Goods

Just looking for examples of first hand experiences you've had at these places for "routine" maintanance work.
I'm thinking oil changes, transmission flushes, brakes, etc.

Just trying to get a feel.

What shop did you go too?
What kind of work did you have done?
Would you do it again?

Thanks,
Goods

link13

went to ez lube for an oil change and they overfilled the engine with oil. it made a nice, big trail of white smoke later that night on the way home. Since then, I will always do my own oil changes.

PERRYinLA

Go ahead with the poll, but don't be suprised if you don't get very usable results. Almost everyone has a maintenence horror story, and they can occur anywhere, even at dealerships. It's important to keep an eye on them while the work is being done, if you can, and to check the work afterwards.

For example, I love using those $9.99 coupons for oil changes at Firestone, but last year a "tech" didn't tighten the oil drain plug. I discovered the leak a few days afterward- imagine if the plug had fallen out while I was driving! Have I stopped going there and instead get my oil changed for $70 at Beverly Hills Lexus? (Yes, $70- check out https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=70538) Heck no - I just keep a closer eye on them. Inexpensive oil changes engourage me to change it more often, and that can only be good for the car.

Those Quik-Lube places service millions of cars a year and do an efficient job almost all of the time. Yet if you read the posts on this forum when things go wrong you'd think things are screwing up all the time. But who bothers to post when things go well, as they do 99.9% of the time?

If money is not an issue then sure, I'd use my Lexus dealer. But it is, so I don't.

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

I just get burned up when there's something I could have done myself, especially like an oil change, that gets screwed up. You need the dealer and other competent repair places to do a good, complete job when it's something that you just can't do yourself (like timing belt replacement, for instance). But when I take the wife's car in for an oil change (to a Jiffy type place) in the winter time, because I didn't feel like freezing my butt off outside, and the next time I change the oil myself, I find that the drain plug has been stripped, or the drain plug gasket is now missing, that doesn't make me happy...

I ALWAYS get a good job from the Lexus dealer, whereas I usually - but not always - get a good job from other places. That makes me uncomfortable, and is why Lexus gets to charge what they do.

///MDex

That's my point too. I mean, if I take in my own oil, the charge is only like $25, and, I get a loaner. Why would I NOT go to the dealer? That's a reasonable price for peace of mind. Plus while I'm there, I can have them check other things too that I know they are competent at doing (i.e. exhaust, suspension, etc.) It also helps top have great relationship with your dealer.

Lexmexico

I have to be honest. Until Toyota arrived last year, the only place I could get an alignment in Mexico City was at any Midas. They were the only ones to have Lexus programmed into their computers. Everyone else had only what was available in Mexico. Down here you need an alignment every month, NO JOKE.

meZoom!

I used to take my ES300 to all sorts of different places for routine service.
discount tire centers (evans tire in san diego) used to have coupons for $10 or $13 oil changes to I'd sometimes go, but one day the manager there straight out told me, after I drove up there to the Northridge one, that they couldn't do an oil change that day because I had driven the car there, and the engine would be hot and something about "can't do it while it's hot." I said, ok, cuz that's slightly understandable....then, proceeded to ask when they could do it. He said leave the car overnight or come back in the morning!!! For an oil change!!! and if i drive there the next day, isn't that the same thing?? I asked, "whaat?" and the guy asked me "have you ever worked on a car or opened your hood after driving? i bet not. It's hot." i kid you not.
That was the last I saw of that place.

EZ LUBE screwed up an oil change on someone i know's car when they removed the whole skid plate on the undercarriage and didn't put it back on right. The guy didn't know that removal of the undercarriage was unnecessary, and that the drain plug was RIGHT THERE. they denied responsibility.

jiffy lube outright forgot to put ANY new oil in my neighbor's car. well actually, she had maybe 1 or 2 quarts (my guess) of old oil left i her v6 til the car died on the way back home.

yes these are horror stories and i bet there are an x number of success stories for every bad one here, but i'm never going to go to any of those places for anything. i either do it myself (which i haven't lately, admittedly) or take it to my personal selection of mechanics who know me and my car, and what its gone through.

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, thanks for those, meZoom!. It's just a risk if you take a Lexus to a shop like that. They see thousands of Chevys, Fords, Chryslers, etc, per week, but not too many high-end cars, since the majority of those are going to the dealer or private mechanic. So they often don't know EXACTLY what to do, they just wing it sometimes, especially if the lube dude was just hired. I just don't want anybody 'winging it' on my car...

Wald GS

iTrader: (1)

Believe it or not Walmart does a really good job. I take my Honda Accord there and they do a great reliable job. You go in and they give you a ticket. All you do is shop, walk around, or go eat at Mcdonalds and bam, your car is ready...

darchard

When I hit 3000 miles I am looking to change the oil and I have had Jiffy do a couple of times. No problems yet. I figure they want return business and will do a good job.

PERRYinLA

Well, they make money on repeat business yes, but they also make money on recommending fluid changes before their time and, worse yet, charging you for a fluid change but not doing it!

More details on this thread:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=214998

That doesn't mean don't use them - when they circulate coupons, I use them, too.
Just keep an eye on them and don't agree to any unneeded servicing.

RedPhoenix

iTrader: (10)

I hate midas/meineke

When I had my turbo camry, i brought my car there to get the exhaust welded. Simple cat-back since I already had my downpipe made. The guy managed to peel out and then scrape my intercooler going up on the lift because he drove too fast.

Left the car running on the lift without the parking brake on (so its swaying as the lift rises)

Looks at my exhaust and has to have a "specialist" look at it.

Another 30 min goes by, they tell me my resonator wont fit and I have to buy one of theirs. Bringing my bill up to 400+.

I politely told them to eat **** and went to "rainbow muffler" $150 out the door, no problems.

vwynn

iTrader: (4)

if my garage is a shop then i guess thats where i do it =]

top notch work done

wilkie1020

My 05 LS430 has never had any service any place but the dealer where it was first purchased. While it is under warranty, I will probably keep getting all the services there. In the past with all my other vehicles I have used Walmart many times & prefer them to the other places. I have used the other quick lube places also, bit have always stood some where I could watch them do the work. There have been a few times that I spoke to them while they worked to make sure they put in the right oil etc & the right number of qts. I look to see they put the drain plug in & tighten it. I always have my own filter & oil in case they don't have the brand I want. Even the Lexus dealer use's some off brand of blended oil. I use Mobil 1 & carry it with me. Walmart always has that in stock at a reasonable price & a choice of filters. Most of the other places use just one or two brands of oil & filters & I don't want any of their brands.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

ya just gotta find someone you are comfortable with... we work on all kinds of cars, from Lexus to Porsche to Ford to GM...

to this day, I have never seen an oil change on a car I wasn't comfortable doing (our shop does repair work, tires and general service). But then again, we don't pay our guys minimum wage to change oil - all of our service guys have been through extensive training and are paid extremely good wages... IMO, that's the difference... Our guys want to do it right and do do it right every time, which is why an oil change takes an hour or so - everything is looked over, everything is done right, any mess made (some cars have drains and filters in the weirdest places) is cleaned up...

We are also the biggest independent in Las Vegas, and have been here for 60 years, so we have a reputation to uphold...

Before my wife was my wife (or even my girlfriend, for that matter), she had a Sentra that she had taken to Wal-Mart to get the oil changed - one wrong oil filter later, and Wal-Mart was buying a new motor for the car...

As someone already posted, there are going to be horror stories everywhere, even the dealership screws up, I've seen it with my own two eyes...