If I’m getting an oil change at a dealership or one of the tire shops I frequent (Firestone and Goodyear), I’d expect a full safety inspection of CV boots, steering linkage, rusted frame, etc.
If I were to get an oil change at Iffy Lube, I’d expect them to check for things they can sell me, like the air filter and all fluids they sell, but I wouldn’t expect them to check for anything related to work they don’t sell. The guys in the pit are not what I consider well trained automotive technicians.
@Ben_T_Spanner, the question I have for your sister is: Didn’t she get any maintenance other than fluid changes? Did she ask anyone at Iffy Lube to do everything thing that was listed in the maintenance schedule at 15,000 miles and 30,000 miles, or did she just assume they would?
I am a Geo Metro guy. These are great little cars except little thought was given to rust proofing them.
They run forever as long as you change the oil and try to keep the rust at bay which is the biggest challenge. The front subframe will rot out and the left front wheel will literally fall off when the control arm separates.
You may notice I don’t mention the right wheel falling off. This is because there is another little defect in these cars. The 1st cam journal cap at the front seal has a mis-aligned oil drainback hole so the seal loves to blow if any little contaminant gets in this spot. I have never seen one of these that doesn’t leak after a while. I remove the valve cover and the cap, take a small metal file and drag it across once to enlarge the hole, and put it all back together. You can tell that the problem is fixed this easy and they never leak again after this modification.
All that oil drips down on the right front subframe and that side doesn’t rust out!
I did a lot of amateur body repair with fiber glass kits and Duplicolor® spray paint. I did my amateur body work on my 54 Buick, my 61 Corvair, my 65 Rambler, 68 Javelin and 71 Maverick.
What is really interesting is that my first car, a 1947 Pontiac which I bought in 1961 for $75 was rust free. The engine was shot and the cluster gear was worn in the transmission, but the exterior and interior were in great shape. On this car, it would have made sense to do an engine transplant and to have overhauled the transmission. Good used engines weren’t real expensive in those days.
I live near buffalo NY and I agree with Mike in NH about the road salt and rustproofing. The cars I had rustproofed have had bodies that lasted much longer than the ones that weren’t.
I have used Ziebart, Rustoil. and whatever The Toyota dealer was selling when I bought my last car. My 1981 Horizon I rustproofed myself with a material that I bought at an auto body supply shop. It skinned over but never completely hardened.It could be sprayed, rolled or brushed.
I agree, cars are much more corrosion resistant now but Buffalo and Syracuse are special cases. They do spray the underbody completely.
I think rustproofing is unnecessary in most of the country. but people from outside the area cannot imagine the magnitude of the problem here. Even if it is not snowing today, the streets are covered with a salt water bath that you can’t avoid. I have seen advice to was your car more often but that doesn’t help when you have to drive through brine to get home. The snow banks alongside the curb stop the salt water from draining away and even if it does dry up, the road (and everything else) is covered with dried salt that reactivates with any moisture. One bright spot, we get almost no “black ice” because of the residual salt.
I don’t remember when the term " black ice " first became popular, for the first40 years of my life I never hears it called anything but “glare ice”. It is only black over blacktop. it is mostly invisible over concrete.
Like I said before, I think the term black ice has been thrown around so much to just mean any dark ice. What it always used to refer to in Minnesota was the invisible frost/condensation from car exhaust on a very cold day. It would make the road (white concrete or black asphalt) as slippery as glare ice but you couldn’t see that it was icy. Made worse in heavy traffic as the exhaust kept piling it on. That’s still what I think of and if they mention it, better believe it because you can’t tell it’s icy.
I’m in southern Ontario where the fear of legal liability runs deep with municipalities. Road salt is gradually destroying a lot of aquatic life around the larger cities. Ironically there are also reports of some species of crab appearing in the rivers feeding into Lake Ontario that are supposed to exist only in salt water marshes.
I try to minimize the amount of driving I do when the conditions are particularly briny. And when it gets above 5 degrees C I’m not averse to getting the hose out and the rubber gloves on and giving my truck a thorough wash, especially the undercarriage, wheel wells, behind the bumpers etc. I get oil sprayed every other year, usually in the late summer because it penetrates better in the heat I’m told. My mechanic appreciates that I have never used the waxy no drip product which I think could actually lock in moisture if the vehicle is not bone dry when applied. Truck turns 25 next year and is still remarkably rust free, particularly where it counts in the frame and suspension.
I live in a rust bucket surrounded by ocean and salt air. You might want to consult with
a body & frame shop on the sub frame damage. Hopefully the second was rustproofed
and sealed. If not, check with the dealership to get it done. I use Firestone maintenance
instead of the dealer as a matter of convenience and better prices. They won’t check for
rust unless I ask them.
All four British cars I owned were 12 Volt positive ground. 1960 AH Sprite had a single battery. 1960 and 1962 MGAs plus 1966 MGB had dual 6 Volts. Low Winter temperatures here are normally mid 20sF so no starting problems. British cars are maintenance intensive. Common lack of maintenance in USA is a major cause of their poor reliability reputation.
The pavement spots were known as “BMC calling cards”. I only experienced a seep here and there plus a very minor drip from the gearbox tail shaft of my MGB. My Triumph motorcycle lived up to the reputation. In later years the Japanese “Magicians” at Yamaha and Mazda were somehow able to preserve the fun while removing the pain.
Back in the good ole days dripping oil was a classic car’s owner’s way to mark his territory. A Studebaker Hawk’s recent location was always easily identified because the leaking oil was so clean. The engine leaked so fast that the oil never got dirty before it was on the ground. There was always a case of re-refined on the back seat.
No one should expect satisfaction from a “quickie,” of any type. I would not even trust a quick lube place could do the oil change correctly–type, tighten plug, etc.
Give even this “easy” business to a trusted mechanic, you will be glad you did.
Having not received sympathy or empathy for expecting full maintenance service from an Iffy Lube business, I suspect the OP has left the building, so to speak. It’s a shame @Ben_T_Spanner isn’t responding to any of my questions.
I’d never trust Iffy Lube to do an oil change on one of my vehicles after the experiences I’ve had, but in this case, I think the OP expected too much.
What questions do you want me to answer? The Taurus has been junked. I suggested that my sister get her oil changes done at the Ford dealership. if they suggest any additional services, she will check with her adult son. Did the Taurus have a 30,000 mile service? I don’t know. Its junk now.
Her current and maybe last car, is 1 year old. My whole point, other than generating responses, was to suggest that vehicles be inspected by someone who may know what they are looking at; while being serviced.
I believe you may be a former mechanic. Back in the day, i would have paid more to have you service my vehicle. I was once a mechanic. I don’t use quicky anything including KFC.