My Sister has been widowed for three years and lives in the Rust belt. She bought a 2004 Taurus Wagon new. She kept it as second car. 45000 miles as of last month. She used a quick oil change place and remarked how she dislikes driving over the pit.
She smelled gas in the garage and when her son borrowed the car, he also smelled gas. She took it to her trusted mechanic. ( Not where she gets oil changes.) They indicated that 1) gas leak was due to corroded gas line. 2) Car was unsafe to drive as front sub frame was perforated with rust.
Iffy lube never mentioned rust. If i still lived n the Rust belt I would certainly want an visual inspection for under body rust at each oil change. I suggested that she check with her Ford dealer (She has a 2017 Escape) and her trusted mechanic regarding oil change prices, they could be competitive, and would certainly check for rust.
You had high hopes that a quickie lube place would do a thorough mechanical exam of your sister’s car and report any concerns? Talk about unreasonable expectations!!!
Quickie lube places get paid to get you in and out in a hurry. If they can sell you wiper blades or other fluid services they will find the time to pitch them to you. Otherwise they have no incentive to do anything other than get you in and out fast. Period. If you want the kind of service and feedback that you were expecting, see a good independent mechanic and treat them nice!!!
I would not expect a complete vehicle inspection from a quick lube facility. Other than oil - filter - and possibly fluid level checks they have met their business goal .
The Ford dealerships around here have a quick lube section they use for oil changes. I have no faith that the people they’re staffing that section with are any better than Jiffy Lube. Not only do you have to be motivated to do the inspection, but you also have to be competent to do the inspection.
A buddy just bought a used Ford F150. He had the first oil change done at the Ford dealer in their “lube lane.” They only put 5 quarts into the 5.0 liter V8… the engine takes 8 quarts and has since introduction in 2011! He found it when he got home, added 3 more quarts.
Actual experience reinforces your lack of faith!
Auto technicians are paid more (ha ha) because they have training and experience to find and fix problems. Oil change guys are paid less because they are Only trained to do regular maintenance. To expect them to do a once over is not right. It would be like expecting a plumber to troubleshoot your computer.
Gotta agree. As they say, you get what you pay for. They just are not mechanics and even if they did point out a rust problem, you’d have to have a real shop take a look anyway. If I go to a fast food place, I don’t expect china and a table cloth.
So it’s your fault that the Burger King High Class Dining Experiment failed. 
I suspect you run that risk at ANY shop that the guys doing the oil change are limited in skills and knowledge.
Having said that, have yet to have a problem with the Ford dealership in 20 years.
They ARE competitive. I, along with others on this site, firmly believe in using a dealer service department while under warranty.
Well what will the conglomerate Yum Brands think of next? I have a hard time ordering at the counter for KFC take out because of the surroundings. Not to stereotype again but I just don’t like eating with people stuffing themselves and chewing on chicken bones. Very unappetizing. Haven’t been to BK in years though.
I grew up in the rust belt. If I still lived there I’d get the vehicle treated with Ziebart. They are still around and very useful in places like Upstate NY that uses millions of tons of salt every year.
I live in the rust belt. My first wife’s father bought a new Ford F-100 pickup in 1969 and had Ziebart do the “rust proof” treatment. It rusted more quickly than any vehicle vmI have ever seen. I often wonder if the moisture got under the Ziebart coating and sped up the rusting.
A friend, a single woman in her early 70s had a 1996 Ford Taurus station wagon. Her car was bumped on the driver’s side in the driveway at a friend’s house. The damage looked cosmetic to me. The doors opened and closed properly and no window glass was broken. The insurance company called it a total. My friend bought it back from the insurance company and found a body man who worked after hours and did the bodywork. I would have taken the insurance check, driven the car the way it was and used the check for beer money. I had previously helped this friend negotiate for a new 2013 Honda Civic. She decided to use the Ford Taurus wagon as a second car around town. A year later, the transmission began to slip. The shop wouldn’t put the Taurus on a lift because of the rust. She decided to just drive it around town. I finally convinced her that the Taurus was no longer safe to drive. Her mechanic bought the car from her for the engine.
This wasn’t the first time my friend bought a car back from the insurance company. She inherited a 1990 Civic from her mother. Her brother was visiting and driving the 1990 Civic and the Civic got hit in the front. The insurance company totaled it. Again, this friend bought the car back from the insurance company and had it repaired. At the time, the rear quarter panels showed excessive rust around the wheel wells. I rode with her to the dealer when she traded the 1990 Civic for the new 2013 Civic. The passenger side motorized seat belt and shoulder harness had quit working, so she just took a knife and cut it off. I hated riding in that car. The salesman gave her a very high trade-in allowance because he said he had all kinds of buyers that would be interested. I think the trade-in allowance was really the discount on the new 2013 Civic.
Once rust sets in, a car really isn’t worth repairing IMHO. Especially with the rust treatment given cars at the factory today, the aftermarket treatment isn’t worth it and may do more harm than good.
British cars have built in anti rust systems. Why didn’t Detroit jump on that technology?
And what would that technology be? Un-reliable ignition systems that prevent starting when moisture appears? 6 Volt, positive ground electrical systems that won’t start when cold? Heaters with the power of a hamster’s breath that encourages their owners to find another source of transportation? Canvas tops and plastic window curtains that won’t keep out the frigid air?
Keeps the cars off of the salted roads but they rust away anyway.
We use Krown rustproofing in Canada.This rustproofing oil disperses moisture like nothing else on the market.I stay away from wax coating or Ziebart.
As a happy holder of Yum stock, I can assure you that Yum has nothing whatsoever to do with Burger King, which is actually owned by Restaurant Brands International. RBI also owns Tim Horton’s, and I seem to recall that they were seeking to buy Popeye’s.
@ Mustangman "Why would positive ground make any difference as to whether or not the car would start in cold weather? My dad always was able to start his 1947 DeSoto with 6 volt positive ground in sub-zero weather. The school bus I rode which was on a 1946 Chevrolet chassis was 6 volt but was a negative ground. It bugged me that the driver could always start that bus when the temperature was below zero and we always got to school on time. There was no way out of that first period English class. Other buses were often late due to start up problems, but not the bus that was assigned to my route. The students that didn’t make the first period class due to their bus not starting could turn their assignments in the next day. Those of us who were in class had to turn in our assignments or take an F on the assignment. Sixty-three years later, I still hate the sight of anything on a 1946; Chevrolet chassis.
One more rust Idea: there used to be a program on cable television called “Two Guys’ Garage”. They would install a device that connected to the electrical system of the vehicle and prevented the electrolysis that causes rust. I really doubted that this device did any good, but the two guys were really convincing.
Perpetual oil leaks. It’s very effective.
And I can show you identical vehicles where one was Ziebart coated and the other wasn’t…the one that wasn’t rusted out 3-4 times faster.
Ziebart works - IF IT’S DONE PROPERLY. If it’s not done properly then you’ll have mixed results. Back in the 80’s there were several dozen different rust proofing companies. Most were franchised and what I saw most were just in it for a quick buck. Quality of job was not even in the equation.
The companies left (Ziebart and may 1-2 more) have a good reputation and do quality work. I still have relatives in upstate NY and they can tell which vehicles (especially pickups) that have been treated and the ones that’s haven’t.