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Originally Posted by 3Z3VH
If they do not allow you in the garage to watch, be VERY suspect of the work they are doing. There is no OSHA standard that says you cannot be in there with them. The only restriction is that you cannot be under the car (in the pit or beneath a lifted car).
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The first two sentences are very true. The third, as far as I know from my time in an oil change shop, is not.
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If you are worried about them putting used oil in your car, there is a simple way to avoid it. Request a non-standard oil type. If you ask for a Synthetic Blend, or Synthetic oil, I can almost guarantee you will see them reach for a brand new bottle and break the seal on it as you stand there.
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Unless your car is leaking (in which case you should have the seals replaced) you should be getting synthetic oil anyway.
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If you don't want to change your car to expensive synthetics, you can simply request a different 'weight' of oil than what they have in the machine. Most oil change places will only have your standard 10w30 or 10w40 on-tap. Any different weights will need to come from a bottle, and will generally not cost extra.
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Canned oil cost an extra $1/quart from us.
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If you do request a different weight oil, keep in mind, the lower numbered weights (5w30, and 5w20) are for newer cars or for cold weather, while higher weights (15w40 and 20w50) are for older cars and warmer weather.
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Generally, you should just use what your manufacturer recommends. Unless your'e racing, you don't need 20 weight oil, it's only reccommended because the manufactrer wants that extra 1% increase in fuel economy toward CAFE. If you want a perfect example, look at the shared engines (yeah, I know they use different heads, but the rest is pretty much the same,) between Jaguar and Ford/Lincoln. Why is it that an XJ8 will use 15w40 and and an LS or Town Car will use 5w20? Ford is willing to sacrifice engine lifespan for a .3mpg increase.
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Originally Posted by billege
MrSelfDestruct,
That's a great post there.
I do my own work, and I think you just saved me a lot of typing; there's nothing you typed I don't agree with.
Just wanted to give you a  for putting your effort into the thread and getting accurate info out there. |
Thanks
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Originally Posted by opus123
One reason we bought a Saturn was that there is less history of thousands of makes and models to know. So it seems to me that most Saturn dealership people are well trained since they don't have to know that many models. But still I ask for all used parts in a paper bag. One guy tried to hand me some leaky busted part by hand, and I said, "I need a paper bag", so he went and got one.
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Saturns are unusually easy to work on, surprisingly reliable, and their dealers have a good amount of expertise since everything is built on the same platform (two different engines until the Ecotec and Honda V6 were added, now it's 4 plus one of those with forced induction.
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I went to Firestone once for a oil change and they left the oil cap off and I drove off. So now I always check for the oil cap before driving away. The smart oil change techs will put the oil cap in such a place so that the hood cannot close. That way it will always be put back on.
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We always did this, because although my manager would compromise stuff like the T-Tech to cut costs, he would not tolerate screwups on the basic oil change. Other locations, however, weren't so good about it.
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I went to a Jiffy Lube clone place in Seattle as that was the closest place that AAA would tow my car. The clutch needed to be done and so I let them do it. The car broke down on the highway after 5 miles from the repair place. Needless to say I had to almost force the manager to test drive the vehicle until they fixed the grinding noises at high speeds. Thank goodness for AAA. Jiffy Lube and their clones are for oil changes only and only if I have a coupon.
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Entirely unsurprising.
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We also have a geo metro and we have anti-war stickers on it. Sometimes I have gotten shitty service and I often wonder if some uber patriotic repair person doesn't like me. I guess I now understand why some people never put stickers on their car.
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Hmm, all we did ("we" being some of the more intellectual guys there) was laugh at stupid things, contradictory combinations of stickers, and poor grammar on stickers.
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Another thing about cars I learned from my gpa, was that batteries can last longer if you trim the terminals every so often if they get corroded. He had a little tool with metal brushes and a blade to trim the metal. Worked like a charm and I would assume that it might prevent some electrical problems.
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Not only should you clean the terminals (pour half a can of coke over the terminals then use that tool, then spray with a can of battery terminal corrosion inhibitor before and after connecting the leads,) Putting an insulating blanket arond the batttery can double or triple the life by preventing engine heat from evaporating your fluid. Keeping the fluid topped off (there are special bottles for this) will also help to maximize life.
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The geo metro recently got a new water filter, and I got fcked with a 400 dollar bill. I wish I had read this thread earlier so I could have taken it to some other place for $250. But the geo metro water filter lasted 16 years so that is good right ?
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I think you mean the water pump, which is a $50 part that is easy to install.