Yes, without question, even though ok4450 was correct that this particular situation had nothing to do with a dealership.
Years ago, the Honda dealership in Jersey City, NJ was found guilty of “de-contenting” new cars by removing the OEM batteries, spark plugs, and tires, and substituting cheapo stuff from the Pep Boys store across the highway from them. This scam was discovered by an indy mechanic who was servicing a late model Honda , and he realized that a new-ish car shouldn’t have all of these off-brand items.
The state’s Division of Consumer Affairs did a thorough investigation, and was able to impose a massive fine on that dealership. W/in a few years, as more and more people became aware of what had happened, that dealership’s business slowed to a trickle, and Honda revoked their franchise.
The two crooked brothers who owned that Honda dealership had 2 or 3 other dealerships around the state, where they were probably pulling the same scam. None of those dealerships is still in business.
Even at $89.95 and done by the lowest paid guy in the shop, that oil change is a loss leader that I would gladly do without. I can’t afford to have a rack tied up for half an hour on a $90 ticket when I can make 3 times that much doing normal work.
But the motoring public, and half of this industry, think an oil change service should cost less than lunch for 2 people. So on we go…
@texases I am aware that the OP did not go to the dealership. My point was that even dealerships are not all that perfect.
I guess, being that it is a competitive market, the dealerships have developed fast lanes for oil change to be able to get more cars in to upsell other stuff. At the end of the day, it is a business. If some lube place is doing something to generate more income even at the expense of integrity, I am sure that there are other gigs out there that will follow suit.
I fell for a crooked upsell from a service manager 16 years ago. It was in for an oil change and filter special.
He told me my car would run better and get better mpg if I had them “flush the fuel injectors”.
I told him it the car had just passed 20k miles and was running okay, to which he said “this area has a lot of bad gas”, and “it’s a recommended procedure”.
50 miles later it was in limp mode with the ses lamp on. I called the manufacturer hotline and they said it was safe to continue my trip. Fixed under warranty.
Many mechanics no matter where I live have delivery service from a local parts supplier. They can get the correct filter in less then an hour.
There is absolutely no way to tell what oil they used without sending it out for analysis. It’s cheaper to just change it again.
If you don’t trust this guy then don’t go back…chalk it up as a learning experience. It’s not worth it. Ask around from friends for a trusted independent mechanic they use. Don’t go with the CHEAP deals. If you can’t find one then use the dealer.
You have to be careful with that too, though. Ratings can be manipulated both ways. There are companies that sell ratings services where they’ll pose as customers and rate the business highly even though they’ve never been there. There are also unreasonable customers who drop the ratings for stupid reasons.
Yelp has a particular reputation for this - restaurants hate it, because people will go in demanding free food in exchange for a good Yelp review, and when the proprietor declines to feed them for free, they’ll leave a negative rating.
So take all the social media ratings with a grain of salt.
Can’t think of a single time a frequently reviewed, positively rated Yelp business failed to perform to their rating, but I only use it on the road or for an unusual purchase.
The answer to the question asked can only be reached by an oil analysis. The larger unasked question is whether to ever go back to this mechanic. Tire rotation is not a religious ritual. I usually keep tabs on tire wear by measuring tread depth to decide when to rotate, and it turns out that is not always to the recommended schedule. But affirming that tires were rotated when they weren’t is a flat out lie. I try not to do business with liars.
Doing a groupon search for oil change/tire rotation deals, I find primarily franchise quick-lube type places that use them. Some of them go as low as $17 for both an oil change and tire rotation.
Assuming it was a quick-lube type place, when you say the “Mechanic FAILED Simple Honesty Test”, two things come to mind.
It likely wasn’t a “mechanic” that serviced your car. Rather it was an entry level tech working for minimum wage.
The “failed honesty” likely didn’t come from the tech you dealt with, but from that tech’s manager, or the owner of the franchise. They’re the ones who initiate these low priced groupon deals just to get you in the door, knowing they make little or no money. They too are the ones who direct their service techs to cut corners. I would guess the poor kid that worked on your car was just following orders.
Yes, it was the proprietor. EVERYTHING that happens in that shop is the responsibility of the proprietor.
STORY-My sister had been using her same mechanic near her workplace for years . When she drove home 35 miles after he (his shop) had serviced her 2 year old vehicle with an oil change, I opened the hood and there was oil all over the engine compartment. I checked the dipstick and it the crankcase was empty.
I was enraged, but my sister defended the proprietor and said, “It was probably the worker…”
We phoned the proprietor and he personally drove out to the house the very next day to “fix” whatever the issue was…
There were other cases of negligence going forward, and my sister’s reply was always, “probably the worker…”
I know the topic is honesty, but the cost of an oil change has been mentioned. I just changed the oil in the wifemobile myself. Seven quarts of synthetic oil, an OEM filter, and a fresh oil drain plug came to $90 plus tax for the parts, and I still have to deal with getting rid of the used oil.
What oil and filter are you buying? Good synthetic oil can be had for as little as $4.60/qrt. Good filter (Wix or even Toyota and GM OEM) for as little as $4. That brings the total for 7 quarts and filter up to less then $40.00. Many places like Walmart will take your used oil, My town uses waste oil heaters to heat the DPW buildings and they LOVE my used motor oil.
Costco.com sells their Dexos-spec full synthetic oil for $2.99 per quart, as long as you are willing to buy it in bulk, 20 qts at a time. That price includes shipping.
I can see making a restaurant gift but an oil change coupon ? Especially on what is apparently a new vehicle with 5000 miles . Was it even due for an oil change . So many vehicles now only require more miles than that . Our 2010 Volvo gets it change at 7000 miles or 12 months .
First sentence of my initial post—“Motorcycle and auto DIY mechanic since teenager here”—