Whatever you do...DON'T GO TO JIFFY LUBE!!! They hire shoddy technicians, and their only goal is to upsell you maintenance that you don't need. Then.....if they can scam you into performing this unneeded maintenance, they distract you and don't actually perform the maintenance they are billing you for.

Either 48hrs or 20/20 did a huge expose' on Jiffy Lube. They marked different filters in the car and installed hidden cameras on the cars as well. Jiffy lube charged them to replace filters, but when they were checked, the original filters were still in the car. They performed bogus fluid changeds too. Jiffy lube is the ultimate "Bait and switch" operation. They lull you in under the guise of getting an oil change and then try to scam you out of your hard earned money by performing bogus maintenance.

I made the mistake of going to a jiffy lube once. It was pretty funny. It was November and I had just changed my anti freeze about two weeks earlier. I used a 70/30 mix of Prestone, so I was good to around 25 below. Well, they change my oil.....and then I see the "technician" walking towards me. I knew something was up. He was holding an anti freeze tester and he showed it to me. None of the little balls were floating and he says to me...."Your ant freeze is really bad. It's supposed to be pretty cold this week, you don't want your engine to freeze up. We can do a flush and refill for $99. I said to him, "Gee, that's funny, cause I just did a flush and refill myself two weeks ago with a 70/30 mix of Prestone, how could that be?" It was hilarious......his jaw drops, he starts studdering, and runs off. A minute later, he comes back with a different tester...all the balls floating, of course. Studdering, he says, "Uh....must have been a bad tester, your anti freeze is good." Bad tester.........SURE! Undoubtably, they were going to charge me for a flush and refill and just do nothing because they knew my anto freeze was good.

Another Jiffy Lube story.......two weeks ago, my girlfriend is talking to me on the phone. She tells me that she got the oil changed in her Liberty that afternoon. I ask her where she went. "I was in a hurry, so I just went to Jiffy Lube," she says. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO......I scream!!!!!!!!! How much did they try to scam you for, I asked." "How did you know," she proclaimed. She tells me that they changed her oil and then told her that the seals on her front differential were shot and differential fluid was leaking all over the place. They say they can replace the seals and fluid for $189.00 Luckily, she was smart enough not to do it. I tell her to get it checked for safety sake. So, she takes it to a local reputable garage for an inspection. The honest mechanic says that the differential is fine. There are no leaks. He asks if she just had the oil changed because they had spilled oil all over the block and her differential. He cleaned the whole thing up and charged $25 for the inspection and clean up. I guess they poured oil on the differential to scare her and would have charged her $189.00 to wipe it clean.

Go to Jiffy Lube at your own risk.

 

I don't let anyone who does not get paid by Honda touch my S.

But I took my DD (92 SC400) to a quick lube something or other. I am a little paranoid about people working on my cars so I actually watch them do everything. I want to make sure they actually do the work. They are yelling out stuff that is supposedly wrong with my car and watch the guy type it into the computer. According to them I have a leaky "racket pinon" I wonder if the racket part was a slip?

 

I take my car to a quick lube place. However...it is an express lube located at my Honda dealership. You remain in the car the entire time and they have cameras set up with monitors so you can watch the technicians as they are working on your car.

 

sounds like a nice set up

 

ok this thread is getting absurd. I'll be the first to say it: IBTL . Just because i work @ jiffy means i'm a shotty tech? I have been servicing cars for over 6 years, ASE certified, and I'm well capable of performing the services. Our goal is complete the vehicle service efficiently and in a timely manner. Yes, there are good as well as bad service stations, but the stereotype that all jiffy lubes are bad is incorrect. We check everything on the car and only perform the ancillary services if they need to be and if the customer wants it. Like i said, my service station has been leading in the district the past 2 years and we have several repeat customers. You don't get that by performing a shotty service.

 

I think we can all agree that there are good and bad shops of all brands. I am sure there are bad Honda Dealers.

Ron Tonken Acura does these same things. Everytime I was in there they wanted to change all kinds of things. They even wanted to change my air filter (K&N). I asked the Service Manager if they even looked at the filter. This is a "premium" auto dealer and they were doing crap you expect from fly by night shops.

 

congrats?




I think its a case by case basis... I'm sure there are a lot of fine technicians at Jiffy Lube, but im sure there are their share of bad ones. The best way around it, is to take that coin toss out of the equation and spend maybe $100 on the tools you need to do it yourself. Whether its Honda, Jiffy Lube, or any other quick lube, you still run the risk of a tech rushing through a job when theres a line, or spacing something out. Its easy to say "how can this happen?", but......after 50 oil changes I'd imagine a lot of people would just be going through the motions.



Whats pretty indisputable is why are there multiple horror stories like this posted often?


If you ARE going to trust someone to do things like this and if you do opt for additional maintenance, just be smart. Ask specifics, ask you see your old filter/gasket/part after the work is done.

 

the only car i take to jiffy lube is my company car.

everything done to my S is done by me if ive got the tools, or by a trusted mechanic with me right there with him.

 

The exception proves the rule. I had a friend that worked at a location in Hillsboro, Or. He told me they had to pay to replace an entire engine because someone FORGOT TO PUT THE DRAIN PLUG BACK!!!! This is not rocket science. Everyone makes mistakes but this is what they do...change oil. How does one mess that up?

 

might not be as much jiffy lube's fault... they probably put the oil cap back on but did not tighten it all the way so it came off while driving... i'm just saying... i've heard these stories before