$86.44 for oil change? I feel screwed

[YarisSedan]

Originally Posted by supmet

Not true. DIY FTW

86 dollars is way overpriced.

There is markup on oil. If they aren't making profit at 85, how do they charge me 65(and still make a profit), and they aren't just doing it to bring customers in, its a going rate, at a lube only place... Auto zone made profit off me buying 5 qts pennzoil platinum and a mobil 1 filter for 27.99

Hate to break it do you but they make no profit. Thats whats called a loss leader. It something that they loose money selling to you for less than or at cost. Hoping while your there you might buy a air filter, some car wax maybe some terry cloths etc. Its something to get you in the door. To help some people relate think back to black Friday when they were selling flat screen tvs for 400. No one though oh wow how can they do that. They are just giving them away. Because they are. They just want you to come to their store and hopefully buy something else on the way out.

Ill tell you what my shop pays for oil. 1.89 per quart. We used to pay 2.25 for almost a year putting in high quality oil in every oil change. But people didnt care they just wanted cheap. So we finally compromised and went down to a lower quality oil at 1.89 a quart and dropped out coupon rate from 19.95 to 17.95. I also pay about adverage 4 dollars for the filter. Depends on the car some are more some are less.

So if i a car comes in that takes 5 quarts of oil. thats 13.45 for the parts my cost I only make 4 dollars and 50 cents. That dosnt even cover cost of things like the quarter can of brake cleaner. Thats maybe 50 cents. So really i make 4 dollars flat. I am paying the lube tech 15 a hour that means I dont even cover his salary. Let alone have enough left over to pay for the electricity, rent, etc. Oh yeah i forgot to mention that includes topping off of fluids. Some cars come in with no wiper fluid. Maybe thats 50 cents to fill it up a gallon and half of washer fluid. Some cars come low on coolant. If its toyota long life thats maybe a dollar to fill up a quart. If its low on transmission fluid well it adds up. Sometimes we end up in the negative.

There is no money in oil changes ill say it one last time its considered loss leader. Belive what you will but no shop can survive on oil change alone. Its just something to bring customers in. at 13.45 for parts there is no real room for markup.

If a shop is charging even 20 dollars labor that still dosnt cover it. Most shops labor rate is 95 dollars a hour. If your getting a oil change that includes checking tire pressure topping of fluids full undervehicle inspection full underhood inspection. Takes about 25 minutes to do complete from start to finish. Ad another 5 minutes for checking and checkout time thats half a hour. So really you should be charged half an hour labor rate at 47.50 but your paying 20 bucks still. Or i guess at my shop 4 dollars.

Thats what i mean when i say your not getting ripped off. That shop OP took his car do decides to take less of a loss than the next shop. Maybe they are busy enough they dont really need to do oil changes that they have constant flow of customers. So if they are going to do a oil change they want to make sure its worth thier while. Maybe they have no lube technicians they only have a staff of mechanics. So you may have a 30 dollar a hour mechanic doing your oil change for 80 bucks with 45 dollars in material for oil. You do the math. They are not walking away with pockets full of money.

The lube shops that do quickie oil changes dont really make money either. They charge a little more but poeple go for the quickie service. They make it up by selling you unessisary stuff like air filters that arnt that dirty. Fluid exchanges that arnt needed yet. And plus they use only generic fluids and mark it way up. They pay their technicians lot lower than other shops. Which is why usually thier experience matches thier pay. I am sure everyone has heard of or know about a horror story of such quick lube shops. Just watch dateline nbc.