Engine started misfiring and check engine light started blinking as I was driving so I took it to Jiffy Lube to get it diagnosed. They told me there was 1 bad spark plug. Quoted me $233 to replace them all at $25 a plug + labor $124 and then tax of course.
Found the spark plugs on Rockauto for $4 a piece…
So am I getting ripped off? (I don’t know shit about cars)
What are you doing at Jiffy Lube for vehicle repair ? They are not even good for oil changes . Find an indpendent repair shop . You may not save much money but at least you should have a real mechanic working on your vehicle.
I was taking my girlfriend to an appointment when my car started acting up (misfiring, check engine light blinking) and Jiffy Lube was the closet shop to diagnose my CEL.
Well that depends. If you had come to the shop I was managing a year and a half ago, we would have charged you $149 for a Check Engine Light/Poor Running diagnosis. We would have done a complete evaluation of the issues causing your complaint, including a test drive, complete scan of all on-board systems, check fuel injection, mechanical, and ignition system operation, searched for any Technical Service Bulletins and open recalls, and recommended repairs based on what we found. I doubt Jiffy Lube was that thorough, and I doubt they guarantee their diagnosis.
$233 to diagnose and repair a rough running problem is cheap. The trouble is, I don’t necessarily trust the shop you chose.
This is not what Jiffy Lube is for. Even if this was a great price (which it isn’t bad for that work,) I would not recommend a lube shop for repairs/diagnoses like this. as @asemaster said, it’s doubtful they have done real diagnoses on this, and in my opinion- they are just throwing parts at it.
having said that, you stated you cannot do the work yourself, so you are going to have to pay for it. no shame in getting a second opinion.
Well I only took my car to them because they were the closest at the time. So are you saying the codes they pulled were wrong? As I said I dont know much about car’s. All they did was hook up a machine to check the codes for my CEL. And according to his device there was 1 misfire and a bad spark plug.
The fault codes are correct, but they didn’t perform a diagnosis and you didn’t pay for one. There are several failures that cause misfires: spark plug, ignition coil, fuel injector failure or low cylinder compression.
Your car may be due for spark plug replacement, while performing this they might find that an ignition coil has failed.
There isn’t a code for “replace spark plug”. The misfire could have been the result of a bad coil, rather than the spark plug.
But, the ultimate question is… Is the misfiring gone? Is the CEL no longer blinking?
If the answer to both questions is “yes”, then somehow JL managed to resolve the problem. If the answer is “no”, then you need to seek an actual mechanic’s shop.
That your CEL was blinking means you must get this fixed before driving it any significant distance.
It goes without saying that I would not trust Jiffy Lube (or similar quick-oil change establishments) to change my oil, let alone to diagnose and repair a mechanical problem. That being said, $233 to replace the spark plugs is not unreasonable for a professional mechanic. In fact, many shops would charge more to diagnose the problem and complete the repairs–even if the problem ends up being just worn-out spark plugs.
Do you have the tools and expertise to buy the correct spark plugs, remove the old ones, check and adjust the gap on the new ones, and install them to the proper torque value? If not, you’re going to have to pay someone to do this necessary maintenance, though I would not use Jiffy Lube. (And as a side note, although Rock Auto might list $4 spark plugs as fitting your engine, it is highly unlikely that those are the recommended spark plugs for your vehicle, and it is even more unlikely that those are the plugs which Jiffy Lube was selling for $25 each.)
$25 per spark plug indeed seems a little on the high side. But it might not be extremely high.
There’s two different types, copper & iridium. If you car’s maintenance schedule says to replace the spark plugs ever 75k+ miles, those are probably iridium type. Those are more expensive, $12-$15 at parts stores, but $25 each wouldn’t be out of line if purchased as an oem plug from a dealership.
Copper plugs (both of my vehicles use this type), the replacement interval is usually recommended at about 30K miles. Those plugs are usually priced $2-$4 each .
In any event , $233 to diagnose the problem & replace the spark plugs, and it solved the misfire symptoms, that seems like a pretty good deal to me. I actully don’t see how they could do it for $124 in labor. Seems like it would cost more than that. It takes me around 45 minutes to change my Corolla’s 4 spark plugs, and no diagnosis time. Labor rates in most areas are $100 per hour or more.
Jiffy Lube expanded their service options and now includes some mechanical services in addition to fluid and filter services. I used to go to one near me and they posted the ASE certifications for all the employees that had them. I wondered what they were up to with that. JL pay is historically low and that means that their employees are newbie mechanics. The shop I went to had a foreman that checked all the work before the car was released to the customer. You may have gotten just what you needed and apparently at an attractive price. Keep an eye on the CEL and if it stays off you are good to go. Also, you did what you thought was best at the time. Don’t spend time with the negative comments, they don’t matter anymore since the work is done.
Yea I called around to a few other reputable shops in my area and Jiffy Lube was actually the cheapest. But I ended up paying a friend of my father whos a mechanic and he only charged me $110 including parts and labor. He was done in probably 12 minutes lol and it runs so much smoother now. Apparently all 4 of my plugs were fried.
Does your Malibu use the more expensive iridium plugs, or copper?
I’m presuming iridium, b/c usually copper plugs have to be gapped first. That itself would take on the order of 12 minutes for diy’er me to do. It would me take longer than 12 minutes just to find the tools needed … glad your Malibu is running smoothly again 
Autozone’s catalog says this has double platinum as the o.e. plug, Either the iridium or Platinum plugs listed for this application come pre gapped.
More like $5-7 as parts stores. Dealer is $15.
Around here…most places only charge $75 (or less) for a code reading. Shouldn’t take more than an hour to replace plugs - but they’ll charge you the full hour. Around here independents charge over $100/hr. So that $233 price seems reasonable.
I purchased a '78 Chevy 4X4 Van new at the beginning of 79. I had always changed the oil and tuned up my other cars and changed the oil on the van as well. But after 5K miles, I took to the dealer for a tune-up. I received a bill for $189.00 (1979 dollars) for this tune-up. being shocked by the price, I asked “what could cost that much for a tune-up?” they said it’s very difficult on vans creating extra labor costs.
They LIED!
I don’t know your car, but the next tune-up I did myself and it took two hours+ to find my way around. After realizing the easiest access to the plugs, (some from underneath, some from under the bonnet) I had it down to 45 minutes from beginning to end. With the height of this vehicle (15" off the ground), I seldom had to get out a jack for anything but change a tire.
They smell a neophyte like a shark smells blood.
100000 miles , change them even if they are iridium plugs.
I had a problem with a dealership shop years ago, and addressed it similar to your method. I took a night school class in auto repair at local high school. But I’d differ w/you on the dealership’s intention. I believe in the vast majority of cases a dealership shop’s goal is to do what’s required to keep the car in excellent fettle, with cost at most a secondary factor. They believe that’s what is best for the customer. Safe and reliable car. Folks here sometimes complain about dealership shop upselling, but I’ve never experienced that problem myself. The only place I’ve seen that is non-dealership chain auto repair shops.
Considering that today plugs typically last 100,000 instead of the old one year/12,000 miles I’d say the cost isn’t crazy but I’d advise you to go to a real mechanic instead of Jiffy Lube.