I`m in Desertnate`s camp - I use factory vendor filters (as we do at our shop).
For our customer cars, we use LiquiMoly oil that meets/exceeds the required manufacturer standards.
For my cars, I use a LiquiMoly oil (TopTec 4200) that`s actually rated above the spec my cars call for - it`s formulated for the Euro Diesels; it`s also spec`d for Extended Intervals for gasoline cars in Europe. Oil changed every 5,000 miles despite the extended interval designation of the oil and factory recommendation of 10,000 for my car.
I have a long running dislike of rapid oil change places and most parts store oil filters. I`ve had
So. Many. Cars. that have come in with parts store filters (not just the bottom barrel grade either) that have leaking o-rings that have turned square because they`re so cheap or the filter media itself is collapsing in on itself (sometimes literally tearing open).
This happens well before the car reaches the factory recommended oil change interval (which, in my experience is too long if engine longevity is your goal). On top of that, the number of cars where you`d swear they Karate kicked the
On top of that, it`s very frequent that I run into instances of customer paying more at a rapid change place than they would have coming to us (2.5 make focused independent shop - BMW, Audi; BMW`s little brother Mini is the .5
). Should this be an indicator we`re not charging enough? It`s tough when your day-to-day competition is the Dealership, not so much quick lubes and corner shops.
The other thing that blows my mind from catch-all independents is when customers provide their records for us to determine their service history (or get back story for issues other shops haven`t been able to solve) - the number of times a customer will go to the same shop for oil changes, and it`s a different price literally every time.
The number of times I see other shops make repairs with
CHEAP parts where they charge the customer more than MSRP of the Genuine part/more labor than a specialty shop is a rant for another day...
Having worked at a dealership for 10 years prior to my 11 years here, the one bummer about dealer service is that for simple things like oil changes you`re frequently passed off to the "Express Service" (read: inexpensive employee) crew. I just had a car come in that had a laundry list of stuff it needed and the customer was shocked. "I`ve been bringing it to Dealer X for all my oil changes, and they never told me about any of this!" Sure enough. The young gun just does exactly what`s on the RO as fast as they can so they can get on to the next one.
Sorry for the "old man" get-off-my-lawn rant;
working on an E92 M3 right now that came from a National Chain. This is a no dipstick car; I drained 19 Liters of oil (Listed capacity of 8.8L). They made more than one attempt to get the oil level corrected - I have no idea what they must have been doing...
Same car also has the directional front rotors installed facing the wrong way, and the computer wasn`t reset when the brakes were done. So often the most simple services are the ones you see butchered...
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