View Full Version : Oil Changes
Where can I go in the Springs to just get an oil change?
I get coupons from Midas. They take forever and try the hard sell on stuff I don't want or don't need done. Jiffylube does much the same. They tell my wife that the tranny fluid and rear end fluid needs to be changes. The car had 26,000 miles.
yankeefan98121
08-03-2012, 07:54
I would stay away from those places ......
personally I buy the oil (waltmart or something) and take my truck into the dealer, usually runs $15 + oil for me
hope that helps, gl
Actually, changing the transmission fluid at 30K is a good idea if you plan on keeping the vehicle past 100K.
Of the "Chains", I find Brakes Plus to be the best. I would stop by the one close to you and give them a once over. The one near me is really good, old school mechanics that do waht you ask, and still do a check on the car.
With all that said, I don't like anyone touching my cars, guns or wife except me...call me jealous, but I know what I have when I do it myself.
If you don't have tools or a garage, give this place a call: http://www.doityourselfgarage.net/index.html
Yea, I would do it myself. Walmart take used oil.
As for the tranny and such, I would follow the manual that came with your car. 26K might be about right for some.
I would recommend staying away from chains and dealerships all together. Find a small independent shop, they have to work harder to find customers so they usually work a lot harder to keep them. I would be surprised if somebody on here doesn't already have someone in the Springs that you can trust.
That is if you can't/don't want to do the work yourself. Engine oil change is really easy and the transmission change is easy too if your car has a drain plug instead of having to drop the entire pan when it is full of fluid.
DD977GM2
08-03-2012, 08:25
Actually, changing the transmission fluid at 30K is a good idea if you plan on keeping the vehicle past 100K.
Of the "Chains", I find Brakes Plus to be the best. I would stop by the one close to you and give them a once over. The one near me is really good, old school mechanics that do waht you ask, and still do a check on the car.
With all that said, I don't like anyone touching my cars, guns or wife except me...call me jealous, but I know what I have when I do it myself.
If you don't have tools or a garage, give this place a call: http://www.doityourselfgarage.net/index.html
That is very debatable. I have driven cars 150k without ever changing the tranny fluid and
really depends on the maker. If American, stick with the 50k rule. Change all fluids every 50k.
If foreign made like Toyota (the best) Change every 75k to 100k.
They are trying to upsell to women because most women have no clue about vehicle maintenance.
This was a Toyota. The manual says 100,000 miles for changing the tranny fluid.
Larry Ashcraft
08-03-2012, 09:24
I know they're a dealer, but Al Serra Chevrolet on Academy does a ton of oil changes, cheap, too.
I go there for any service I need on my 2004 Silverado, because our local Chevy dealer is a crook. Also had them flush the Allison at 100k.
Zundfolge
08-03-2012, 09:29
I've said this many times but I wouldn't let Jiffy Lube change the oil on my car if they did it for free AND gave me a steak dinner. If I had a nickle for every car they'd ruined I could buy a new car (and a real nice one at that).
As for changing tranny fluid, its a good idea to follow the owner's manual (there's often a filter in an auto) but DO NOT go in for this "transmission flush" silliness on automatic transmissions ... new fluid is good, flushing the system just loosens up stuff that was stuck and not going anywhere and you'll end up with leaks and shorten the life of the tranny. Flushing is absolute unnecessary in a manual transmission (but its not going to cause the problems that flushing an auto will).
Doing it yourself (both oil and tranny) is the way to go. Its usually cheaper and you don't have to worry about some highschool dropout pothead forgetting to put the plug in or forgetting to swap out the filter, etc.
If you absolutely refuse to do it yourself, here in The Springs there's a local chain of shops called Aspen Auto Clinic (http://www.aspenautoclinic.com/) ... take it to them (see if they have any specials going). In general they're competent and on stuff like fluid changes not too pricy (do expect them to try to upsell the hell out of you ... I used to recommend them for mech work in general, but they aren't priced as well as they used to be and I find them less trustworthy and more focused on upselling then they used to be).
Chad4000
08-03-2012, 09:44
Men vs. Women: How to Change Oil
It really is different.
WOMEN:
1. Pull up to Jiffy Lube or Valvoline Instant Oil Change when the mileage reaches 3,000 miles since the last oil change.
2. Drink a cup of coffee while they change the oil.
3. 15 minutes later, write a check and leave with a properly maintained vehicle.
