Yeah, I went there once when I was in college and they "helped" me with a lot of things that needed to be done to my car I didn't even realize. Later, after thinking about it and then doing some research I realized I had been completely bamboozled. Never again. Every Jiffy Lube around town is always empty when I pass...makes me smile a little.
I've never had any problem saying no to their useless offers.
Obviously, I don't condon criminal behavior, but it is my belief that people can't be taken advantage of without their permission. I have no sympathy for those who are taken advantage of at these types of businesses. Education, questioning everything, and learning about basic vehicle maintenance will keep drivers from being "conned."
I'm no car mechanic, but when one starts talking about replacing my car's flux capacitor, topping off my headlamp fluid, or swapping out the air in my tires for 100% nitrogen, I have no problem saying, "You, sir, are full of ****."
^How about JL stripping the threads on the oil drain plug (like on my brother's car) so that it falls out and the engine burns up? Do a little homework on all the JL lawsuits.
I've never had any problem saying no to their useless offers.
Obviously, I don't condon criminal behavior, but it is my belief that people can't be taken advantage of without their permission. I have no sympathy for those who are taken advantage of at these types of businesses. Education, questioning everything, and learning about basic vehicle maintenance will keep drivers from being "conned."
I'm no car mechanic, but when one starts talking about replacing my car's flux capacitor, topping off my headlamp fluid, or swapping out the air in my tires for 100% nitrogen, I have no problem saying, "You, sir, are full of ****."
We're talking about deliberate damage or outright lying about problems here.
I've never had any problem saying no to their useless offers.
Obviously, I don't condon criminal behavior, but it is my belief that people can't be taken advantage of without their permission. I have no sympathy for those who are taken advantage of at these types of businesses
There are lots of investigative news segments/shows out there.
Employees at these lube places are often trained, sometimes even make a commission off deceiving customers. Say for example they try to up sell a brake flush. Brake fluid can darken and still be good, and even if you just flushed the brakes there could be old components that darken it fairly quickly without needing flushed.
If a customer knows it was recently changed they can answer "no" but more often the customer can't recall when things like that were last done and assume that since the person asking does this for a living that they must know what they're talking about.
Sometimes the tech asking might rightly think the fluid needs changed too, if there is no evidence it has been changed within the last couple years, as nobody I'm aware of does a particulate or moisture test on brake fluid, just going by color, smell, and length of time.
Even then, there are a lot of people who rationally decide not to flush it every 2 years, because the pedal is never spongy and/or they don't drive like they stole it so the moisture in the fluid never boils. That can eventually rust out brake lines, but flushing every 2 years can get expensive too, far more than the cost of the lines if you DIY replace lines to remove labor costs.
Anyway, it's not always cut and dry what the value or benefit to cost ratio is to a customer, especially when a vehicle and insurance aren't exactly cheap and some people drive like they desperately need to depend on their brakes working great. Remember, these are people that aren't even changing their own oil.
Comments & Reviews (7)
Obviously, I don't condon criminal behavior, but it is my belief that people can't be taken advantage of without their permission. I have no sympathy for those who are taken advantage of at these types of businesses. Education, questioning everything, and learning about basic vehicle maintenance will keep drivers from being "conned."
I'm no car mechanic, but when one starts talking about replacing my car's flux capacitor, topping off my headlamp fluid, or swapping out the air in my tires for 100% nitrogen, I have no problem saying, "You, sir, are full of ****."
We're talking about deliberate damage or outright lying about problems here.
Employees at these lube places are often trained, sometimes even make a commission off deceiving customers. Say for example they try to up sell a brake flush. Brake fluid can darken and still be good, and even if you just flushed the brakes there could be old components that darken it fairly quickly without needing flushed.
If a customer knows it was recently changed they can answer "no" but more often the customer can't recall when things like that were last done and assume that since the person asking does this for a living that they must know what they're talking about.
Sometimes the tech asking might rightly think the fluid needs changed too, if there is no evidence it has been changed within the last couple years, as nobody I'm aware of does a particulate or moisture test on brake fluid, just going by color, smell, and length of time.
Even then, there are a lot of people who rationally decide not to flush it every 2 years, because the pedal is never spongy and/or they don't drive like they stole it so the moisture in the fluid never boils. That can eventually rust out brake lines, but flushing every 2 years can get expensive too, far more than the cost of the lines if you DIY replace lines to remove labor costs.
Anyway, it's not always cut and dry what the value or benefit to cost ratio is to a customer, especially when a vehicle and insurance aren't exactly cheap and some people drive like they desperately need to depend on their brakes working great. Remember, these are people that aren't even changing their own oil.
Thank you!