Jiffy Lube Dorks

Just a word to everyone out there (at least all the schmucks like me who still have someone else change their oil) - when the Jiffy Lube technician bets you he can have your signature service knocked out in 5 minutes or less, expect problems. In fact, I'm starting to think that if you allow ANYONE to touch your car, whether it be a mechanic or a buddy borrowing it to hit the 7-11 for some smokes, expect it to come back broken in some way.

 

As soon as I pulled away from the 5 minute oil change, I noticed a rougher than normal idle. Over the next few days, the car would intermittently stumble and the idle would hunt at lights. I knew in the back of my head those dorks at Jiffy Lube had done something, but I hoped it would just go away. Finally, after the 3rd day (at which time the CEL came on and my cruise control dash light started flashing) I popped the hood to see if I could find anything, and shocker of all shockers it took me all of about 2 seconds to find it, and other things. First off, the dip stick was put in rotated the wrong way (not a major disaster, but you'd think all this guy does all day is play with his dipstick, so at least get that part right). Then I noticed the filler cap was loose. Next, it looked like either oil or acid had splattered all over the battery and was now coated (they supposedly check, or try and check, your battery fluid level). Finally, and the source of my problem, the jackass left the air filter box hanging open, which was causing the intake air sensor to read improperly.

 

After snapping, rotating and cleaning everything to my satisfaction, and clearing the CEL, I started up and have had no problems since.

 

I'm sure I'm not telling any of you anything new, but don't let anyone touch your ride. Especially someone making side bets working at the Jiffy Lube.

 

Out

I got my first oil change in the H6 there. I'll never go again. They did a decent job but the kid who brought my car around decided it was a joy ride the 30 feet around the building. Im waiting out there and hes like whipping around the building. From now on it's either me or Subaru doing the oil change.

You drove the vehicle for that long hoping that the new behavior would go away? Bad news almost never gets better.

If I ignore my wife long enough she goes away...

If I ignore my wife long enough she goes away...

 

 

Keep telling yourself that. She'll never go away.

If I ignore my wife long enough she goes away...

 

If she reads this thread she might go away for ever.

the only time one of these 15 min places did it(needed oil change and it was the only thing available) i asked if the replaced the drain plug gasket(crush washer) they looked at me like i had a d*** growing out of my fore head. needless to say i only take it to the dealership.

JIFFY LUBE IS THE WORST SERVICE PLACE EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE INDUSTRY!!! AND ONE MORE: ! (just for emphasis)

 

First of all, I would never let them touch my LGT, and I have never serviced a vehicle there.....but unfortunately my wife has. She took here 2000 Celica GT there for an oil change, when she brought it home, I noticed that it was leaking oil in the driveway, sure enough, the drain plug wasn't securely in place. Those jackasses FORGOT TO PUT THE DRAIN PLUG BACK IN!!! OMG!

 

Not learning her lesson the first time, the wife brings the Celica back there for another oil change. She comes home and complains that there is smoke coming from her hood. I tell her that they probably spilled some oil under there and that's what is causing the smoke, then she says, "no...it's really a lot of smoke!"

 

So I go out there, pop her hood, and sure enough, they FORGOT TO PUT THE OIL CAP BACK ON AND OIL BLEW EVERYWHERE ALL OVER THE TOP OF HER ENGINE, AND IT COATED EVERYTHING. I AM NOT KIDDING, THERE WAS OIL STUCK IN PLACES THAT YOU CAN'T EVEN FATHOM!!! I made her drive it back to Jiffy Lube and have them clean up THEIR MESS!! Hell no I wasn't going to do it:mad:.