Cost: $29.99 oil change, $2.00 coffee. Total $32.00
MEN:
1. Wait until Saturday, drive to the auto parts store. Buy a case of oil, oil filter, kitty litter, hand cleaner (don't forget a little tree air freshener). Write a check to the auto parts store for approximately $50.
2. Stop by 7/11 on the way home, buy a case of beer. Write a check for $20.00.
3. Drive home with oil and beer.
4. Open beer, enjoy it.
5. Spend 30 minutes looking for the jack stands.
6. Find the jack stands (finally) under the kid's pedal car, jack the car up.
7. Open another beer, drink it.
8. Place drain pan under engine.
9. Look for 9/16" box end wrench for drain plug
10. Give up looking ten minutes later, find crescent wrench.
11. Unscrew drain plug.
12. Drop drain plug into pan of hot oil. Splash hot oil onto your hands and face in the process. Cuss and swear.
13. Crawl out from under car, wipe hot oil from hands and face. Throw some kitty litter on the spilled oil.
14. Open another beer while watching the last drops of oil drain.
15. Spend 30 minutes looking for the oil filter wrench.
16. Give up looking for oil filter wrench, crawl under car and hammer a flat-head screwdriver through the oil filter and twist it off.
17. Crawl out from under car, splashing hot oil everywhere from newly made holes in oil filter.
18. Cleverly hide used oil filter in trash to avoid those pesky environmental penalties. Open another beer.
19. Install new oil filter, making sure to apply a thin coat of oil to the gasket.
20. Pour the first quart of new oil into engine.
21. Oops! Now remember the drain plug (removed in step 11). It's still swimming in the now-warm oil in the drain pan.
22. Throw more kitty litter on the quart-sized oil puddle on the floor.
23. Open another beer and drink it.
24. Find drain plug with a minimum of spillage, hand-tighten in drain plug socket. Drink beer.
25. Crawl under car (getting oily kitty litter embedded in neck and arms). Tighten drain plug with crescent wrench, but this time, it's slippery. Bang your knuckles on the frame while tightening drain plug.
26. Throw crescent wrench across the garage in anger. Throw a fit because crescent wrench hits bowling trophy (which wife wouldn't let stay in the house).
27. Open another beer and drink it.
28. Clean hands, bandaging where needed to stop blood flow.
29. Pour in five quarts of fresh oil.
30. Lower car from jack stands. Smile at your handiwork. Open another beer and drink it.
31. Move car back to discover oil puddles you missed; apply more kitty litter to missed areas.
32. Test drive car to make sure oil doesn't leak.
33. Get pulled over a block from the house by local police, get arrested for DUI.
34. Call loving wife and bail bondsman.
35. Next day, get car out of impound yard.
Cost: $50 parts, $20 beer, Impound fee $75, Bail $1500, DUI $2500 minimum. Total $4145 (but you know the job was done right!)
Chad4000
08-03-2012, 09:48
^^ that said.. I still do my own lol
i do my own(sans beer and dui) :)
but i really like academy auto repair on north academy john is a good dude and very honest
Larry Ashcraft
08-03-2012, 09:55
Chad4000, exactly.[ROFL2]
I take my vehicles to a local place named Log Loob (not a chain, it's a franchise, owned by a friend of mine).
The only time I change my own oil it's on my tractors, because a 25 mile round trip at 17 mph is no fun. Just changed the trans-hydraulic fluid in my JD 1020. It takes 12 gallons.
BlasterBob
08-03-2012, 11:15
We currently have a 2008 Toyota Tundra Crew Cab and a 2010 Chev. Malibu (6 cyl) and in the past, we always had our local Trinidad Walmart do the oil changes on our older vehicles and always were satisfied. Now, Walmart refuses to do oil changes on these two vehicles claiming they do NOT have the required oil filter wrenches and are concerned about liability if they change our oil with their current set up. Also told that we have some type of plastic cap on the oil filter holder which is subject to cracking if tightened too much and there again there would be a potential liability issue. So, we can't have our oil changes at our local Wally World anymore and down here in Trinidad, we don't have a huge selection of places for plain old oil changes........... [BooHoo]
I do all my own oil changes. I have down to a science and it takes me 15 minutes from oil drain plug unscrew to tightening the oil cap under the hood. with filter change.
spqrzilla
08-03-2012, 15:54
I've seen too many screwups at Quickie/Jiffy/Whiffy lubes. I use my regular mechanic for oil changes. I used to do my own but its too much hassle to get rid of oil these days.
