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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.
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
Last edited by yankeefan98121; 08-03-2012 at 08:14.
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.
Originally Posted by MarkCO
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.
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.
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 ... 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).
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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!)
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