 

The morale of this story is:

 

Never bring you car to Jiffy Lube, I can't believe those guys are licensed to work on cars. I mean, come the frick on, how in fiery hell do you forget to put an oil cap back in place, or forget to put the drain plug back in after an oil change being a licesned mechanic? Incompetent is too nice of a word for the Jiffy Lube jackasses. They can all burn in hell as far as I'm concerned. I hate Jiffy Lube, I hate them so, and I'm not even a customer!:mad: I forbid my wife from ever bringing another vehicle there. I'm still pissed off when I think about it, and this Sh!t happened over a year ago.

the only time one of these 15 min places did it(needed oil change and it was the only thing available) i asked if the replaced the drain plug gasket(crush washer) they looked at me like i had a d*** growing out of my fore head. needless to say i only take it to the dealership.

 

 

 

Barring a major issue that I have no clue about (total rebuild, etc.), nobody but me ever works on any of my cars. Just thinking about it makes me cringe .

 

In all seriousness though, is the crush washer change important on LGT's? In all my years of driving and changing oil on.... (what am I on, my 12th car now???), I've never in my life changed a crush washer and I've also never had a problem at all in not doing it, never had nary a drop come out. *shrug*

^ if you have one, then change it. no big deal if you dont, just be sure the plug is tight.

 

to the OP, ive said it before and ill say it again. all late model subarus are just about the easiest cars to do oil changes on. the plug and fliter are right there under the engine and are easy to get at. Unless you are physically disabled, ther is no reason why you cant change your own oil on a subaru with ease.

realized double post this one has more people in it so heres what I said Plus a little

 

I have to have my oil changed a valvoline oil change here in RI cause im at school and dont have the tools or the place to change my oil in the parking lot with snow and ice on the ground, but I do try to do whatever I can myself or take it to a mechanic I trust. I haven't had any problems with this specific valvoline other than when he pulled the dipstick out he dripped a little oil on the engine cover, but i watched him get a rag and wipe it off... They are also a full garage the guys seem pretty decent I always took my Chrysler there with no problems. Once i graduate ill do it myself but I cant say anything negative about their work. i tell them to check nothing just change the oil and top off the wiper fluid... Dont need them fudging around with battery, transmission, air filter. Just need them to change the oil

 

After reading this didnt realize you get out at jiffy. At the valvoline I go to you drive in yourself and stay in the car as the garage has a pit. cant see whats going on under the car granted but you get to watch most of whats going on under your hood...nobody drives your car or has it out of your site

The mother of one of my good friends from college had a brand new Legacy sedan back in 96' and she took it to the jiffy lube to have its first oil change. Now, keep in mind, this is Portland where every other car is an outback so one would think that the kids working there would have some clue what they were doing. So my friend's mother was on her way home and her drivetrain seized and the car wouldn't move. It turns out they accidentally drained the center diff/transmission fluid instead of the oil and the whole system overheated and seized. They went back to JL and JL was willing to have the tranny rebuilt ($3K), but considering it was almost a brand new car with about 3K miles, they wanted a whole new tranny ($6K+), which I think was reasonable since it was sheer stupidity of the tech that caused the problem. They wound up getting the tranny and finally got their brand new car back after several months. After hearing that horror story, I never even look at a JL when driving by.

Here ya go....[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiCAJ8ULnaI]YouTube - Jiffy Lube Scam Caught on Tape![/ame]

When I was still driving my first car (91 Grand Prix) I was at a Mr. Lube. At that time, I was still new to cars and I didn't have any ramps or jacks to do the oil change myself so it was my only choice.

 

I drive into one of the bays and just as I got out and had one of their monkeys pop the hood, someone darts in another bay with tons of smoke billowing from front of their car. Of course EVERYONE's attention was diverted to this spectacle. The manager went up to the driver of that car who was still seated behind the wheel and asked him to move his car out of the garage. Of course the man told him to f--- off and said that he ain't moving until either a) the guy who worked on his car fixes what he screwed up or b) this guy gets fired.

 

I peaked over to look at the engine bay of this "smokin" car and it was absolutely covered in oil as well as foam coming from the oil spout! Now I've seen oil splattered engines but foam? So I turned to my car as one of the mechanics asked me if I wanted to stick to the factory recommended 5w-30. I looked at him, said "Sure! But it won't be done here." I closed the hood and drove off. Went to my mechanic downtown to get it done.

