Why I should learn to change my own oil...

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R_Sharpe

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Well, I've come to the realization that I'm gonna be poor if I don't start changing my own oil, lol... Every time that I pay someone else to do it, they end up either forgetting something, or conning me into paying an arm & a leg for everything...

For the first few oil changes, I was using Wal-Mart Tire & Lube Express, stupid, I know, but better than wasting my time at home and probably messing something up. Before my dad died, he always told me that when I have my oil changed, to double-check behind the mechanics before starting the vehicle, and I'm glad he taught me this... 2 or 3 months back, I had gotten my oil changed at Wal-Mart, before I drove away, I popped the hood and to my surprise, my oil cap was gone... I then walked into the garage, got redneck and starting yelling all over that place for the mechanic that had worked on my car... Long story short, he quickly came up with my oil cap and was reprimanded by his supervisor... Got everything in order, and went on about my business that day, and decided that I would change the oil myself before letting anyone from Wal-Mart touch my truck again...

Today, I was "sick", so I missed school to have my oil changed. In my redneck town, there's only one dedicated maintenance shop that I'd let touch my car, called QuickChange, and they're affiliated with Pennzoil. I go in, have them do a high-mileage oil change, all is good... They came in and asked if I wanted to have my Rain-X Latitude wipers replaced, one was slit, so I told them sure. Then they come back, asking if I wanted to have my oil system cleaned, I said sure, because the lady told me that it would be good for my truck in the long-run.. Here they come again, this time will oil spots on a piece of cardboard, they tell me that my front & rear diff & transfer case need new fluids or whatever, but that the rear diff is in desperate need of attention, so I had them do the rear diff service... They came again & said something about my transmission fluid was overfilled and that if it wasn't serviced, it would blow the transmission seal, I then countered and told them that GM was the ones who serviced it last, so they left it as it was. Total to walk out the door? $179.00 LOL...

So my question is, did I get ripped today? I mean, if I actually needed all of this, I don't care, it's only money... Do you guys think that $179 was good for the services performed? And finally, do you all think I should learn to change my own oil? Lol...

On a side note, I did have a rather funny experience there today... When I was little, like 5th grade, there was this kid on my bus who always bullied me, he was an absolutely terrible human being. He now works at QuickChange. The look on his face when I rolled up in my truck was absolutely priceless....:lol2:
 

Donnie Yukonie

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first off you got ripped off how many miles are on your truck? i used to be in the tech buissness and worked on cars at a dodge dealership , my boss always told us UPSALE UPSALE UPSALE, i refused to do this as i thought it was f-up to sell an old lady or a struggling mother of 3 kids stuff that didnt need to be changed , they dont make money off of a oil change , thats why they sold you all the other crap, i wouldnt have took a piece of cardboard with oil stains on it for their word they probally have that laying around the shop to con people into services, I would say learn to change your oil there is plenty of help online I.E videos,articles ect.. to help you do this hell even we can guide you threw it step by step, And a OIL SYSTEM CLEAN?!?!? thats the biggest bs ive ever heard i wouldnt let my worst enemy get conned into that one (WHAT DO YOU THINK THE OIL CHANGE IS????? lol dont take offense but yes they screwed you IMO. i dont blame you i blame them . all or at least most of that is bs man i wish they didnt do that to you , you sound like a good person and it pisses me off to know that companys get away with garbage like that,

if i were you at least become more knowledgeable with your vehicle in your owners manual you should have a service record for up to 100 k miles or so even taking a look under neath every now and then to make sure things arent leaking before you take it in or ask to see said leak ect..
 

domin8

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^^^ I absolutely agree, especially with the last part. Anytime you let somebody work on your vehicle, and they claim something is broken or needs fixing, tell them to show you. They might try to give your some crap about how their insurance won't let you in the shop. That is garbage. A good mechanic can prove his claims while an ******* after your money will talk all sorts of ********. If they can't/won't show you they don't need your money. Go elsewhere and get a second opinion.
 

