I was curious why there was no one in line as there usually is... now I know.
They raised the prices of a synthetic 5-quart oil change to basically $100 dollars. At the same time, they reduced the amount of the online coupon from 10 down to 7 dollars. So, I paid 92 dollars for an oil change, when it cost me about 57 the last time I had it changed at this location. The ONLY reason that I paid that price this time was because I needed to get it done and I was in a hurry. I asked why the price had increased so much and the technician told me some ridiculous story about inflation and them changing oil brands. Sorry, but there is absolutely no reason that justifies this amount of price increase. In addition to this, they topped off my windshield wiper fluid with some cheap fluid that was evidently watered down. It was 25 degrees this morning and the fluid froze and would not flow through the lines. For a $100 dollar oil change, they should use top quality fluids. I usually use a Rain-X brand fluid which has never frozen in much colder temperatures. When I went out for lunch and the weather had warmed up, the fluid worked fine.
One of the techs tried to tell me that my air filter was dirty and needed to be changed. I asked him how long they should last and he told me 5000 miles, which I knew was a lie. I then told him that they had just replaced the air filter the last time that I had an oil change and the air filter for my Jeep typically is good for 20,000 to 30,000 miles, depending upon driving conditions. I commute to work on a paved highway, so my driving conditions do not include driving through a desert or off-roading.
They also asked if I wanted them to check the cabin filter. I said yes. They couldn't find it and the young lady who was looking tried several times to pull my glove box out by pinching it and tugging on it. I had never checked the cabin filter, but I did a quick search on my phone which took 5 seconds that showed there are 6 torx screws holding the glovebox that need to be removed to check or change the filter. I told them to not worry about checking it (to prevent them from breaking my glovebox).
Since buying this Jeep in 2020, I had always had my oil changed at this Take 5 location. The quality of service has disappeared. The last time I had my oil changed here, they didn't put the oil filter on tight enough and it was leaking oil in my driveway. When I told the tech this time to be sure and check that the filter was tight enough, he cut me off and said "Yes we are doing that. That is why we have a different technician inspect it than the one who changed it." I thought, okay, if that is true, why did it happen last time? Did they both miss it?
There were 5 or 6 different people working on this oil change. I guess that's where the price increase goes. It takes 6 people to do the work of 1 or 2.
I will never be going back to this business and I will warn everyone I can to avoid them. I will gladly change my own oil in the future or take it to someone who can do this simple process for a reasonable price. This is a shame. Back when the service was good and the prices were not obscenely out of line, I routinely drove all the way to this location from my home which is about 25 miles away to get it done because I usually could stay in my car and it didn't take too long. I now regret paying to have this done. I should have driven straight out of there as soon as I saw the price change and when they lied to me about my air filter. They are either hiring people who have no idea what they are doing or else hiring people who are lying to customers in order to up-sell them into buying something they don't need, and I don't know which is worse. read more