Yup! The quick lube places thrive on people who don’t plan ahead and will resort to those joints simply because of convenience. Just as you would plan for routine MD or dentist visits, it is always a good idea to plan your scheduled auto maintenance.
You say the manager came and told you your battery was dead,did the manager also try to sell you a battery?. Maybe this info is buried somewhere in the thread. You should have told us in your original post if the manager only told you your battery was dead or in addition tried to sell you a battery.
Yes, the manager told me the battery was dead. I drove into the place. The staff, before I had even gotten out of the car, identified that I had never been there before (I heard them say, "he’s new, he’s new)then the manager came up to me, introduced himself and proceeded to put me into the computer. At that time he explained the different oil change packages they had. I chose one, and he escorted me into the lobby. In about two minutes he came in and said, “your car won’t start” and proceeded to sell me a new battery.
My original post, as you can tell by the capitalization and punctuation errors, was written very quickly and I had not thought about the importance of who it was in the shop that ripped me off -I just wondered how they ripped me off. I knew I had been taken and it won’t happen again but I was wondering how they killed my battery so quickly and does this kind of thing happen often?
They tried to sell you a battery before they did the oil service? Usually all upsales happen after they start the approved service.
They want to make sure they get at least the oil change,How did they know you would not become suspicious of such a quick upsell and cancel the entire job.
So they tried to pull your car into the bay to start the oil change and it would not start. Sounds like your battery just decided to fail at this paticular time
That is a good point. The possibility that my battery had died was one reason why I bought the new one. However, I think it was a safe bet for them. I had already committed to having my oil changed and though some people would have pushed their car out of the shop, I think most (especially non mechanical people) would just get a new battery rather than undergo the ensuing hassle of finding someone to tow the car and having to find another mechanic -or worse try to prove that they have been swindled.
In the end, I just don’t feel like it’s likely that my battery would all of a sudden go completely dead right at the moment that I pulled into this shop. I’ve owned a few cars and I have never seen a battery go completely dead without some warning. If I hadn’t been driving the car I might consider it but I drive everyday and the vehicle has never given me a lick of trouble.
You can go back and ask to check your old battery for output, just for fun. My recent personal experience on maintenance free batteries.
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89 Corolla with many episodes of lights left on in the winter morning hours due to no warning system and a hurried owner. The car required to be jumped many times but the battery finally died. When it did it was kind of sudden. Went to store, park, come out nothing, not even weak lights. Still started with a jump and drove to a store.
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2000 Caravan; everything is fine. Parked car and washed it, came out and all the locks are going crazy, car would not crank. Was sure water has gotten somewhere serious even though this was a regular wash and rinse. Jumped the car and it was fine. Drive to parts shop and car did not start at all. New battery put in and it has been fine since.
Just curious,After you bought the battery and they started your oil change and gave your car a look over did they come back with more items that they said you needed? This would be rather bold.
Was your battery of the type that the caps could not be removed eaisly?
I will perpetuate a automotive myth here it is, you can destroy a cars battery by pouring CocaCola into the cells (I don’t know if Pepsi works) there are a lot of CocaCola myths out there just like WD-40.
The quick, unexplained failure happened to us recently - twice. And on different cars. I suppose I could have avoided it by replacing the battery every 4 to 5 years. The one in our 2003 Silhouette was OE. Fortunately, my wife and daughter were stranded about 10 minutes from home. I took them home then went back to check the van out. It started after a little coaxing; I drove it home. The worst part about the replacement was lifting the old battery out. It took me about 15 minutes to cajole it out after removing the stuff covering it. But getting back on the road for under a hundred bucks does feel good.
I’m not aware of quick lube places that sell batteries, but I suppose it’s possible. Certainly not the one I use. A Jiffy Lube, BTW, and they do good work. I can’t vouch for any other JL, but this one’s good. They even have a wall full of ASE certificates for the current staff.
Yep, they said one of my fluids looked a little dirty and did I want to service. I was too stunned to remember which system they were talking about.
No caps, maintenance free.
I had a Coke in the waiting room.
What fuses could he pull and prevent cranking? The OP states the manager was only gone 2 min. before returning with a “car wont start” report.
Sure you could pull a fuse a make the radio play dead,but what about the starter
Three words to remember with the ‘sudden death’ of a lead acid battery.
Corrosion
Corrosion
Corrosion
Clean your terminals and connections. Then re-evaluate. (I generally charge the battery after I clean the connections)
If it fails in the next 30 days, I buy a battery. (I just did that Sunday)
Hold on people, some people are rushing to judgement here again, Heres what i say happened. You pulled in the quick lube place, the guy taking the info turned the key to the on position to get the mileage and left it “on”. The car sat there for 20 minutes with the key on, maybe the radio and blower maybe not. Well if you take a marginal battery and leave the ignition on for 20 minutes you will probably draw it down enough tp get a no start.
So is the quick lube responsible? Well yes they caused the problem by leaving the key on which they have probably done before with a good battery and never had a problem, but they did you a favor in a way since it failed there instead of a empty parking lot on a dark and stormy night.
I think you had a marginal battery or they maliciously turned everything in the car on and drained the battery. How did they act? If they sell batteries they should have been able to jump start it or test it.
My Dad had a 1963 Buick that was about 5 years old when the car cranked over very slowly. He took it to Sears who checked the electical system and found nothing wrong. The battery seemed fine. After they checked it over and he was going to leave the service area, the car wouldn’t even turn over. Another check found the battery was gone. I had a similar problem on my 1990 Ford Aerostar. The battery was about 7 years old. I had stopped at a filling station to fill up the tank. When I went to restart the car, there was nothing. The battery was so far gone it wouldn’t even jump start. I had no warning prior to this. I think it is entirely possible that your battery in your Honda Element picked this time to croak.
The OP says “The manager escorted me into the lobby and about 2 min later returned saying my battery was dead” 20 min did not pass,according to the OP. Good try though