4 Common Oil Change Scams And How To Avoid Them
The gasoline or diesel powered vehicle require oil change throughout its lifespan, electric vehicles are exception. There are many people who don’t know how to change engine oil or maintain vehicle mechanically, therefore the easiest way for them is to take the vehicle to shop. Unfortunately there are some quick lube change shop and also many dealerships which take advantages from the customers, who are unaware of technical things about maintaining car.
Here are 4 most common oil change scams and tips how to avoid from these kinds of scams:
1 Oil Change Require in 3,000 miles:
This is the most common and ultra fine sales tactic by the lube shops, which is approximately impossible to recognize. The average duration of the full synthetic oil is between 6 to 10,000 miles and sometimes it work up to 15,000 miles depending on the oil formula, driving condition and type of vehicle. Under normal driving condition even conventional oil last long up to 5,000 miles.
The need of the change of engine oil depends on the condition of the oil like due to high pressure and temperature the oil losses it viscosity and failed to lubricate well, moving parts of the engine which further leads to the costly damage. But like Lube shop giving sticker to customer and mention on that you must have to change your oil after every 3,000 miles is unfair. Every vehicle have is owner manual and there is also mentioned details about the duration of engine oil change. So you need to consult with the owner manual of your vehicle, lube shops don’t care about the recommended interval, they will only make money each time you go to their shop.
2 The Upsell:
Whenever you go the lube shop for engine oil change, mostly workers of the shop do a quick inspection of the vehicle like they will check your vehicle headlights, brake fluid, transmission fluid and air filter etc… And if they find even a minor issue they will try to convince that you need to change this whole thing or else it will gonna cost you costly damage in future, and that’s the magic trick they use to make money because simply oil change profit is very thin, add on other things give them big margin of profits.
They make their customer afraid like if they don’t replace that part of the vehicle they will gonna face serious damage to engine etc… The best way to prevent these kinds of tricks is to keep an accurate logbook for the maintenance of the vehicle and also check the owner’s manual and see when the manufacturer recommends and which parts are important to be maintained routinely.
3 Treating you in Condescending Manner:
The lube shop knew that not everyone has mechanical knowledge about the vehicle and this is the point where they take advantage of your lack of knowledge. If the technician of the shop talk to you like you are stupid and know nothing, walk away. Don’t hesitate to ask questions. If you don’t understand what the technician is saying, it is better to ask him why this job is necessary than to blindly agree on whatever he recommend.
If the technician act defensively when you ask about related issue then there is a high chance that the shop is trying to scam with you, So don’t hesitate to go to other shop there are plenty of other places. When the lube shop make you doubt about the mechanical fault, then find someone whom you trust and ask them to write down the task which are necessary to perform or ask them to go along with you.
4 Not Doing the Work:
This is very rare type of negligence or scum whatever you call depending on the situation but it does happen. When you went for engine oil change and you are not monitoring the technician what is he doing with your vehicle then there might be chance of carelessness like they didn’t tight the nut of oil drainage properly or they didn’t fill the engine oil at required level therefore it is good to check all these kind of things before leaving the garage, not all shops are scammers they do have integrity and actually do the required task in efficiently they charge you for.
