Had it with Jiffy Lube. Went in for 6 month oil change and asked for 5w30 conventional. I've had synthetic in past on occasion at a shop, but for my LS, when I plan 6-7 month, 3-5000 mile change I'm fine with conv to save $60 or so. Shops have a big upcharge for synthetic or even syn blend. My 2005 LS430 has 155k miles and engine doesn't seem to burn or leak any significant amount of oil over 6-8 months, so I'd rather change it regularly but usually use conventional oil and leave it at that. When it was more of a commuter car with more miles put on, I might have decided differently in the past.

Tech tells me the computer won't allow conventional oil!. Requires high mileage oil after a certain mileage (150k?). I say no thanks, you've got to be kidding me,, then he comes back and says OK, he can do the conventional. Price is $92. I go there frequently and I know that is not right, it's $50-ish recently. He says do you have a v6, needs more oil? I say, no, v8, but I've gone there for years and it takes 5.4 quarts, just a .4 quart upcharge! Manager (?) tells him to look up VIN. They have no record of my car (lost it last time, but AGAIN not found... how can that be in a freaking computer??) but then says $53.00. Not sure if just guessed wrong u p front and just didn't bother to check, or what, but I've had full synthetic on my other car (that needs Dexos spec) for around $92 so I knew that was wrong. $53 matches their sign and is fine. I had a coupon too.

They did the change it and wrapped steering wheel in plastic to protect Nice, right? But I get the car back, and drivers floor mat and speaker grille were covered in oil streaks! I complained, reluctantly now, They sprayed some strong degreaser which helped (and stank),but not too well. Looks not so good. Well maybe get the flooirmats cleaned or time to treat mysel to new ones.. One advantage of an old car is I'm not crazy about smsll things, but OIL smeared (streaked) on carpets, and door kick panels? ugh.

Last time on my other car I made mistake of asking for a tire rotation. After 1/2 hour they said I had swollen lug nuts (!) and they could not get them out of their power tool to do the rotation. I guy admitted the tool might be a problem. AND the bill showed 5w20 instead of required 5w30, which might have just been a computer entry error, but I had them change it immediately and watched!

I don't expect much from a quick lube place. After the lug nut thing, nothing but oil changes and a new oil filter. Nothing else. But even that is too much. Telling me they won't allow conventional because computer won't accept it? It's not like I weas asking for the wrong viscosity or conventional on a car that requires dexos-certified or synthetic!

I am lazy, and dropping off a car at a shop is hard. For coolant, trans, spark plugs, brake fluid, I have gone usually to dealer or mechanic. But for interim, common oil changes I've gone to quick lube places over the years. But I've had it going to a place not overseen by real mechanic who has stuck around a while, whether a quick lube type place pr not. The Valvoline branded place here was an independent place first, so maybe better, or I'll suck down the time or a real mechanic or a Mavis/Firestone type place.

All that aside, it got me thinking about high mileage oils. Reading past posts here, some think they are good, others not. What's interesting is that the Pennzoil ones (at Jiffy lube at least) are nor Dexos certified, so I could not use them with my GM car. For my LS430, I have 155k which is higher than any other car I've had, but I don't want to mess with seal conditioners, etc. unless I'm really sure they help and do not risk causintg harm. So maybe it isn't bad idea, but so far, I've been doing fine changing my oil fairly regularly over the years with basic conventional. I put 4-7k a year on the car, so not sure if it's a false economy vs syntheitic, but oils today are so advanced that I don't think my engine will be damaged. (If I did my own oil changes I would use synthetic for the extra few dollars.)

And yes, I should just change my own oil, but in the past, $40 every months seemed fair to have someone do it and do it quickly. I don't even think think the guy was trying to scam me for the $20 oil change price difference. Just laziness or cluelessness. But I've had it. It is a strong argument for doing things yourself, I admit.

 

Ask yourself Bro, is Jiffy Lube worth it for all that pain?

