Their job does not involve looking at a single other thing on the car. They might check tire pressures too if you’re lucky. When you go to a Quick Lube shop, their job is to remove the oil, remove the filter, put in a new filter and replace the oil. I too would rather have my heart broken by the creaks and rattles of German synthpop or Icelandic post-capitalist bondage techno than the cranks and rattles of my suspension. The “Quick Lube Condition” car’s squeaks are hidden by simply turning the radio up and pretending they don’t exist. They’re great for protecting the undercarriage and aiding in aerodynamics, but they’re also really good at keeping fluid drips off your garage floor. The owners are often none the wiser.Īnybody who has been under a car built in roughly the last 25 years will know that they feature aero shields. There will usually be a variety of leaks and squeaks, and there is often evidence that these problems are not new. The filter may have collapsed into an hourglass shape, a tell-tale sign of poor flow or poorly fitting into the housing. The oil in it may be fresh, but the filter in it is often an inexpensive and poor-quality part. “Quick Lube Condition” describes a car that has only ever seen a handful of fast oil changes in the last few years and consequently has fallen significantly behind on regular maintenance and any needed repairs. I hope like hell he never sees this article or I’m going to owe him a fortune. Ok, a couple had freshly paved parking lots to hide any shame, but a couple of them definitely weren’t too far off from the meme.Īround this same time, one of our technicians coined a lovely descriptive phrase: “Quick Lube Condition.” Annoyingly, he decided he held the trademark and started asking for five bucks every time someone used it. Now, to be fair, not all of them were bad. Out of curiosity, I fired up Google Maps and went to a couple of the speedy oil change places around my neighborhood. The tale of “somebody made an expensive mistake.” Photo: Author unknown One particularly fresh line leads to a parking spot to the side an image telling a cautionary tale. The meme showed an aerial shot of a Quick Lube joint with a relatively clean entrance and deep black streaks lining the exit of each bay. Saturday before last, checking the level after changing the oil on my MR2 /4Ffx4lE6qQ- Andrea Petersen March 30, 2023Ī few months ago while idly browsing social media in the black and red velvet-draped comfort of my Twin Peaks-themed bedroom, I came across a meme, as one does. Unfortunately, the majority of car owners are either not interested in doing it or not equipped for it. On the scale of home-based wrenching, it’s low risk with the comfortable reward of feeling like you accomplished something. Changing oil on your own is usually a peaceful and smooth procedure with very few unknowns. Most of us who are enthusiasts enjoy riding our creepers (or just scraps of cardboard under our cars) on a nice afternoon to get some up-close-and-personal time. But I’m hoping this might come up in a few random Google searches and save people some heartbreak too. I’ll admit I feel a little bit like I might be preaching to the choir of all you extraordinarily brilliant, beautiful Autopians, who know better than to take your cars to such a place (and obviously I’m biased given that I’m a service advisor). But behind this speed and convenience lurks an uncomfortable reality: You might be mistreating your car. You might not even have to leave the comfort of the driver’s seat. They offer oil changes with the promise of speed and convenience. They’re owned by mega-corporations or small companies with just a couple of locations. They’re on random corners, tucked into strip mall parking lots, and attached to big box retail stores. They can be found in towns and cities across the country.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |