Like everything there are good ones and bad ones. Personally i would never use one, been doing all my own maintenance for 40 years.

Took my company truck in for its first oil change back in the 80's, they wanted to change the Belts and Air filter as well... told them to have a look at the odometer...only had 500 miles on it LOL

 

Even though a place comes recommended by a friend and has done good work on older model cars in the past It doesn't mean they will do good work for you on a given day As we all know moods , pressure to "just get it done " Monday morning cobwebs and I can't wait to get out of here attitudes all come into play if you don't do the changes on your car yourself and you don't have a mechanic you've developed a relationship with over the years I would insist on watching every step taken thru the process as a minimum In the end I guess it come down to how passionate " or not" you are about your ride Be careful about convincing yourself that it's a simple thing so anyone can do it properly Most car guys that don't let anyone touch there car anymore have been burnt or have heard too many stories of others with negative stories aaa I've been reading in response to your post

 

I certainly appreciate the feedback. Frankly, most of the negative stories fall under "shared responsibility" or even "poop happens". For example, driving off without oil in the vehicle. If you didn't even bother to look at the dip stick before leaving or notice that they didn't actually put product in your vehicle... Well there is always some element of caveat emptor at play in my mind. Where I go, they bring me the dipstick right to my window so I can see the level. And I always check the level a few times immediately and in the days after a change, even if I've done it myself. Someone having a driving accident isn't a contingency that I'm going to consider any more than worrying about something like a valet driver going rogue ala Ferris Bueller. Worse that can happen in that regard at the Oil Change place is as I pull in my own vehicle having the guy spotting me Direct me wrong and I drive into the pit.

But again, I understand the concerns raised.

In the end, I needed an oil change and just don't have the means to do it myself right now. I went to my usual place. The guys gave me a ton of attention and loved the vehicle. I did not feel that they understood Vettes much nor older vehicles in general. It took a while to confirm the correct filter. Next time, if I use them, I'll bring my own Wix.

I asked the guy in the pit to confirm the source of an oil leak and he confirmed my suspicion that it is the oil pan gasket.

I misspoke in my OP, they are Pennzoil. And I decided to go full Synth. Yeah, I know, let's start the debate on that decision!

 

IMHO the question is, what's so hard about a DIY oil change as to make it impossible in the first place?

 

I've toyed with the concept of a DIY Auto Shop with bays and tools available for rental. Perhaps a mechanic or two on staff for assistance. Maybe some storage space as well. Maybe in partnership with an auto parts store on site. Seems like there could be a business model. Insurance would be an issue.

 

Anyplace that let's a car go out without oil is unworthy of anyone's buisness,alot of people have no idea how to check oil. That is why they "trust" others to do it for them and the shop has an obligation to do things properly.
The suggestion to bring your own oil is a good one, I would say filter too.the wrong oil with a flat tippet cam even once could be diastorous.

 

I like the concept of opening such a shop, but it really doesn't take very much in the way of facilities to do one's own oil change. A couple of ramps (fabbed mine of 2x8s), modest assortment of tools and a few minutes is all it takes.

 

Very true, but I wonder how many people know how to and are comfortable performing their own chassis lubrication? We might also wonder if the typical Quickie lube joint knows how to do it properly? I could easily picture them missing half of the lubrication points on a C3.

 

My experience is that they continually hound you for extra services. Last expereince was with my 95 Cadillac Seville. The price they quote for an oil and filter change is for their economy oil. They claimed because I had a Cadillac, I needed a premium oil (20 year old car!!). I said no. Then they wanted to flush the brake lines. Good insurance for avoiding a big accident due to brake failure...I said no. Then they wanted to flush the transmission fluid...I said no. Then came the kicker....They wanted to change the coolant.....the technician opened the radiator cap...looked in and said it needed changed because THERE WAS TOO MUCH WATER IN THE FLUID..I looked at him point blank and told him he was lying...I said there is ABSOLUTELY NO WATER IN MY COOLANT..it was pure ethylene glycol!!!!!