 

A few years later when I bought an RSX I met a kid through a friend at a party and we happened to be talking cars. I mentioned that I had just bought an RSX and his response was, "Oh sweet, I work for Mr. Lube. Next time you need an oil change come in I wanna see this beast (lol kid you not he called a beast, goes to show how many cars he's been exposed to) I'll give you an employee discount"

 

My response, "No offence, but I wouldn't even take my car there if the service was free"

 

Of course he got up, pissed off no less and walked away. All my cars including my Legacy have had their general maintenance done by me. That way if something wrong happens, I have no one to blame but myself.

Here ya go....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiCAJ8ULnaI

 

wow just watched that

 

check this out

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBNXsDYLIco&feature=related]YouTube - Jiffy Lube Blond Driver[/ame]

Im about to reach my 30,000 miles, what do I need to do to service it? im going to be home for spring break in 2 weeks can I do it all myself? while all these self servicers are here and listening

Those lazy bastards........

:nono:Jiffy Lube Must DIE!!!!!

If I ignore my wife long enough she goes away...

Yeah, but she takes half your stuff.

Yeah, but she takes half your stuff.

 

+ garnish your pay for 5+ years afterwards

Im about to reach my 30,000 miles, what do I need to do to service it? im going to be home for spring break in 2 weeks can I do it all myself? while all these self servicers are here and listening

 

30k is a minor service. You should be fine doing it yourself.

 

http://www.subaru.com/owners/schedules/schedules.jsp?schedulepage=2006myfed.html

 

I tend to think shops charge way too much for some of these scheduled jobs. Even if you didn't want to tackle the whole service yourself, you could do yourself a favor by doing the few you are confident in (oil change, air filter, coolant) and just ask them to perform the few other tasks you're not so sure about.

30k is a minor service. You should be fine doing it yourself.

 

http://www.subaru.com/owners/schedules/schedules.jsp?schedulepage=2006myfed.html

 

I tend to think shops charge way too much for some of these scheduled jobs. Even if you didn't want to tackle the whole service yourself, you could do yourself a favor by doing the few you are confident in (oil change, air filter, coolant) and just ask them to perform the few other tasks you're not so sure about.

 

i can probably tackle it all, my uncle has been a gear head since he was 10 and would build gokarts out of lawnmowers He's owned just about everything with an engine and done all his own work on it i can always ask for advice if i get stuck on something. he's also OCD about everything he does good to get advice from the over cautious than the "winger"

 

thanks for the link

 

looked through the list, should be fine i've never replaced coolant before do i have to worry about air bubbles in the cooling system. had some problems on my snowmobile with that. we use to lift it up by the rear grab bar till it was hanging vertically so the bubbles would rise to the top...

 

I gotta order an air filter ahead of time... I would think Napa or local parts store would have oil filter and some apropriate oil, unless i order some amsoil i have a prefered member status with them

On my previous car they stripped the oil pan bolt. With the Leggy, I'm having ALL MAINTENANCE done at the dealership. Peace of mind for knowing that if anything happens, they have no one to point the finger at but themselves.

Those fools paid for a $2000+ motor rebuild on an older car I had years ago after they didn't screw down the filter tight and all of the oil blew out the side of the block when I was going down the highway a few days later.

 

Unfortunately, there aren't any Subi dealers near me and it'd be an all day affair to have to get routine service done by them. So I'm still at the mercy of the Jiffy Lube's and their counter parts. I do however keep a very very very watchful eye on what they're doing any how their doing it, and I'm quick to chew someone's ass if they're acting a fool while working on my car.

<----refuse JL, or any "quick lube" outfit. There are plenty other private garages open long hours that can do much better work at a convenient time. For thoes who prefer not to do the work themselvs.