First the disclaimer - This is no way shape or form a bashing or global rant on dealership service centers. There are lots of great Mopar service folks on here and I do not want to get into the dog house. I just want to share. I know for every bad Mopar shop experience there are hundreds of good ones. And this could have happened at any mom and pop shop, but still.

I take my 2002 GCS in for an oil change and upon backing into my garage with my windows down as always the acoustics let me hear my engine noise bouncing off the wall.
I now can hear my valve train. I was not listening for anything, just being careful to park the vehicle on my marks and it caught my attention. I do this everyday and know my engine noise well.
So I shut down and taking advantage of the nice Mopar service detailed receipt service record I see they used 5W20!
I go back and they are like its no big deal and say "Thats what we use in all our oil changes".
I request they put the factory recommended weight oil 10W30 in and they do so.

Now I think I may have posted this before but that was 5K miles ago. On that day I decided I will return to doing my oil changes from then on.

Today I find I cannot get the drain plug out with a boxed end wrench. I get a long handle 3/8 drive ratchet and socket and find this to be very very difficult.
I never pound or jerk heavily on oil pan plugs for many reasons but one I have seen is sometimes you can actually shift the oil pan on its gasket and create a leak in its future.

So, I get a 1/2" drive long handle ratchet and slowly pull on it until it breaks free making a "TICK" noise.

I then find there is no washer, seal, o-ring of any kind and can see evidence of an impact wrench on the plugs flats.

I hit the books and it calls for a gasket. I make a run to the parts supply and get one.

Gosh guys. I am writing now because I got an email from them today with a feedback form.

A retired industrial maintenance mechanical and machinist technician of 30 years, Coca-Cola, Strohs Brewery, Anheuser-Busch, Southern Tea, I am used to being responsible for equipment worth millions of dollars.

Its hard to cool off after paying for and going through something like this that should be so simple to do. The oil cap says consult the manual eh?

Like the old TV series "Hill Street Blues" desk sergeant used to say at the beginning of every show, "Be careful out there".

 

I know that it hurts when you pay for service and get screwed. I took my 2003 caravan into the dealer for a oil change. It just reached 103,000 while pulling on to their lot. Running like new you could barely hear it run. After the change the engine was loud sounding worst than an old diesel truck. The dealer said it's nothing that we did. The oil light just came on. And everything goes up after a while. And you just need to buy a new one because this one is old. I tried to drive home it died in 1 block. So I lost a very good van that day. I'll never trust another dealer to change my oil again.

 

I'm due for a change and plan to do it myself after my last quick lube experience.

I tend to hit quick lubes in winter months because I don't have a work space that isn't covered in snow. Anyway, the quick lube jockey informed me I needed an air filter.... while he was under the car.

I decided to test him a little and asked him if the air filter had to be changed form underneath. his response "no, it's changed from the top, but I check it from underneath." wat?

 

That's why i change my own oil. I believe that if you can do it without screwing up, you should do it. That way, you save money and you know exactly how it was done.

 

Why don't you guys go to independent shops where real Mechanic works on cars? All these 'fast lube' place including dealer goes thru high school age kids monthly to compensate for the low price and 'fast food' experience.


Most dealership have good certified mechanics, but none of them works on the express lube. And same goes for all the Chain Store.

 

Like I said my quick lewb experiences are usually only during the winter when it's sucky to do myself. The last place I went to was a place I hit on the way out of town to a clients house so they were our of shear "convenience".

 

Factory recommendation is 5W-30 or 10W-30. How they came up with 5W-20 is beyond me. Just as FYI, many late model vehicles are now getting 0W-20 synthetic as factory fill. Better pump ability at cold start up when most wear happens and better MPG.

 

Thanks Guys,
It can happen anywhere I guess. @ 59 years old and the affordability, I got lazy and went to lunch with buddy and got burned a little eh?

Without the great ASE guys on this board we would all be looking lots harder for answers.

 

probably because their parts dept went cheap and only bought one type of oil in bulk, and save inventory space. I know a lot of express lube place does that.

talk about sythetic blend oil. i think GM just launched a recall to reprogram some of their oil change reminder on their 2007-2012 4CYLN cars to like 5000 instead of 8000, because of high warranty claim due to ppl not using approved synthetic blend oil.

i think the customers are partly to blame too. every wants fast and cheap as their top priority. quality goes down the drain when that happen. just look at walmart.

 

I am just plain ruined as far as trust goes. If I have to hire it out I will take the oil and filter with me and negotiate the price.
A long story in its self, just getting a shop to hunt down and hit every single grease fitting has been a challenge in my world also.

Ruined.