In the past other things that have upset me. One is unscrewing the differential fill plug, sticking their finger in to see if the feel fluid...and of course pushing in dirt into the differential case at the same time. Another is adding brake fluid. They'll typically have an open can of brake fluid with syringe in it ( like a mini-turky baster). They then use the syringe to add fluid....of course the open can of brake fluid...who knows how open to the atmosphere is absorbing water vapor, so when they top up your brake fluid, it's probably water contaminated.

I would be happy for them to change the oil and filter, if they just did that, were quiet, and didn't check anything.

 

I use the quick lube here in Anchorage for my 2012 sierra and 2012 Yukon because they can attach the service records to carfax and that will show if we ever decide to sell them, I only let them use mobile 1 synthetic and I don't buy other services that they sell, just the oil change. I don't take my vette there, but If I were in a pinch and couldn't do it myself I wouldn't hesitate. I think that with those places you should double check their work by a) checking the fluid level before leaving, b) checking under the car for leaks before leaving and repeating after a short trip home or to the store ect. Just like all of us they're not perfect and can make mistakes as well They did try and sell me on a differntial service with 3k miles on my sierra showing me a napkin with dirty gear oil on it, which I declined . The worst chain shop you can take a vehicle to is Midas in my opinion, I was away at work and my son needed to get front end work done on his truck, for some reason he took it to midas, what a rip off facillity, brakes were fairly new and they said that it needed brakes and that they couldn't let it leave like that, the truck sat for 4 days until I got home, we went down there and I said show me the bad brakes, they then said that they had it confused with a different truck and that the brakes were in good shape.

 

One will suck out loud the next might have gear heads working there no one can be sure until you check it out,
I go because it's cheaper and time saving when I add in dealing with the old oil, the cats at the one I go to are gear heads 1/2 import tuner cats the others into old school v8 but they all know and love cars,
I enjoy chatting with the guys.
The key to this is not saying they all suck but rather check them out find a good one, or do it yourself because you desire to thump your chest about it not because all drive through oil change places are bad...they are not.

 

They have a shop like that in our city http://www.u-wrench.ca/default.htm I have used them for thier bodyshop facilities to spray a few cars.
The building is split in 2 one side mechanical the other side body shop.
They do have reasonable rates and most tools you would need available for rental

I wish there were more facilities around like this.
Not sure what thier liability insurance would cost...they have been around for quite a while.

 

I'd definitely be putting a business plan together for a shop along those lines (with one eye on local motorsports enthusiasts) if I had the finances to do.

 

Had an 88 Olds, station car... they collapsed the filter and it had no oil pressure when I started it outside the shop.... They also said I needed an A/C recharge.. I laughed - no compressor in the car.

Running late so I took my 1980 truck in to a different quick lube shop, they never greased the grease fittings. I checked it after I returned from a trip. Their comment was " well the new cars don't need to have the universals greased" so how should they know.. Stopped payment on the card ....

Wall Mart = Shell 15-40 oil is 14.99 +3.50 for the filter, less than the quick lube... and I grease the fittings...

Neighbor's windshield washer fluid from a quick lube fill froze and broke the pump.... they claimed he added water - he can't open the hood...

My feeling is go at you're own risk....

 

Hel.... no. I don't even take my daily driver to those idiots-in-training.

If I can't change it myself, I go to the local garage repair shop. My daily driver is s PITA to get the filter off without a mess. The Corvette is a simple quick job.

 

I started working at one when I was 16. all of us "grease monkey's" loved cars and gave special attention to any nice vehicle. I ended up managing several, and made sure I hired good employees and always did all the double checks required. I can't speak for every quick lube place out there, but can guarantee replacing motors for people because someone left a drain plug loose or stripped a plug on a transfer case or something is not good for business...the industry takes great pains to not have to buy $10k motors for people because of stupid mistakes by idiot employees...sure it happens on occasion, but it is not the norm and there is no reason not to use a quick lube place IMO...