Only if you watch them every minute while they are working on your car!;)

You can trust them to over torque the sump plug maybe even strip it. You can trust them to over fill your engine with non diesel rated oil. And you can even trust them to try and sell you allot things and services you do not need at ridiculous prices.

Yeah. You can trust them.

I don't trust anyone,not even myself.

Some time ago my father inlaw when to them
to have his oil changed.
He heard a ticking sound coming from the engine,
after the oil change.
So he went back to let them know that it
started after the oil change.
They denied that it was their fault
They said it couldn't be,that the ticking was
there before.
So they refused to have it fixed(new cam)

When they put the oil filler nozzel in to the
oil filler opening they pushed it down so much
that they bent a metal plate in the valve cover
to the point where it was rubbing on the cam.
The camlobe that it was rubbing on,ended up
with deep grooves on it and needed replacing.
Now you need to know that the car was 3 months
old a the time.
2003 Hyundai Accent.

Louis.

O.K. so i have taken my chevy pick up to jiffy lube, mainly because i dont really care if they screw it up, i have always changed the oil on my VW's but this is my first benz, not to mention being shoort on time,and i dont want to screw anything up, what type of place should i take it to? i dont have any mercedes specific mechanics around here.
thanks everyone

You can trust them to inadvertantly pull some part of the vacuum system loose so your car won't shut off or shift right.

jiffy
 

the jiffylube guys in my town look like THUGS.

I would rather run old dirty oil in the car than take it there. It is cheaper in the long run.

Consider an engine with cross threaded bolts, overfilled with the wrong type of oil, cheapo filter, overtightened nuts, having to deal with them selling you a cooling system/air filter/ tire rotation/ trans fluid service you do not need.

I say go for it!

-rodsob

If you give them enough chances.:(

Horror stories about "jiffy-lube" places and their ilk abound. And unlike many "urban legends" the sad thing is they are not only true...but probably "underreported".

Damage resulting from a mistake made during an oil change is not likely to immediately reveal itself..and is very hard to prove. Company policy is to generally deny responsability for any damage that shows up and make the vehicles owner "take them to court"..where again sadly ...the the owners usually lose.

I learned how to change oil when I worked on my uncles farm. While the oil is draining I was taught to spend the time looking over the engine bay/area for any other possible hints of problems. Doing so has saved me thousands of dollars in the last 30 years. Problems caught early are much less expensive to fix.

While it is likely that you will take the time to look for leaks, frayed belts or wire, cracked boots, etc if you do your own oil change and it is posible that a "real mechanic" will as well...the odds are near zero that a "quick lube" employee (don't even think of them as a mechanic) will. And why should they...most are payed minimum wage. You don't get the most talented and skilled individuals for minimum wage. you get folks that knwo roughly what a wrench is used for..and who can (usually) be taught which hole the fresh oil goes into.

Add to this that unless you bring in your own filters and oil you will get the cheapest stuff they have and that they may be in too much of a hurry to be carful about what they are doing....I don't believe that any "bargain" oil change is a true bargain. Given the investment in a quality car that a Mercedes represents...and given the high cost of repairs...it just is not worth the risk IMO.

Exactly. Or pull a spark plug wire and run your car on 7 cylinders. :rolleyes:

can i trust jiffy-lube
 

do think they can screw up an oil change on this car?
1980 300td
converted to have a turbo engine from some other year.

Don't go there!!!!

Channel 2 out here in Southern California just did an undercover investigation on several of the Jiffy Lube-like chains. The base of the investigation was the undercover crew started out with a mechanic inspected and all fluids changed vehicle.

All of but a few of the individual shops were found to be dishonest. The typical play of the shops was, "Uh-oh, you have burned transmission fluid, and your differential fluid is dirty." Few customers make it out the door without getting gouged for services they don't need.

My father went to them once and instead of over tightening the oil plug they did not tighten it enough.. fell out about ten miles from the shop.

no
 

I had a trip come up suddenly and was forced to the jiffy lube a few months ago. I had changed my air filter a month earlier and went in there with my own oil filters.

As I sat in the lobby while they were working on my car, a woman returned who had just left with her car smoking horribly. Apparently the Jiffy lube brain trust had neglected to replace the cap on the valve cover, permitting oil to launch on to her engine and under the hood, and indeed even on to her windshield. I went out and watched them do the rest of my work. They almost put their own crappy filter on my car. THEN, they pulled my air filter and insisted it was dirty and old and that for $23 they could replace it. I looked in her eyes and said, "I KNOW it is BRAND NEW. I put it in LAST WEEK" and still she persisted. Rediculous.

Oh, they also tried to get me to buy all these fuel additives and oil additives for my "extremely old and high mileage engine"

That was on the '87 volvo with 149k miles. I will not take my mercedes there ever. they have 240 and 275k miles. they'd have a heart attack!

Don't even consider it if you like your car. DIY or have an independent you trust do it.

good luck!
Kevin

My father to his '87 300SDL to Jiffy Lube to have the transmission fluid changed. They forgot to reconnect the vacuum lines when they finished. Needless to say, the car wouldn't shift properly when he left. He brought the car back and they ended up calling a Mercedes dealership to figure out what they did wrong and finally got it fixed. I take my MB to the Goodyear place to get the transmission fluid changed. I don't know how good it is but it seems a lot cleaner and nicer than Jiffy Lube.

Scott

Dad was an independent mechanic for 30+ years, and I know he saw several instances of screw-ups from quick-lube places.

If you are sold on the idea of a "quick" oil change, try to find a dealer-sponsored quick lube. I don't know if Mercedes does it or not, but I am sure Ford and Chevy have fast service oil changes available. At least in the dealership my brother-in-law works, the "regular" mechanics are the one that do the quick-lube duty. They have a rotating schedule where one day they are on quick-lube duty, then the next go back to regular work. While by definition quick-lubes are probably never going to be as thorough as an independent's service, at least at the dealership you are probably having the work done by a professional.

Yes, I am the part of the enemy in this thread :eek:

Even though I work at a true "honest" Wal-Mart Lube Express and I trust all my co-workers to do a good and correct job, I still do my own work at home. I love it how my boss, Jerry, does not hide the fact that our store had had mistakes. Two bent hoods, one oil caps left off, two oil plugs left loose, three wheel studs broken, and one cracked window. Nine claims in the last 6 months (4 of them from one person [NOT ME]) is not good, but it is better then many other places (Jiffy-Lube, Phillips 66, Texaco, etc.)I applied for. I took the Wal-Mart job for the, sadly, lowest claims rate and the best pay.

I have seen work come in from Speedway Chevy (Dealership) with loose (almost finger tight) plug AND filter. Not just once, but THREE times. Just think about it.

I'm not taking anything said here personaly as every shop is different. Some are good and honest, some are so-so, and some are just plain dirty.

As I said, I work at an honest shop, but I still do all the work on my car myself.