize it, and about 4 quarts of oil ran down the back of the engine. Well, the tech wiped down the valve cover, put the right amound of oil in the engine (thank God) and that was all - didn't wipe down anything underneath, nor did he give me a heads up that there was oil that would be dripping. When I took it back, they did then wipe it down really well, handed me a free keychain for my troubles, and sent me on my way.

Well, last week I went back for the December oil change. The next morning, I had several oil spots on the garage floor, so I crawled back under there. Ther's oil on the CV boots and oil on all the front cross members. Not as much as back in June, but a good bit. On top of that, there is apparently an aluminum channel that has magnets on it, that the tech hooks to where the oil filer goes, and channels the oil from it, down out the bottom of the car - it is about 12 inches long. Well, it was still under the car, although it had slipped out of place a little, and was hanging out the bottom of the car. I drove back to the Honda dealer, and had them clean up the mess again, and handed the service writer his drain channel back. He apologized and handed me a free coupon for an oil change.

My question is what would you guys do? Write a note to the GM? Just forget about it? The other Honda dealership is way out of my way, so I would like to take it to these guys for stuff. Let me also say that I don't want to do oil changes myself, so that is out. Any suggestions as to what I should do - if anything?

chuckhoy

Aside from being very wary of the service you get (I would check oil levels every day for a week after the service) you can either go someplace else or enjoy the freebies. That and the feling of dread every time you go there.

1racefan

Yeah, I am thinking that even with the inconvenience, I should just go to another Honda dealer.

blufz1

O.K. get the next free oil change.....Then never let that dealer touch your car again!!!

1racefan

Is it worth a letter to the GM?

blufz1

The letter might get you another free oil change or a free service. I would not let them do any major work on the car. Just my .02.

blooski

I do not think many people landed in the situation that I am in right now. I bought a new Infinity FX35 5 months back, nice car, enjoying and loving it.
I took it for my first Oil change last Monday to the Dealer. The dealer said they changed the oil, washed my car and happily drove home.
My place is about 40 miles from the dealer, while driving I thought I noticed the "Low Engine oil pressure", kind of ignored. Then reached home and while putting it in the garage noticed it again.
Called the service guy at the dealer who said, may be we forget to set the computer, should not be a problem, bring it I will take a look at it.
Next day when I started the engine I kept hearing this loud noise, then I was worried and drove it to another Infiniti dealer that is nearby place.
Those guys looked at the oil level and were stunned to find out that there was no oil. I explained them the whole story, they said probably the tech. FORGOT to put the ENGINE OIL after he drained it.
Then I called my dealer and got my car towed it over there. They all seemed like they understood. They put the engine oil, did a thorough check and now they are trying to CONVINCE me that there are no problems with the engine.
I was telling them that I DO NOT WANT that car any more because it may give me problems in the future.
What are my OPTIONS here? Do I have any grounds to demand a new car but not pay any more money? They are trying to sell me a new car but I have to pay more money for their MISTAKE.
WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?

Appreciate any suggestions
:mad:

okko1

i know what i would do. contact corp. and tell them of my concerns. the dealership will not resolve this issue. as for your your car loan if you have one you are still obligated to pay your payments regardless of the condition of the car. also here we have some local news stations that just love stories like this. :lemon:

blufz1

Call your lawyers.

shipo

Well, like it or don't, it's your car and you are obligated to pay for it. That said, you shouldn't be held accountable for their screw up. Long story short, their responsibility is to make you whole, and by that I mean they need to buy you a new engine. I say "new engine" (i.e. long block) as opposed to a short block because there is a good possibility that the valve guides and valve train has been compromised as well.

Let us know how you make out.

Best Regards,
Shipo

burdawg

"while driving I thought I noticed the "Low Engine oil pressure", kind of ignored" Well, I hope you kept this to yourself, because this was a big error on your part. Are you sure it wasn't a low OIL LEVEL indicator?
For their part, if the oil wasn't refilled then they're certainly liable for the error. It's possible that after the oil change there was a leak that allowed the oil to run out as you drove. That may be a more viable explanantion since if no oil was in the engine the low oil pressure light would have been on all the time, and it's doubtful you would have been able to go as far as you did without some major failure (but is possible, however).
I would take others advice here and contact Infinity first to try and get some satisfaction from them. If that doesn't work then you can try getting your own legal counsel, but that's going to be a long process most likely.
For future reference, if you ever see a "low oil pressure" indicator (or high temp, for that matter), on anything, stop immediately and find out why.
Good Luck

isellhondas

Definatly worth a letter to the GM.

