I'm convinced people are at their sharpest around that age, just
before the hormones kick in and fog your mind.

My regular mechanic has his 13-year-old kid doing it this summer.  The kid
is very good, too.   I'd trust him over most of the dealer techs.
--scott

They do in my case.  Most dealers have a newbie doing it, but my
dealership simply has the regular mechanics do it.

I'm happy, because (a) my regular mechanic does it, and (b) he's putting
his practiced eye underneath the car as he does so.  It all works out
very well.

On Aug 15, 5:57 pm, techman41...@yahoo.com wrote:

The biggest variable is the local managers of the shops, as well as
the dealers, as well as other chains, as well as independent
mechanics. The secon biggest variable is the talent of whoever's doing
the work. You don't think the dealer is putting his best men on the
problem of oil changing, I hope. I've had lube chains screw up the
plug and/or the filter so bad that the dealer couldn't deal with it,
and I've had other chains manage to fix the screwed up plug and/or
filter that the dealer couldn't fix.

That said, I've gone back to my original idea, which is that it's bad
practice to let other people do this kind of stuff. I got one of those
valves that go into the plug to make it easier.

I am on the road often enough where I need to get my oil changed at
Jiffy Lube or other convenient type of oil change place. Is there any
quality or performance difference between the bulk oil they use or the
optional bottled oil (penzoil) that they offer for $10-$15 more?
I have heard many horror stories regarding Jiffy Lube, although I
guess I am lucky with 220K on my Honda Accord. Taking my car to the
dealer just for an oil change on the road seems ridiculous. Just
wondeingr what others look for in an oil-change place to insure
quality work (those who fear Jiffy Lube) when they can't do it
themselves.
Thanks