07Burb

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Things like this is why I'm glad that over the years I've gotten educated enough in vehicles to be able to pin point what is broken on my own and can fix most things in my own driveway. On the few things that I can't do in my driveway due to a new for a very specialized tool of some sort I can at least take it into a shop knowing exactly what is wrong and tell them to just fix that one thing and know that if they give me some other line of BS that they're just trying to get extra money from me.

Robby, at your young age I'd definitely start by learning how to change your own oil and then from there start educating yourself via info on the web and hands on experience on how to do different tasks with regards to maintaining your vehicle. Those skills are priceless to have not only with saving money but also knowing what's going on with your ride :waytogo:
 

Donnie Yukonie

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^^ great add on , another thing you stated your aware of them conning you, dont take that crap, my daddy always said "if some one else does a job you never know if they did a bad job, where as if you do a bad job well ....you know" lol
 

ChrisAU

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You got ripped off, but hey, $179 for all that really isn't too bad. Those wipers alone are around $50 right? Then the standard $70-$80 for a full synthetic oil change, we are at $120-$130. Pretty cheap for a rear end fluid change with labor and a gasket, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

---------- Post added at 12:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:12 PM ----------

Oh and by the way these GMT900 Tahoes are the easiest vehicle I've ever done an oil change on. Its even easier than my '92 K1500. Remove drain plug, drain oil, remove filter, replace filter, replace drain plug, fill with 6 quarts of the good stuff, done.
 

07Burb

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Oh and by the way these GMT900 Tahoes are the easiest vehicle I've ever done an oil change on. Its even easier than my '92 K1500. Remove drain plug, drain oil, remove filter, replace filter, replace drain plug, fill with 6 quarts of the good stuff, done.

:word: The only caveat to that is the oil filter is so close to the pan I've resorted to K&N oil filters with the nut on the bottom. This ensures that i'll be able to get it off and on easily and at the correct tightness because a normal filter wrench has a hard time fitting around the filter right next to that oil pan.
 

yates ™

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They don't remove the diff cover at a quick change place, just suck out old fluid and put in new. The diffs could probably have needed to be changed but they really need to remove covers.
 

Peaches

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I absolutely never let them do anything, other than what I came for. Unless it's a $1 extra I'll pass. Firestone allllways tries to talk me into new belts, no thanks, not at $70. I'll pay for an oil change, but simple maintenance is just too much. My dealership charges $77 for a Mobil1 oil change and a rotate and balance, which is worth it to me. The only time it isn't, I if I'm diligent on prices and Mobil1 sales, which I'm not anymore, so I'll just get it done.

I thought Discount Tire was going to have a fit because I didn't want their stupid warranty or the TPMS rebuild kit. Oh well, I saved $200. Never let them upsell you without knowing the parts and labor costs beforehand.
 

07Burb

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If a place tries to up sell me too often (i.e. every time for most places) I just won't go back there again because I hate dealing with the hassle. I do my own tire rotations, too, just cuz I don't like the hassle of having a shop do it for me. Yeah, I'm not saving much money at all and it's a tiring job (no pun intended :D) when it's hot outside but I'm less irritated when I'm done that having someone try to sell me on crap I don't need :)
 

Rockytfox

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At 17, I had a 1977 Chevrolet Malibu Classic. I bought a Haynes manual and learned how to do just about everything by myself. I even replaced the transmission in my driveway using cardboard between me and the concrete. The point here is that when I was 17 and broke, I took the time to learn how to do those things that prevent me from being taken advantage of today. In my opinion, this is perhaps one of the easiest and most important lessons someone can learn at a young age because it helps lay the foundation for a lifetime of dealing with people who will try and take advantage of those who in the majority of cases are unaware they are being taken advantage of.

Ryan
 

Regency

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On a side note, I did have a rather funny experience there today... When I was little, like 5th grade, there was this kid on my bus who always bullied me, he was an absolutely terrible human being. He now works at QuickChange. The look on his face when I rolled up in my truck was absolutely priceless....:lol2:

Haha that's awesome I hate bullies I've never been bullied but there absolute ***** who have no life good for you bro!
 

drroy

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$179 for synthetic oil change, wipers and diff fluid change isn't bad.... +/- "oil system cleaning", whatever that means.
you should learn to change your oil, then move on to brakes, then as you tool collection grows and your knowledge base and confidence expands move on to larger jobs. nothing wrong with paying to have things done, when you know you are getting good value and not getting ripped off.
 
