Saturday, September 20, 2008

I Am Not a Jiffy Lube Fan

Sadly, I couldn't get into my regular oil change place yesterday. Since I'm about 2,000 miles overdue, I figured I should get my oil changed before driving 6 hours to visit friends in Roanoke, Virginia. This meant I had to go to my neighborhood Jiffy Lube.

I HATE Jiffy Lube.

At my regular oil change place, they never, ever try to sell me ANYTHING unless it's absolutely necessary. For instance, they'll tell me I'll die if I keep driving my car with bad brakes. (No Dad, my brakes are fine. That was just an example.)

At Jiffy Lube, they make me look under the hood with them and point out things that I need fixed. For instance, they'll say some engine part is really dirty. Riddle me this...what engine parts are clean? It's a car engine. I'm not going to be cooking eggs on it.

Today, they tried to get me to buy the expensive oil, which was $30 more. They also tried to get me to have something done to my transmission fluid, which started at $105. They did manage to talk me into having a light bulb changed and my air filter replaced. However, had I listened to them, I would have spent over $200 instead of the $50 I spent. Ugh.

To paraphrase Sarah Palin, I think Jiffy Lube is sexist. I bet they don't try to talk big burly dudes into things - especially overpriced things.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

As a female, I would say the answer to your last question is a big and burly NO, LOL!

My son worked at Jiffy Lube during the summers while he was in college and I, like yourself, thought they were trying to sell me something I didn't need, especially because I was a woman.

BUT the truth is most all of their recommendations (Air filter, radiator, transmission, fuel filter, etc.) are based on the mileage of your vehicle, which is set by the manufacturer, such as Honda or Ford.

So in reality, the dealership is going to recommend the same service as Jiffy Lube, but it seems okay for the dealer to do so and not Jiffy Lube.

Jiffy Lube on average is half the time and half the price for the same service such as transmission flush becuase they just don't have big and fancy waiting rooms, 75 people working there, 300 cars in the lot trying to sell and lights that stay on 24/7 to showcase their cars.

A transmission flush should take no more then 30-40 minutes tops...

My son actually taught me alot about vehicle maintenance and now I take my husbands car in as well!

I use Jiffy Lube most of the time, but not always, and have now established a good relationship with a couple of stores and they take great care of me.

..and another note, my son swears that women spend just as much as men on any given day at Jiffy Lube, becuase it's baed on the mileage of your vehicle and not the sex of the customer!

Have a great evening!
Joanne

Eljabo said...

How lucky for me that Joanne stopped by with such a knowledgable response!

Methinks this message was brought to you by JiffyLube. I was a public relations major...