Wal-Mart's High Quality Oil Change Service

[Fox Body]

Since my brother and his fiancee have been down for the weekend, we've been riding around in her '96 Camry. Every time we'd stop at a light or to get out of the car, we'd smell burning oil-- pretty strong. She says it's been like that for a week or so. So I tell her I'll check it out for her. After quickly looking, I didn't notice any oil on the the front of the motor or smoke, so I decide that if it is burning oil that bad for that amount of time, it would probably show up on the dipstick so I decide to check oil level first. I go to pull up the dipstick and guess what.... The trained professional wal-mart mechanics left the stinking oil cap off the valve cover and all the oil was splashing out onto the motor. Then I notice oil all over the area of the motor close to the valve cover. She was about 2 quarts low. Well at least these trained professional mechanics we gracious enough to leave her the oil cap (sitting on the engine--glad it didn't fall off).

Things like this is what irritates Fox Body. Fox Body mad. Fox Body wanna give them a piece of Fox Body's mind. But Oh well, I just added more oil. She can yell at them if she wants to. It's her car.

[Hammer]

and people wonder why I do my own oil... and brakes... and plugs... (so THAT'S why the wife says I'm never around...)

[lx5091]

YUP...want it done right....do it yourself! Too bad that they don't teach people how to do simple maintenance in driving school! HAHA! Most of the poor suckers in this world have to take chances with their auto service provider. It stinks.

[mustangman65_79]

Originally posted by Hammer
and people wonder why I do my own oil... and brakes... and plugs... (so THAT'S why the wife says I'm never around...)

Yes, that way I can only yell at myself. (like leaving the oil filter off, I realized that one real fast, big oops!!!)

[Rev]

Or forgetting to put the drain plug back in? Guaranteed oil leak, LOL.

Rev

[Crazy Horse GT]

wally world, i only let them rotate my tires , it's worth 1.50 a wheel for them to do it instead of me, ok i'm lazy lol.

[srv1]

i do all the work on my cars. i mean ALL. you name it i do it. i dont trust someone else changing my oil.

[jj_jonathon]

Originally posted by Crazy Horse GT
wally world, i only let them rotate my tires , it's worth 1.50 a wheel for them to do it instead of me, ok i'm lazy lol.

hell, they cant be worse than ford...gainesville ford threw one of my radial tires on backwards once...the only time theyve touched my car...now i always wait til i go back home ad deal with the small local dealership that my car was bought through...

i swear some mechanics know as much as me...lol

[lx5091]

backwards? i guess you mean it was a directional tire? that sux......some people, because they don't care about their jobs means that every customer they handle gets the shaft!

[cyberstang5.0]

It's not that people are lazy, or don't know how to do their own simple maintenance, it just comes down to you can't trust anyone anymore. The only thing I take my car to a shop for is to do my alignment and even then I watch them like a hawlk.

[jj_jonathon]

Originally posted by lx5091
backwards? i guess you mean it was a directional tire? that sux......some people, because they don't care about their jobs means that every customer they handle gets the shaft!

yea, the one with the damn arrows on them! lol...i think its cuz i was in there for a balancing and wheel alignment, etc and they deal with saleens and cobras...so my GT is a little guy to them...bastards...

[MissBlondie]

Great work in action. I actually had my oil changed on one of my old stangs one time where the tech pulled the entire dipstick and holder around it, away from my car. Thankfully they owned up to it before I left the dealership.

[84LX89GT]

Being a "apprentice technician" i'd like to take the side of dealerships on this (yeah, i know...boo! hiss! ). They hire hourly people to do alot of the simple, mindless labor such as oil changes ("fast lube" services) and tire rotations. These people usually have little to no actual training and about the same amount of motivation to do it right. This is a VERY generic statement because i have seen some lower level mechanics do things right and double check their work, which is something i pride myself on doing. There is a HUGE difference in the quality of work from the professionals in the industry and the "hacks" who don't care about their work. You're more likely to get hacks at a Jiffy Lube than at a dealership because dealerships like the one i work at usually only give the "oil changers" a chance or two before they're fired depending on severity, whereas i've talked to someone at an oil can henry's who had siezed 8, yes 8, engines.

On the other side, if you do all your maintenance yourself and spend the time to do it right, not only is it more rewarding, but you know you did it right.

I'm not sticking up for people who do a poor job working on cars, as i see them as not worthy to hold a job in the first place, but there are people in the automotive industry who are interested in customer service and doing things right.
I'd say the best way to make sure your car is getting done right is to actually talk with the people who work on your car and find a person who you can trust to do quality work and try and stick with that person. There's alot of repeat customers where i work that come in and say "i want XXXX to work on my car"....just some advise to people who don't/aren't able to work on their car.

[Fox Body]

Originally posted by 84LX89GT
I'd say the best way to make sure your car is getting done right is to actually talk with the people who work on your car and find a person who you can trust to do quality work and try and stick with that person. There's alot of repeat customers where i work that come in and say "i want XXXX to work on my car"....just some advise to people who don't/aren't able to work on their car.

Yeah, obviously, I wasn't bashing the whole "mechanical technician" world, just sharing my indirect bad experience with that Wal-Mart. It is a rant, and a very common one. They're not all bad, but many of them are. Many people just don't care about other peoples' stuff.

But, I agree with you, I have a small list of places I go to for certain things when I need to take my car somewhere when I can't or don't want to do it myself. These places are places friends tell me about and has had experience with themselves. I am a big "return customer" and when I find a good place after a lot of research, I stick with it. Also, if I go to a place to get something done to the car for the first time, I watch the mechs like a hawk and they know it. they also have a good idea that they are not dealing with a pushover who knows nothing about cars. I make sure to check their work thoroughly if possible and if there are any problems , we're gonna get them resolved.

[Rev]

Has anyone ever tried to talk to the technician that worked on his car at a dealership? I have. It was a major communications gap from the service manager to the mechanic, who actually repaired the car, eventually, after some effort, I did speak to him. Granted, this was many years ago, but after that, ughh.(I never wanted to to do it again). It was a Ford dealer, too.

Rev