Any shop can mess up, but twice? I would expect this from a quickie lube shop but not a DEALER!!

That is just WRONG and the GM needs to know what is happening in his shop. Leaving the drain tray under there really takes the cake!

isellhondas

By all means, STOP THE CAR if you get an oil light on!!

If the owner heard "loud noises" that isn't good. It would seem that at least some damage has been done.

I would arrange a sitdown meeting with the GM and the Service Manager.

jdanbowman

I have a 2003 Tahoe. I have the oil changed and lube every 3000 miles. However, I have tried numerous fast oil and lube companies and have found a consistent problem. They almost never lube my car even though I am paying for it. I have challenged the technician (and I use this term loosely) and get the response that the boots are full and that if they pump more grease into them it will likely burst the boot. Is this just a line to cover up the fact that they didn't do what I paid for?

If this is true, how can I tell by inspection if the joints can accept more grease without bursting the boot? If I can't get what I pay for, I will do it myself but I don't want to cause damage. In the old days, we just pumped grease into the fittings until we could see the old grease coming out.

Any advice on how to properly lube my car would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Dan Bowman

burdawg

You don't need a chassis lube every 3,000 miles, except in extreme cases like heavy off road use. For normal use, something like 12,000 mile intervals is good. If your using a hand grease gun usually one or maybe two pumps is enough. If you keep pumping until the grease runs out all over you just making a mess and running the chance of damaging the boot (which in my experience doesn't happen often).

chetj

i always check my oil after it is changed, immediately after they do it... i never expect them to do actually do it right...my friend changes it now at his cushy boiler room job and i check the oil when i get home...anyways people make mistakes ( me included) or if you are a lube tech you see 25 cars a day and you might get cavalier about it or just not give a ---- so the owner really has to be vigilant...oil is cheap, engines are not especially in a infiniti...i would piss and moan till they put a new engine in...it may be worth hiring a lawyer..they really should do something

isellhondas

A lube job every 3000 miles is overkill, big time!

Does that Tahoe even have zerk fittings? If so, it doesn't take much at all to give them what little grease they need.

Not like the old days.

jdanbowman

Thanks to all for your responses. I do recognize that 3000 miles is an overkill. I appreciate your confirmation that the boots are not likely to burst. It just grates me a little to pay for the lube job and am not getting it. I just wanted to make sure that if I did insist that they grease it, it would not burst the boot.

Yes the Tahoe does have zerk fittings. I believe there are seven or eight of them (I forget as I have not greased it in a while). I am at that point in my life where I depend on others so I don't have to crawl under my car. I guess if I can't get the quick lube guys to grease it, I will have to crawl back under.

Thanks,
Dan Bowman

jipster

... but does any car repair facility ever actually do the work they claim? I took my car in for a simple oil change today at the dealership. They are suppose to include a simple 15 point inspection. I told them brake level looked low and I probably needed new wipers, but to check them. I get the car back, brakes look fine they say. No mention of wipers. They say the belts are all fine. A year earlier they said I needed my serpintene belt replaced.

Now, the blades are absolutely shot. If they would have given me a price within reason I would have gone ahead and bought them. I'll be going to autozone now.

They did test my battery though. So, that was a positive. Cold cranking 107 when it should be 170( I think that's what he said). The battery has struggled a bit in the mornings so it probably does need to be replaced. They offered a 7 year GM battery for $170. No thanks. The battery I had for only 2 1/2 years I was planning on taking back to the garage that put it in... but couldn't find the receipt. It was a cheap ole interstate battery... I guess I probably would have gotten something back prorated.

roadburner

... but does any car repair facility ever actually do the work they claim? I took my car in for a simple oil change today at the dealership.

I have a friend who intentionally set all four tires to different pressures and let the air out of the spare right before he took it to his VA BMW dealer for a scheduled service. Checking the pressure in all five tires was supposedly included. When the car was returned, he grabbed the service manager and showed him the tire pressures- none of which had been corrected- including the spare.
Having said all that, I have been extremely pleased with the BMW(Swope in Louisville) and Mazda(Kings in Cinci) dealers that I use. In both cases my service advisors are knowledgeable and pleasant to deal with.

jipster

have been extremely pleased with the BMW(Swope in Louisville) and

Is that in the Swope Supercenter on Hurstborne Lane? If so that is right next to the Swope Buick GMC Center that I go to.

