Today I saw myself quoted on an email list about a customer who had been up-sold synthetic oil at another shop. Sounds like a good topic.
If your car’s manufacturer specifies synthetic oil that’s what you must use. When we service the car we put in the oil specified by the car’s manufacturer at the minimum. In many cases we put in a better oil.
In this case it was an older car that didn’t require synthetic oil. The customer went elsewhere where they were up-sold a certain brand of synthetic oil. The shop even put a real official looking sticker under the hood that said “only use x brand synthetic oil”. The customer had no idea they had used synthetic oil but remembered the oil change was “really expensive”.
In this case the use of synthetic oil will not likely add significant life to the car. It’s driven mainly in the city and regularly changing the oil will add more value. When synthetic oil first came out there was talk about not changing back to conventional oil because it would cause seals to leak. Wives’s tale or truth; I don’t know but we’ve never been able to attribute a leak to switching back. That was a long time ago, today the oils are without a doubt compatible with each other.
Synthetic oil is a better product; if you want to use it start when the car is new. Switching over in a high mile car won’t make it a low mileage engine. We removed the bogus sticker and put our oil in.
This is where it gets more complicated. There is a third oil, called blended or synthetic blend. It has some of the properties of synthetic and a price closer to conventional oil. We stopped using conventional oil several years ago. Our most basic service comes with blended oil. At most shops and the quick lubes this is an upgrade or add on. At Hometown it’s just part of the “Old Time Value” we put in every job.
If you have any questions about motor oil or what your vehicle takes; send us an email.
There is a difference between maintenance and quick lube. When you go into a quick lube, you know the chains stores I’m referring to, they usually have one thing in mind; up-sell. You need to flush everything, need new filters and need a new belt. Sound familiar?
They don’t hire trained and certified mechanics. They train their help to change fluids and they typically get a commission on every up-sell. They don’t inspect the critical components and systems in your vehicle. They don’t check the brakes, steering linkage, suspension, exhaust and many more. They don’t do that work, they don’t sell that work and they aren’t trained to inspect it.
Just yesterday we had to do a $500 brake job on a late model 15 passenger van, with only 32k miles on it. They ran out of brake pad and destroyed the rotors. The reason I’m not happy about it is that it never should have happened. This vehicle is part of a fleet that belongs to a non-profit social service agency. Their budget and state funding has been cut; money is tight. We service their fleet when they break down and rarely see them for maintenance. This van had the oil changed at an Instant Oil Change 3000 miles ago. If a mechanic had serviced it he would have seen the almost worn out brakes and either scheduled the repair before damage was done or would have put in brake pads right then; at a cost of about $130. The last three times this exact situation occurred, different vans, the vans were serviced at an Instant Oil Change less than 300 miles before the brakes started grinding. $500 or $130, you do the math.
I know what you’re thinking, it was more profitable for us to do the larger job. You are absolutely right, but that’s not way we work. We want to sell you what you need , when you need it. We are here to help you maintain the investment you’ve made in your vehicle. That means sometimes selling you a smaller job and saving you money. It means never an unneeded up-sell. It not just about profit – it’s about Trust.
