Oil Changes

[10x]

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]

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

[MarkCO]

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

[birddog]

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.

[DD977GM2]

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.

[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.

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.

[sturn18]

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.

[10x]

This was a Toyota. The manual says 100,000 miles for changing the tranny fluid.

[Larry Ashcraft]

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]

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).