I suppose it's a good sign that I went in asking them to check my brakes and they didn't try to sell me something I didn't need.

roadburner

Is that in the Swope Supercenter on Hurstborne Lane? If so that is right next to the Swope Buick GMC Center that I go to.

That's the one; Swope BMW has never tried to sell me something I didn't need. Once when I had the ti in for a coolant and brake fluid change a service advisor mentioned that I would need new tires pretty soon(which I knew), but he didn't try to pressure me into buying tires that day, or at all for that matter.

coldcranker

No engine oil. Amazing story. I don't know how you could drive 40 miles with no engine oil. There must have been a quart or two (just enough to splash up to the oil pump pickup once in a while). Also, you would have noticed the low-oil-pressure light on more frequently if there was absolutely no oil in there. Regardless, the engine was damaged, no doubt. Without constant oil pressure, internal metal parts begin to disintegrate slowly, so you might have put on 200,000 miles worth of wear on the internal parts. Any expert ASE-certified, experienced mechanic would testify to this, in court if necessary. You deserve a new complete engine, valve-train and all.

larryg4

i got a 08 chevy equinox with a 3.4l v6 anyone out there know the wrench size of the oil pan drain plug so i can do my own oil changes?

burdawg

Late model 3.4L are 13mm, but it shouldn't be very hard to figure out if it's different.

deminin

We have a 2006 Impala LTZ which has an "Oil Life" monitor...which tells me how soon I need to change the oil/filter. I'm not too sure how it works...probably some sort of Light/Sensor, which measures the clarity of the oil as it passes the sensor. I'm kind of old fashioned, and change the oil/filter every 3,000 miles, anyway. Over the past 2.5 years, I've tried Wix, Napa, Fram and WalMart filters. I notice that with the Wix, Napa, and WalMart filters, at about 3.000 miles, the sensor says I have between 60 and 65% of the oil life remaining. With the Fram, the number is usually around 50%. Also, I notice that when I remove the old filter, the W-W-N filters seem to be "heavier" than the Fram. The combination of the oil sensor, and the "weight" of the old filter tells me that the WalMart, Wix, and Napa filters are probably removing more dirt from the oil than the Fram does. Based upon my experiences, I have quit using Fram, and may just go with the WalMart, since they are only about $2.50. I'm not sure who makes these filters, but they seem to perform just as well as the $8 Wix...and certainly far better than the $5 Fram.

shipo

I think we need to clear up a few misconceptions.

1) Your Oil Life Monitor (OLM) does NOT in any way look at your oil. The system is programmed to assume your oil is in a certain condition based upon pre-programmed metrics that in turn were based upon hundreds of thousands of miles of empirical observations (metrics such as how much fuel was consumed, the number of engine revolutions, and the number of cold starts since the OLM was last reset). Said another way, you could use rot-gut oil and an empty filter can and get the exact same OLM recommendations as you would with Mobil 1 oil and a pricey Mobil 1 filter.

2) Determining filter effectiveness based upon weight is an exceedingly poor and error ridden methodology, and as such, is not a definitive measure at all.

3) While Fram filters have shown up in study after study as being of less quality at any given price point (compared to the competition), that isn't to say that it isn't doing its job after an exceedingly short Oil Change Interval (OCI) of only 3,000 miles. In fact, with an OCI that short, I'd venture to say that any filter (or no filter at all) would be just as effective.

4) Please understand that I'm not defending Fram filters, I wouldn't use one on my cars if you paid me to do so.

Best Regards,
Shipo

isellhondas

If anyone ever saw a Fram filter cut in half, compared to a quality filter, they would never use one.

But, Fram is perfectly capable of making high quality oil filters too and they do to match the specs of the companies who buy them and private brand them.

The off the shelf, discount store orange ones are made to compete price wise.

goodgradesnow

I recommend that you put synthetic oil in your car it may be a little more expensive but it will do better then regular oil for your car.

shipo

Uhhh, you do realize that you're responding to a post that is nearly five years old, don't you? :confuse:

finzz

LOL... well, it's still good advice!

the_big_al

more than likely it is an scardey cat amatuer that doesn't know his oil filter from his drain plug. How can an oil pan rust??? Highly doubtful. Plus I think on a '95 Aerostar, the oil pan is aluminum anyway and definately can't rust out.

