Poor Maintenance and Quick Lube Stickers

A recent in house study is showing the relationship of poorly maintained vehicles associated with Quick Lube stickers in the window.

Quick lubes have become one of the nicest option  for vehicle owners with busy schedules and the desire to take good care of their cars. You can come in whenever you want, they promote fast turn around and at the most they might recommend replacing your air filter or sucking out one of your other fluids. Most of the guys there are pleasant and you don’t even have to let them ever get in the drivers seat of your precious baby.

5208-SAM_0039

The problem that the study has shown is that cars that use quick lubes for most if not all of there maintenance is “the things that are overlooked” are causing the cars to wear out long before they should. This is causing an increase in your cost’s of driving.

These things that a quick lube are just not designed to handle are the overall maintenance of your car as a whole and not just the quick lube system based solely on the simple services a they are set up for. The study points out that cars that visit a complete services shop that have quick lube stickers in the window will notoriously be behind on some of the most important maintenance services of the tires, steering, suspension, brake system and the overall body of the vehicle. These items are the center of all of the things that keep your vehicle safe and prevent unnecessary wear and tear that will in the long run, cost you even more in future repairs and maintenance.

Most cars will cost you a certain amount as you continue to put on miles, that is something that’s built into the design of the vehicle and can be measured on a cost per mile basis. Driving around with something as simple as an annoying minor shake, if ignored, can cause additional wear and tear on the structure of the vehicle driving up the cost to maintain the vehicle. A case in point. This Acura was maintained for most of its life at a quick lube.

 

Aura Beat up

When it finally showed up at our shop, it was towed in. We found that even though the vehicle had made it close to 200,000 miles, when inspected, was found to have been in worse condition than some vehicles we service with over 300,000 miles. As a result, the failure, that ended up being a failed transmission cooler that ran his transmission low on fluid and damaging the transmission and cooling system was not worth repairing. This was not just because a replacement transmission is expensive, but because when you added up all of the other services the car was going to need and the fact that the car was literally driven into the ground, it was just not worth the investment. The owner was now forced to replace the car early rather than repair it.

This is something that is avoidable and in this case, the failing cooler could have been spotted long before it completely failed. The transmission would not have needed replacing and the missed maintenance services, designed to help keep the car in a like new condition, would have been done in its place and the cost per mile would have been significantly less than the cost of early replacement.

The lesson to be learned here is simple. Having a certified maintenance and repair shop looking over your vehicle on a regular basis that concentrates on the value of driving your car for 250,000 miles or more is how this is done. At Nelsons Automotive of Pewaukee, we believe in this concept and have many vehicles on the road today doing this in a cost effective way and without sacrificing the ride, comfort or dependability of your transportation. An occasional visit to a quick lube when your busy schedule doesn’t allow this important visit is OK but should not be done as your only option as your sole maintenance provider.

Jim Nelson

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