When you have an oil change performed, it’s crucial that all other fluids are inspected at the same time. For example, we see vehicles that have brake fluid leaks. I had a vehicle that was in the shop this morning with a brake light that was on, but the owner had the oil changed yesterday.
The customer came into the shop today for a brake inspection, but the only problem was that the brake fluid was low. The quick lube shop never even looked at the brake fluid.
It’s not part of a normal procedure for a quick lube employee to really go and look through your car, inspect everything, and have the knowledge to tell you, “Hey, your car is going to act up. It’s running fine right now, but we see this potential problem because we have seen this car and we’ve worked on this model of car hundreds of times.”
A professional mechanic will know when a certain types of cars will break down, how they break down, and what’s going to happen. We can usually take an educated guess. With a brand new car, we can tell you for the first 150,000 miles what you’re going to have to repair and when you’re going to have to repair it.
You’ll know six months ahead of time that you might have an alternator that’s going to go out. You’ll know three months ahead of time that you’re going to need brakes. You can do all of this quickly and efficiently with just a quick 45-minute visit to see us to have your oil change done and your vehicle inspected. Knowing what’s coming helps with planning and budgeting for those anticipated costs.
Photo Credit: Tom Wolf | Photography via Compfight cc
That’s why it’s so important that the technicians that work on your car have lots of experience and lots of training, and are certified in the area that they repair. Those things are lost when you’re at a quick lube having a 19 year-old kid changing the oil on your $20,000-$60,000 vehicle.
The more that we see your car for regular services, the more ability we have to really spot any potential problems.