The one thing I would say is what several have already said. Take it to a reputable shop and have them look at it. If it were mine, I would crawl under there myself and see what they were talking about and see if it were something that I could do and fix. But I am DIY so I wouldn't be scared to do so... so unless you are also a DIY, take it to a reputable shop.

the_big_al

and the good thing (or bad, depending on how you want to look at it) is that most quickie lube places shouldn't or won't touch it after that. Meaning that, a) you have a competent shop change the oil. It might cost a little bit more, but at leat it'll be done right. Or b), you now change the oil your self which means you will always know how well the work was done and that it was done right.

the_big_al

Yep and I'll have to admit that growing up in the country, my dad, and the subsequently myself, because I didn't know any better, either dumped it on the ground by the trash barrel, or poured it over the trash and burned it with the trash....

Not that it was right, but it it was back in the day when we didn't have "curbside" trash pick up and our closest nieghbor was the tractor in the cotton field across the road.

the_big_al

If I remember right (this was some years ago, when I worked at a Walmart Quick Lube), the PH16 was a standard on most Chrysler vehicles and a lot of Land Rovers. The PH8A was standard fare on Fords. It was used on most of the large V8's (except Crown Vic's and Mustangs where clearance was tight) until the mid 90's when they switched to the PH2 on most trucks except the Ranger and Exploder. The tall narrow PH3600 was also used on the smaller 3.0 V6 that went in the Ranger and Taurus late model Tempo.

Anyway, I never used an PH8A in place of a PH16, but I did have a couple of customers bring in their own filter which was an PH8A and want me to put it on. Since it wasn't listed in our parts book as being interchangable, I still wouldn't put in on because I wasn't about to be held liable for purposely putting on a wrong filer, even though the threads and gasket may match the mounting plate.

So you can do want you want, but while the PH8A may be a larger filter, the internals may not be the same as a PH16. Or they could be and the one is just a larger filter. But I wouldn't suggest it. I would recomend an extended performance filer (like the MobileOne), that is actually designed for the specific engine...

... as a side note though, on my vehcile (which is an '01 S-10 with a 4.3 V6) I have always used a PH3980, but the book calls for a PH3387 which is a short stubby filter. However in previous years the 4.3 V6 has always taken a PH3980 and in fact the motor wasn't changed after 1997 until 2003-4 when the fuel system was upgraded. So I knew the longer 3980 would still work. That my be the case with a PH8A and a PH16. They may indeed be the same filter; one is longer than the other. I just don't know that for sure.

the_big_al

Wal-mart doesn't really have a defense. I believe that they may have caused the damage and should be responsible for have it repaired. What they can do is go to their security footage and pull the tape for when the car was in the bay. All the oil bays are monitored and it should be easy to tell if oil was put into the car, whether from thier bulk tank, in which case you'll see the tech grab the oil gun hanging from the ceiling, or the bottles of oil and pour them in one by one. The only caveat may be is if the lower bay technician forgot to put the plug back in and they indeed did oil it, but it all ran out through the bottom. The lower bay tech may not have caught it until he noticed fresh oil running through the pan and then quickly plugged it, but failed to tell some one above...

But that still doesn't account for how it left the bay with no oil. I think Wal-mart just plain screwed up and didn't follow it's procedures. If the daughter did take out the drain plug just to get a new engine, then Wal-mart should also be able to tell if they used their tamper seal on the plug. If the plug had been tampered with after leaving the shop, the tamper seal would be broken. Not that it hasn't been tried before, but it is more likely that Wal-mart didn't follow it's procedures and the now they should have to pay for it.

the_big_al

That happened to me the first time I changed the oil on my old '84 Chrysler Laser. This was my first real foray into changing oil myself and so I really didn't know what I was doing.

This car was really easy to work on. The oil filter was right in front. I only had to crawl under to release the oil plug. Anyway, I was at a friends house where I was living at the time. Brand new house in a brand new subdivision with a brand new driveway. (can you see where this is going?) I did the change, and then started the car to make sure there wasn't any leaks. All of a sudden I heared this gushing sound and I peaked under the car and saw oil gushing down all over the drive.

It turns out I had double gasketed the filter... that was an experience that I also never repeated. Of course it was too late for the driveway. we got most of the oil up, but it was forever stained afterwords...

the_big_al

If I remember correctly, all thier systems are run off the same air compressor, but the oil guns and the washer fluid have separate pumps. They could have had an issue with the washer fluid pump, but not the oil guns. But that still doesn't account for why the car left the shop with no oil...

Wal-mart (along with every other quick lube place) has procedures to prevent this type of thing from happening and having Wal-mart be repsonsible. Wal-mart actually goes on overkill with some of their procedures. Theoretically, Wal-mart should never have to pay for an enginge or wheel coming off or any type of damage done to a customer's car, provided they followed thier procedures.

