Oil Changes - Dealership vs Local Mechanic

[bbhaag]

What do you consider reasonable price these days. My dodge dealer is $40.00 cheaper than valvoline for wife's Durango.

@Kevin DeLuca They charge around $65 for an oil change and whatever extras are suppose to come with it like tire rotation and fluid checks. The nice thing is I started with a little over 92K points so all of my regular maintenance so far has cost nothing.

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[OrdinaryGuy]

I have a new 24 Maverick Eco.

Already did first oil change with the Ford Dealership at 1200 miles to flush oil.

I have to ask, why 1200? It seems to be too early...The first leg should have gone up to 5k miles. I just had my first oil change at 4500 miles. If you going to keep replacing your oil every 1200 then you would empty your pocket faster...

 

[dalola]

I mean generally speaking that can happen anywhere whether it be a dealership or independent shop and IME neither place will let you stand there and watch as they do the service.

I guess that is were the trust part of my post came from. I trust them because they have proven to me to be competent at what they do whether it be body work(had over 5K in hail damage),recall work, or regular maintenance like oil changes.

Agreed, shady operators come in all flavors. It does seem more prevalent at the dealer/franchise level vs. the independent shop, I suppose the independent has more to lose by a bad reputation.

Bottom line, go with who you trust, and who does a proper job, be it a dealer, independent shop, or yourself.

 

[dlhort1955]

I have to ask, why 1200? It seems to be too early...The first leg should have gone up to 5k miles. I just had my first oil change at 4500 miles. If you going to keep replacing your oil every 1200 then you would empty your pocket faster...

I have a car with no oil filter, so I change the oil every 500 miles. It is only 100 years old. Even at that age I have a magnet in the pan that collects steel filings. You would be surprised how much still shows up............... I changed my oil at 3000 miles because of this history. I can see why OrdinaryGuy did his at 1200. Running in a new engine with new pistons, rods, etc results in a lot of metal filings. Good idea to have the first oil change be early and then do it every 5ooo miles after that. I know Ford did not put 1000 miles on my engine before they put it in the truck.

 

[Montana]

I have to ask, why 1200? It seems to be too early...The first leg should have gone up to 5k miles. I just had my first oil change at 4500 miles. If you going to keep replacing your oil every 1200 then you would empty your pocket faster...

That was only the first one to remove the break in fluid.

Get some oil analysis' done.

 

[Dave O]

1st full synthetic oil and filter change at local dealership scheduled 2nd oil change this coming week

 

[mjtavares70]

I did my 5k oil change at valvoline and the 10k at the dealer. I will probably do one more at the dealer to spend my points unless I find something better to spend on. I log everything in the app including swapping my snow tires I bought in separate rims. I logged the latest recall as well since the log from the dealer was lacking any real information. Good records are important for future warranty claims.

 

[iam2sam]

Thought it was safer to use my Ford Dealer ($80) for 1st oil change but, on a road trip for second oil change the Valvoline Quick Lube place ($60) was taking a long time and informed me the extra time was due to whoever did the first oil change (Ford Dealer) had put the cover plate on "cock-eyed" and they had to replace a bolt the dealer had failed to put back on. Dealer oil change crew skills my vary at dealerships.

A negative for use of Dealership is 1 to 2 hours wait time at my dealer. So will go back to a pro (Valvoline, etc.) that does 100's of oil changes a day. But will probably go back to my Ford Dealer when then include a "Free Tire Rotation" with an oil change.

Was that $80 for full synthetic? I got nicked $140 + tax today for change to full synth and a filter. This is NJ, so things aren't cheap, and I didn't feel like I was being totally ripped off when I paid, but that is a pretty big price difference. I was only there for 1 hour, but it was a pretty early appointment (8:30 AM)

 

[Dave O]

Was that $80 for full synthetic? I got nicked $140 + tax today for change to full synth and a filter. This is NJ, so things aren't cheap, and I didn't feel like I was being totally ripped off when I paid, but that is a pretty big price difference. I was only there for 1 hour, but it was a pretty early appointment (8:30 AM)

In Florida at my dealership full synthetic and filter oil change was $135.00 out the door…

 

[iam2sam]

In Florida at my dealership full synthetic and filter oil change was $135.00 out the door…

OK, thanks. My price was fair then.

 

[OleFordGuy]

Just had mine changed yesterday with my local mechanic shop that I've used for many years, Castrol Edge Full Synthetic oil, Total $71.45 (note, I did supply the Motorcraft FL-910-S oil filter - I purchased a supply way back with my fordpass points).

 

[Edge Haley]

Was that $80 for full synthetic? I got nicked $140 + tax today for change to full synth and a filter. This is NJ, so things aren't cheap, and I didn't feel like I was being totally ripped off when I paid, but that is a pretty big price difference. I was only there for 1 hour, but it was a pretty early appointment (8:30 AM)

Yes, I double checked and it was FULL Synthetic...I've had excellent service from "Grease Money" quick change place....BUT would warn everyone to double check the engine air filter when someone replaces (OR JUST CHECKS IT). Last guy just checked it but after I left, I checked it and air filter lid was cocked-eyed causing a big gap on top... it is hard to put the air filter back on...has two clips and service guy missed one.

 

[Dave O]

Yes, I double checked and it was FULL Synthetic...I've had excellent service from "Grease Money" quick change place....BUT would warn everyone to double check the engine air filter when someone replaces (OR JUST CHECKS IT). Last guy just checked it but after I left, I checked it and air filter lid was cocked-eyed causing a big gap on top... it is hard to put the air filter back on...has two clips and service guy missed one.

Well quality control should be top priority no matter the level of the shop years ago I had a similar experience where the bottom felt shroud on my F150 wasn’t reinstalled correctly and dropped onto the road destroying it so I drove back, the tech suspected he did something incorrect because he knew he did I got in line and when the tech asked me why I returned I told him and requested he and I go over every thing that was included in the service, he wasn’t happy but the manager was really unhappy

So we started from the top

Checked newly installed oil level
Verified the correct oil was used
Checked the oil cap was installed correct and any spill was cleaned up
Verified Oil Filter was correct and tight
Check all the fluid levels listed on the service
Confirmed the oil drain plug was tight and not cross-threaded
Checked the tire pressures
Checked air filter
Checked windshield wipers

The manager actually thanked me and ordered me a new shroud from the local dealership when it arrived they came to my home and installed it and apologized again I remained cool and calm the whole time. The manager contacted me later and told me that he and the tech learned a valuable lesson and refunded 100% of my money and in return I continued doing business using the same tech a few times he turned out to be a great tech and actually got promoted to shop forreman he told me he was upset at time but it made him better…

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