Never, EVER go to the dealer for work

I'd rather pay someone $30 to change my oil than crawl under my car, wrestle with the damn filer and then have to figure out what to do with the old oil. That's just not worth messing with.

 

That one I agree with. There's a lot of stuff I don't mind doing myself, but oil changing is a pain and you don't save that much money.

 

You can take the old oil to Advance or Auto Zone.
I refuse to pay someone to change my oil.

 

It was a happy day for me when I found a reputable, independent repair shop that specializes in my brand of car. I've been a happy customer of theirs for a couple of years now and it's so nice to know that I have mechanics I feel I can trust, who haven't gouged me and who have treated me really, really well.

 

Battery was going dead on one of our vehicles, so after Walmart replaced it, the radio wouldn't work. The dealer was right around the corner, so I pulled in and told them I needed the secret code. He played around with his computer for one minute and then put it into the system. Off I went. No charge. While he was doing this he did ask me why I went to Walmart for the battery instead of the dealer; I was up front with him. Walmart's was $30 cheaper than what the dealer quoted me when I called to check.

 

I've noticed dealerships are starting to get much more competitive on pricing for service (non-repairs) like tires, oil changes, etc.

 

Toyota tries to get you to rotate them every 5,000 miles as part of the 5,000 mile interval service.

 

If you've been that lucky w/Jiffy Puke, you should do two things, immediately:

(1) Move to Vegas, if you're that incredibly lucky, and

(2) Commence going ANYWHERE other than Jiffy Lube, immediately.

It's just a matter of time . . .

 

Well, I usually go to Valvoline, but I never let those guys do anything other than change the oil.

 

Excellent points. Quick-lube places are an interesting combination of scam and incompetence; I wonder what percentage of customers spring for new air filters when they bring yours to the lobby to show you it's dirty.

 

My brother used to be a manager in a dealer service dept. so I always took my cars there. All the smaller stuff he could get done for me reasonably. But for any big job, he would have me buy the parts from their parts dept., then hook me up with one of the mechanics who would do the installation job somewhere outside the dealership's garage. I had a new fifth gear put in by a guy at his own garage and it cost me $800 instead of the $1900 the dealer wanted.