But that's the sticker. They MUST follow procedure, which means that if they did in your case, they would have checked the oil level before the car left the bay and would have realized that it didn't have any oil in it. They would not have let the car leave the bay with no oil in, whether the oil guns were working or not. That is, IF they were following procedure. But I know how Wal-mart is and I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't. I have witnessed on several occasions at several different Wal-mart shops, cars being oiled and sent on thier way without double checking oil levels or for leaks.

Anyway, all the posts have been good and I hope all comes out okay in the end... I think that Wal-mart screwed up in the first place, but also some responsibility falls on you (your daughter) for immediately stopping the car and taking it to either a mechanic, or back to Wal-mart for inspection. I don't really think you need to go to court over this (Wal-mart has VERY good lawyers), no matter how strong your case is. Unless Wal-mart absolutley refuses to do anything for you.

the_big_al

yes, it will be interesting. Since I used to work at Wal-mart in the shop, I unfortunately have seen a few things go wrong. In all cases, they were because of the stupidity of the tech, and all involved not following procdure. (Oil DOES NOT go in the power steering pump...)

I have also seen things go both ways. I have seen Wal-mart take care of something they shouldn't have and I have also seen them deny something they should have taken care of, but because of a slight technicallity (like the car being driven with the oil light on), they skimped out and decided not to pay for it.

the_big_al

A lube job every 3K is probably a little overkill, although quickie lube places don't really care. Pumping more grease in will likely not burst the boot (they are designed to let excess grease out anyway. What I would is make a mental (or jot it down) when you lubed the chassis and then every 3rd oil change have the fittings lubed. You can request them not lube them (they will love you for that - less work for them to do), but don't expect a price break because they charge them same for a vehicle that doesn't have zerk fitting or one that has 20 fittings.

I know that when I was in the business, I would check and wipe down each fitting, check the boot to see if the fitting could use a little grease and then wipe down the fitting again... that way if the customer happened to check, he could at least tell I did something to them. Whether or not I added grease, at least I checked them.

But the way I worked is often the exception... Even now I have to tell the quickie lube guys to make sure they get ALL the fittings and more often than not I come back and find they have missed some, or they have made a huge mess out of my suspension with all the grease they have splattered all over.... but short of doing it myself, I just know what to watch for.

the_big_al

depends on whether it's the newer rack and pinion or the older recirculating ball... even so, I think the ball joints and tie rod ends still had fittings... and you're right, it doesn't take hardly any at all, if any. Just a shot would be sufficient.

the_big_al

I used to do the same thing to the shop that I frequented. I would intentionally take out the air filter, reset tire pressures to odd levels and other minor things to catch them. After the service was done, more often than not, I would find that they didn't "fix" the things I had done... I would talk to the manager and they would pull my vehicle back in and redo it, but after about 3 or 4 times doing this I gave up and went to a different location that while further away from my home, the service was quite a bit better....

the_big_al

ya - it's either a 13MM or 15 MM.It'll be metric in anycase.

the_big_al

I am replying to this post with out reading other posts so I may duplicate someone's answer but here is my though on Wal-mart VS Jiffy Lube.

I used to manage a Wal-mart Tire & Lube Express and I would recomend Wal-mart. You are right to be concerned about the technicians not being very well trained sometimes. I was one of them. I opened a brand new shop and everyone in there for the most part had never changed oil or touched a tire machine in thier life. They did a few days of training and had us practice on associates cars before actually opening up for business, but that was about it. We watched a few videos and did a few computer based learning courses but that was about it. The rest was hands on - on the fly. And it really was on the fly. There were a couple guys in the shop that knew the difference between a drain plug and an oil filter and the difference between a 185/75r13 and a 265/75r15 but that was it. So in that respect it could be a little scary when you have some monkey that is paid 7 bucks an hour to work on a 20K car that has no clue what he is doing. Not that we didn't learn, but it was rough sometimes. To top it off our service manager quit after 2 months of the shop being open. And guess who got to fill the position?? Your's truly... Yep after 3 months of being in a shop and never having changed oil or tires before I ended up being service manager... tell me how that happened. Anyway, I shortly moved to get married and transfered to a store in a different state. Obviously they already had a service manager and support manager and so I started as a regular tech again. No biggie - as I soon learned how LITTLE I KNEW! I happened to transfer into a shop that had been open for several years (9 or 10 when I got there) and I knew less than even the laziest tech there. But the service manager took me under his wing seeing how hard I was willing to work and trained me and I soon was able to compare to him in knowledge about vehicles and in effieciency of servicing them. When he transferred to a new shop that was opeing up closer to his home I took over his position as service manager. His new shop unlike mine had people in there that had beeen in the business of changing oil and didn't suffer the problems that I suffered in the brand new shop that I was in.