I have heard horror stories about WalMart forgetting to tighten lug nuts after changing tires, and 20 years ago when I went to Monroe for a new muffler they told me they'd refuse to install it unless I replaced the entire exhaust including CAT, and when I went to Midas for new brake pads they told me they would refuse to install them unless I bought 4 new rotors and calipers. The dealership typically will do decent work, but they'll charge you double for parts and labor.
I look on the AAA website for AAA approved repair shops, then check yelp.com and BBB for reviews and complaints. Oil change is fairly simple, but if the oil filter or drain plug isn't properly tightened or they forget to screw on the filler cap you will lose that oil fairly quickly and that is really bad. Happens a lot at Jiffy Lube and WalMart, from what I've heard.
Last time I looked I still had a pecker between my legs ( my wife has not stole it yet) So I change my own. I only use Mobil 1 synthetic. Using the synthetic on my own is about as much as a chain will cost for conventional oil. It doesnt save a ton of money but it is a little and I know its done right (I worked at grease monkey for 6 years when I was younger, have a pretty good idea how to do it.). If anyone wants help, let me know. The work couldn't be easier and the beer is so good!
I have heard horror stories about WalMart forgetting to tighten lug nuts after changing tires, and 20 years ago when I went to Monroe for a new muffler they told me they'd refuse to install it unless I replaced the entire exhaust including CAT, and when I went to Midas for new brake pads they told me they would refuse to install them unless I bought 4 new rotors and calipers. The dealership typically will do decent work, but they'll charge you double for parts and labor.
I look on the AAA website for AAA approved repair shops, then check yelp.com and BBB for reviews and complaints. Oil change is fairly simple, but if the oil filter or drain plug isn't properly tightened or they forget to screw on the filler cap you will lose that oil fairly quickly and that is really bad. Happens a lot at Jiffy Lube and WalMart, from what I've heard.
I like Ron White too, oh wait that was Sears. Funny either way.
spittoon
08-03-2012, 18:39
the first walmart[Tooth]
That is very debatable. I have driven cars 150k without ever changing the tranny fluid and
really depends on the maker. If American, stick with the 50k rule. Change all fluids every 50k.
If foreign made like Toyota (the best) Change every 75k to 100k.
They are trying to upsell to women because most women have no clue about vehicle maintenance.
There is no debate at all. I crossed a freeway when I was 6 and did not get killed, but I wouldn't let my 6 year old do it.
I spent several years as a lab tech in an oil analysis lab and the science is irrefutable. Transmissions at sea level last longer due to lack of hills, but primarily better cooling due to denser air. The auto makers "barely" give enough cooling for them (even your beloved Asian brands). Now, if you have a heavy duty tranny cooler, or you only drive under 55 on the flat, probably not an issue.
Transmission fluid has an additive package, and it breaks down, on average, at about 30K in petroleum based fluids. When the pacakge breaks down, wear increases, but more important, the seals loose the conditioning and the propensity to foam increases. "Flushing" is generally a bad idea and in most transmissions, changing the filter is an every other time deal. If one is so inclined, you can replace the fluid with synthetic and a new filter and go about 100K from there. Some high end vehicles (some Amreican, but mostly European) come with 100K rated synthetic (usually green) tranmission fluid which is phenominal.
But, since we live in America still, you are free to beleive anything you want. [Beer]
theGinsue
08-03-2012, 19:46
While I do my own oil changes, all other repair work I now get done at the north John Senter store. They have a location off of Academy & Pikes Peak and another just South of Academy & Austin Bluffs.
A couple of my hunting partners have used them for years & in the couple of years I've used them I have found them to be very reputable and fairly priced.
Once upon a time I did my own but getting rid of the oil became a nuisance. I let Grease Monkey do it and they've been doing my Jeep for over 200K miles - all well so far.
gnihcraes
08-03-2012, 21:45
11 should read:
11. Can't get plug out because the dealer did the last oil change, stripped it and now it requires a new oilpan.
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