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R_Sharpe

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Well then... You guys aren't telling me what I wanna hear, but at least I'm getting the truth of the matter... I KNEW that I was being upsold, but I was also afraid that if I didn't get these "important" services, that my trucks health would just get worse... I will definitely be doing my own maintenance from this point forward... My cousin is a beasty-A mechanic, so I'm sure that he can show me the basics... My plan was to do a self-change this time, but I was just afraid of messing something up...

Here are the charges:
FULL SERVICE SUV/HM OIL $46.99
PZ167 OIL FILTER $ 0.00
PENNZOIL HI MILEAGE 5W30 $29.34
22" RAIN-X LATITUDE WIPER $21.99
22" RAIN-X LATITUDE WIPER 21.99
OIL SYSTEM CLEANER $12.99
REAR DIFF. SERVICE $29.99
PENNZOIL 75W90 SYN G.O. $ 0.00
SPECIAL GEAR OIL CHANGE $25.00
TOTAL: $163.84 + $15.16 (TAX) = $179.00

And yes, sadly, I'm still using conventional oil... I was told that switching to synthetic would potentially "clog" my engine? WTF... The more I think about this, the more angry I become, because it's embarrassing that I got ripped like this... Plus, because I just blew $179 on potentially unnecessary maintenance, my CAI purchase has been delayed again... I'm seriously growing tired of this vehicle....
 

Regency

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Maintenance happens on every vehicle it isn't just your ltz don't worry
 

07Burb

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Robby....don't beat yourself up too much man. Live and learn and move forward brother. For all the stuff you got in return you didn't get screwed too badly but yes could have been done on your own. Like you said, just get together with your cousin dude and learn as much as you can. We all start somewhere :waytogo:
 
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R_Sharpe

R_Sharpe

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Maintenance happens on every vehicle it isn't just your ltz don't worry

I mean, I know that every vehicle needs routine maintenance. When I say I'm growing tired of my car, I mean just in general. It's getting up there in mileage (~132K), and I'm just afraid that something major is gonna happen to it... I love my car, it's just ideally, I'd love a newer, low mileage, warrantied vehicle, that way when something serious happens, I don't have to drop the coin to fix it myself... I've been looking at 09+ Silverado LTZs actually, I dunno... I guess I'm just in a bad mood right now, lol.... We'll just have to wait and see what the future holds as for my car...


Robby....don't beat yourself up too much man. Live and learn and move forward brother. For all the stuff you got in return you didn't get screwed too badly but yes could have been done on your own. Like you said, just get together with your cousin dude and learn as much as you can. We all start somewhere :waytogo:

I'm trying not too man, lol. And I mean, I'm not THAT worried about it, because I did get quite a bit of stuff, still got screwed, but like you said, not TOO bad, it's just annoying, haha. And I WILL definitely be getting with my cousin in the near future! Thanks for the words of encouragement, lol. :Handshake:.
 
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Regency

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I mean, I know that every vehicle needs routine maintenance. When I say I'm growing tired of my car, I mean just in general. It's getting up there in mileage (~132K), and I'm just afraid that something major is gonna happen to it... I love my car, it's just ideally, I'd love a newer, low mileage, warrantied vehicle, that way when something serious happens, I don't have to drop the coin to fix it myself... I've been looking at 09+ Silverado LTZs actually, I dunno... I guess I'm just in a bad mood right now, lol.... We'll just have to wait and see what the future holds as for my car...

Makes complete sence now 132k is high but I've heard these engines run to 300k may be wrong so noone yell at me haha silverado's are nice I say get a avy though if you really insist on getting rid of the tahoe because you will always have the newest avalanche:hands:
 

07Burb

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My burb has 125k on it and runs perfect. I'm personally not scared by mileage as long as they are well maintained miles. We plan on keeping our burb for at least another 13 years until the kids are out of high school. By then it'll probably have 300k on it but I'm good with that :) these LS motors will run forever if taken care of properly. The transmission may be another story but we will cross that bridge when we come to it LOL
 

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