Got my oil changed today, never again

[Redbug]

Like many of you, I do all my own maintenance. I don't trust the judgment of others with my stuff. I do all my own tire rotations, (how can you goof up something as basic as that?), since the grease monkeys don't know what a torque wrench is...

 

[ray66v]

since the grease monkeys don't know what a torque wrench is...

I told my tire dealer: There is a torque wrench on the floor, in the vehicle, if you need one. I don't care about the rears, but, I don't want my rotors getting distorted by improper use of the impact gun. He said: Don't worry, we always use a torque wrench.

Then, I watch as the technician hammered the lug nuts on with the impact, and then put the torque wrench on and gave it a click.

I checked them when I got home, they were so tight, I had trouble getting them off, to properly torque them. When they are at the proper 80 ft. lbs., they are not very tight at all.

Sure enough, my brake pedal started to pulsate.

 

[orezok]

I subscribe to the 90-10-90 theory of posting on most forums. 90% of people are usually satisfied with the service they receive. 10% are not. They are the ones that post 90% of posts. I usually discount most rants by 90% to reach the actual factor of problems!

 

[ray66v]

90% of people are usually satisfied with the service they receive.

That is mostly because ignorance is bliss.

 

[Bird]

I always preferred doing my own oil changes until I moved back to town a little over 7 years ago. So now I let my Ford dealer do it. I just wait there and drink their coffee while they do it, although they're more than willing to take me home and come back and get me if I wanted to leave one for service. So I pay $32.70 for an oil & filter change, and they check everything else, top off the windshield washer fluid, etc. But then every 3rd or 4th oil change is free. So both vehicles got a free (complimentary) oil & filter change last year. And today, I got my invitation in the mail for the dealer's "3rd annual Family Reunion Barbecue" (a customer appreciation event) a week from this Saturday. It was pretty good barbecue last year.:laughing:

 

[Redbug]

That isn't a bad deal, Bird. And they must do everything right since you have been going back. Do you get your choice of oils?

 

[Bird]

Do you get your choice of oils?

Dave, I've never asked.:laughing: Every dealer I've known of has always recommended oil changes every 3k miles saying they consider the heat, air pollution, traffic, etc. in this area to be severe service, so whether the dealer, or whether I was doing it myself, I've gone by the 3k mile cycle just about as long as I can remember. But, as with most places, they put a little sticker in the upper left corner of the windshield showing the mileage that the next change will be due. And last year they changed to the 5k mile cycle instead of 3k miles. Naturally, I asked about it and they said it was because they changed to synthetic oil. And the price of the oil & filter change is only $2.22 more now than it was 3 years ago. Neither vehicle has ever required adding oil between changes, even with the 5k mile cycle.

But of course they can make mistakes, just as anyone can. When I had them service the transmission on the Ranger, they overfilled it so when it got hot, some leaked out. Naturally, I went back and they corrected that. So I do check the oil myself after service.

The owner of the dealership for the last 54 years died last year, but he already had a son running their place in another town, and a daughter running a third one, so I don't think much will change.

 

[MossRoad]

I always preferred doing my own oil changes until I moved back to town a little over 7 years ago. So now I let my Ford dealer do it. I just wait there and drink their coffee while they do it, although they're more than willing to take me home and come back and get me if I wanted to leave one for service. So I pay $32.70 for an oil & filter change, and they check everything else, top off the windshield washer fluid, etc. But then every 3rd or 4th oil change is free. So both vehicles got a free (complimentary) oil & filter change last year. And today, I got my invitation in the mail for the dealer's "3rd annual Family Reunion Barbecue" (a customer appreciation event) a week from this Saturday. It was pretty good barbecue last year.:laughing:

Hey, that ends up being about 20-25 bucks per oil change AND a free BBQ. Pretty good deal. :licking:

 

[jinman]

The owner of the dealership for the last 54 years died last year, but he already had a son running their place in another town, and a daughter running a third one, so I don't think much will change.

Was that Bill Utter? I grew up in Denton when it was the original Bill Utter Ford location on South Elm St and Chester Morris had the Chevy dealership on N. Elm before moving to University Drive. Guy Laney was the Mercury-Lincoln dealer on N. Locust. Funny how your mentioning a 54 year old dealership brought on that memory.

 

[Bird]

Yep, Jim, even though Bill Utter was in his 90s, the service manager had told me he was still coming to work for a little while each morning and driving his own van. I haven't asked anyone about any details since the news stories about his death. But apparently he had been involved in an auto accident a short time before his death and I don't know whether that caused his death or not. According to the newspaper he was 92 when he died in January of last year. Another long time car dealer in the area, J. L. Huffines, was 85 when he died last year.