 

Don’t use jiffy lube/chain shops. You get what you pay for, and they don’t care. Just another number in their bottom line. If you have no choice, at least buy your own oil and filter and don’t pay their insane oil prices just labor only - better yet go to an independent shop and do that

 

You might want to try this, it has worked nicely for me. I bring my own oil and go to a nice family owned quick oil change shop. I bring my own oil (Kirkland synthetic from Costco about $20), filter (Wix from Amazon around $10) and crush washer (Amazon, under $1). They charge me $15 to change the oil, $25 if I want all the fluids checked, tire pressure checked and the interior vacuumed. I get out of the car and watch them do the work. They do a very nice job, the whole thing runs about $45 to $55 depending on what they do and the supplies I bring. I do it every 5,000 miles or so. A little bit of overkill but cheap and easy piece of mind.

You should try it. Go to a few places and ask if you can bring your own oil. You will be surprised, most will do it with a reasonable charge to do the work.

 

Exactly the reason I do it myself. For works I can do effectively myself, I do not trust anyone else. I have never seen any mechanic torque engine drain plug, for an example. I do. It takes less time and it is also a lot cheaper. Oil synthetic is like $20, factory filter $5, drain plug washer $1. I change engine oil so often that I do not have to use synthetic. But it is so cheap I do not bother to switch. You do spend 30 minutes of your time but you also get to inspect the drained oil and inspect the undercarriage.

 

I know what you mean about lack of care.
My car broke down recently and I had to call the AA.
The AA guy was right at the end of a shift, in a bad mood (wanting to go home to his wife and a glass of whiskey), and was wrenching the air pipe around (so as to get to the throttle plate) without undoing the bolt on the side and therefore risking breaking something.
If that wasn't bad enough, he put black marks off his hands all over the inside of the A and B pillars (beige velour!) and also off his boots onto the speaker grille and footwell carpet.
Luckily I've been able to clean it up pretty well, but I should not have had to.

 

Interesting idea. I do it mostly to save time. My next idea is finding a mechanic where I can schedule a 1-2 hour window or exact time, so I don't need to drop off the car or wait 4 hours. But if it lets me select my oil of choice at a fair price, even better. I am not sure I'd find labor so cheap around here, but worth asking.

I see genuine Lexus filters + crush washer for 6-7 dollars (https://www.lexuspartsnow.com/oem-le...ug_washer.html). I would not have known to look for a part by that name, so thanks.

 

JZZFZZ, for the ignorant among us (me): is there direct access to the filter or do you need to remove/unscrew some kind of access plate? I've seen oil changed on a lift before and seem to remember there some kind of cover? Curious what it is like for the DIY'er.

 

Never used Jiffy Lube, Sears, when they were in business, ( for tires/batteries) or Pep Boys. It’s just a given that these places are/were a disaster waiting to happen for my car. Trustworthy Indy is the only way to go.

 

There are 2 screws/bolts that need to be removed to pull down the access flap to get to the oil filter.

 

I myself remove the entire cover. Others will tell you to remove some bolts, or turn the wheel so that one does not need to remove the cover at all.

Removing the cover is not not hard at all. The cover is very light plastics, unlike my tundra and GX’s heavy, metal covers. I use a Milwaukee M12 ratchet, removing all bolts in 1 minutes. Get a ramp and almost no labor is involved if you do not rotate the tires.

 

What did you expect for jiffy lube, you're lucky they even changed your oil, pull oil back in or even tighten the filter.

 

The amount of time it took to write that, you could have changed your oil twice.

All you need is a floor jack, a jackstand, and a socket/oil filter wrench.

 

unless you are handicapped, there is no excuse not to change your own oil. I EXPECT incompetence from a place like Jiffy lube. I would never let a place like that anywhere near my vehicles

 

NEVER do quick lube places. You don't have to go to a dealer, but just a reliable independent mechanic. Years ago Jiffy Lube broke the oil pressure sensor on my Nissan Maxima of the time. Now I have to say they were easy to deal with, but still, why? I hate time guarantees. Stay away from those.