So in short (I know this has become a novel almost but I do have a point), Wal-mart has a tendency to hire off the street regular people who may not have any idea what an oil change is. This is so that they can be trained in the "Wal-mart way". Wal-mart has a very specific way that they want they oil change done (not that it happens in the "real" world, but they would like it too). But they can do a good oil change and for the most part can do it "properly".

However, I found that when I moved again to take a better paying job in a more promising career, I had a hard time finding a Wal-mart that could do the oil change "properly". It just went to show how much things can change when you cross several states. I took my truck to the nearest Wal-mart just to check it out and I watched them so I could judge how they did. They did so many things "wrong" that I walked into the bay and demanded that they do it right... Normal basic procedure is to drain the oil, change the filter and then do a pressure test to make sure there are no leaks. What I witnessed was that because they had several cars outside they would shortcut and just start the vehicle after filling it with oil and then drive it out of the bay. They were also to check the rear differential and grease all the fittings none of which I witnessed happening. The lower bay tech never moved from his stool because I could constantly see his head poking out from below as cars were pulled in and out. So when they started to pull my vehicle out with out shutting it down and making sure it didn't leak and also to check the oil level, I went into the bay and proceeded to let them know that they needed to make sure they did things the way I knew Wal-mart wanted them done. An argument ensued and I was told to leave the bay, that they knew what they were doing and I was just a customer who didn't understand the business and I was not allowed to be in thier work area. Basically I was kicked out and told to shut up. Well that didn't sit to well with me and so I called the District Manager, left him a message and he actually called back and I relayed my story. He then made a surprise visit to the store and witnessed them doing what I had told him. After that I went back and I did notice a few changes in the shop and a few things were done the way they were supposed to but since then I do not know since I have stopped taking my vehicle there for service...

I do still take my vehicle to Wal-mart, but have found one that is not too far from my home, it is further than my bad experience however, and they do a pretty good job. I always double check their work and if there is a problem I alert them and they are always willing to fix it. They know me quite well as I am in there once at least once a month due to the many miles I drive.

the_big_al

I know I just posted a mega-long post (promise this won't be as long... ), but

Wal-mart but to add to the last post - yes some Wal-mart crews are better than others. And some stores can go up or down in efficiency because of the turnover rate.

Anyway, I would recomend Wal-mart over Jiffy Lube mainly because you can get more from Wal-mart. Wal-mart won't try to upsell you - unless you obviously need new wipers or an air filter, and if you do you get them at the Walmart price installed for no additional charge, you can rotate the tires, even have them balanced. Buy new tires if you desire. And now here is the kicker... even if you have no shoping to do, instead of waiting in a waiting room reading the various car magazines that are on hand at Jiffy Lube, why not wander through the store and browse the ailses! I'm sure you'll find something to buy which of course would thrill Wal-marts bottom line. . But in all seriousness, if find a Wal-mart with a decently trained staff, you will get a pretty good deal and a quality service hopefully in a decent time frame.

the_big_al

Dude... Where do I get in line? I would love a place like this. My only concern would be and this is one of the main reasons I let Wal-mart do it is that if they screw something up, they own it. I'm pretty careful, but I've stripped a pan, rounded a couple heads, double gasketed at couple times, and if I stripped my pan myself - I'm out the cost of the new pan whereas if Wal-mart strips it, they get to buy me a new pan.

Plus, would you have new plugs and drain plug gaskets on hand as well? I know that when I worked at Wal-mart, I changed them more often than not, and I know that we didn't charge the customer for them. Most of the time I didn't even tell the customer their plug had been changed.

the_big_al

If you happened to come through my oil change line at Walmart I would probably refuse to change the oil in your X3. Not that I wouldn't want your business, but because it is out of the norm of vehicles I wouldn't want to do it. Not only would I not have the filter, but should anything go wrong, I now have a very expensive vehicle I know nothing about sitting in my bay that is inoperable. I would prefer you take it a BMW dealer where the techs are specially trained and certified to work on such vehicles...

I acutally did turn away a few like that.

Also - I know that Walmart does not use expanding rubber plugs or oversized plugs. Only OEM. If a vehicle came through with something other than OEM as a drain plug, than we would refuse the service. (there were exceptions, but it was a case by case basis.)