Jim, the first and only time I was in Bill Utter Ford, until about 4 years ago, was in 1958 when I was going to college at North Texas and I took a used Isetta home from there for the weekend before deciding not to buy it.

 

[Bird]

Hey, that ends up being about 20-25 bucks per oil change AND a free BBQ. Pretty good deal. :licking:

Last year they had a little band, and they have a bounce house for the kids, and the thing that surprised me most was also some free beer and wine.

 

[jinman]

Another long time car dealer in the area, J. L. Huffines, was 85 when he died last year.

Bird, J.L. Huffines sold me the first new car I ever bought. It was a 1968 Malibu Sport Coupe. His nephew and I carpooled from Denton to Texas Instruments in Richardson. J.L. sold me that Malibu for $100 over dealer's cost, $3,268. He sure treated me good.

 

[Bird]

Bird, J.L. Huffines sold me the first new car I ever bought. It was a 1968 Malibu Sport Coupe. His nephew and I carpooled from Denton to Texas Instruments in Richardson. J.L. sold me that Malibu for $100 over dealer's cost, $3,268. He sure treated me good.

Jim, it wasn't my first new car, but that's about right for 1968 prices. I think I gave about $3,350 for my 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner when it was new.

 

[Bedlam]

Bird...Bet your like me and wish we still had those cars.So easy to work on...

 

[Bird]

Bird...Bet your like me and wish we still had those cars.So easy to work on...

Except that Roadrunner needed new plugs about every 10k miles and the back plug on the right bank was accessed from underneath the car. Now for easy to work on (if I'd kept it long enough to need to work on it) was the 1969 Chevy half ton pickup I bought new right after the 1970 models came out. I believe the grand total was $1,948.10 for the short narrow bed, inline 6, 3 speed manual; i.e., the cheapest thing they made. No radio, no cigarette lighter. It did have a rear bumper and spare tire (for you younger folks, yep, those used to be "options" on pickup trucks).

 

[mjarrels]

Bird, Jim, Thats about the last time I had a flat tire. I haven't changed a flat tire in decades, wife and kids have never experienced a flat tire and to be correct, I would probably have to break out the owners manual on all my cars, truck to see how it's done today and where to find the tools?

mark

 

[Bird]

Bird, Jim, Thats about the last time I had a flat tire. I haven't changed a flat tire in decades, wife and kids have never experienced a flat tire and to be correct, I would probably have to break out the owners manual on all my cars, truck to see how it's done today and where to find the tools?

mark

I'd say you've been lucky, Mark. The last one I changed was a right front tire that went flat in the parking lot at the DFW Airport where we had gone to pick up my wife's sister on 10/4/2004.

I know my wife has never changed a tire and don't know whether our daughters have or not since they were 16 years old. When I was teaching them to drive, I didn't just show or tell them how to change a tire, I made them actually do it.:laughing:

 

[tallyho8]

I wish I could say it has been that long since I had a flat. In the year following Katrina, my wife and I had over 100 flats and had to buy 3 new sets of tires due to all the debris on the roads in our area.

Even driving very slow and cautiously and going around all the debris we could see was no help. The main roads leading to the dumps are in our area and trash haulers were constantly spilling debris on the roads.

I got pretty good at finding the leaks with a spray bottle full of kid's bubble liquid and could find and plug a flat in about 5 minutes after a little practice. The hardest part was trying to pull the nail out after the heads were worn off from driving on them. It was not unusual to find 5 nails in a tire at a time when checking them.

We still had about 30 flats each year the 2nd year and 3rd year after Katrina but the highways are finally pretty clear of nails now.

 

[jinman]

Holy smokes! 100 flats in a year. :shocked: Dudley, you deserve the TBN rusty nail award.

 

[tallyho8]

Holy smokes! 100 flats in a year. :shocked: Dudley, you deserve the TBN rusty nail award.

I accept!

That was on 2 trucks, mine and my wife's. She got about twice as many flats as I did and they were almost always on the passenger's side of the truck which led me to believe that she rides on the far right side of the road where most of the nails end up because there isn't as much traffic in that area.

I went through over 3 boxes of plugs in those 3 years (50 to a box) and I am still on my 4th box now and it has been about 6 months since we had a flat.

Thank goodness for tubeless tires that hold air for a couple of days even with 5 nails in the tire. If we had tube type tires we would not have been able to go around the block.