A guide to Jiffy Lube and other speedy oil change service centers:
Can you trust the care of your car to them?
The days of the full-service service station is rapidly becoming nothing more than a fond memory for most of us. There are still a few around, places that have attendants to pump your gas, change your oil and perform other services on your car but they are rapidly becoming extinct. In fact, today most places that sell gas don’t service cars and most places that service cars don’t sell gas. The small, independent garages are finding it harder and harder to survive because people are turning to car dealerships for all their service needs including routine oil and filter changes. The problem with using dealerships for such routine services is that you can’t just drive in when you have the time, you have to make an appointment ahead of time. That’s where Jiffy Lube and other no appointment needed service centers come into play. Their technicians are highly trained, fast and courteous.
Jiffy Lube
Jiffy Lube established the first drive through speedy oil change service center in 1979. Jiffy Lube has been an established franchised operation for three decades. With headquarters in Houston, Texas, they have over 2,000 locations throughout North America and serve over 24 million satisfied customers every year. Today, Jiffy Lube offers a full line of automotive services. Their highly trained and certified technician can service your car’s A/C System, fuel system, electrical system, engine, drivetrain, emissions control, tire rotation, etc. Today they even offer state inspection services and they offer all these services at a very reasonable price.
Valvoline Rapid Oil Change
Valvoline is another well established rapid service centers. They were established in 1986, seven years after Jiffy Lube, but they to have evolved into the second largest speedy full service centers for your car or truck. Like Jiffy Lube they are equipped to service almost every system on your vehicle and perform almost every service short of major repairs. Both Valvoline and Jiffy Lube are driven by the customer’s satisfaction.
Victory Lane Quick Oil Change
Victory Lane Quick Oil Change is yet another Franchise operation but unlike Jiffy Lube and Valvoliene their operations is limited to a nine state area-Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia with most of their locations Michigan. Victory Lane Quick Change was established by Derrick B. Oxender in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1980.
Quick Change Oil
Quick Change Oil is yet another option. Quick Change oil, a Cleveland, Ohio based rapid lube franchise has been in business for over thirty years and is rapidly expanding the area it services.
Non-franchise Rapid Lube service centers
Non-franchise Speedy lube service centers, like the Quick Stop Oil Change in Cincinnati, Ohio, are popping up all over the country. Most of these independents offer high quality, customer oriented service but keep in mind that none of these independents have the funds to offer their technicians the on-going training tat the big franchise operations can. The franchises not only offer on-going training they require that their technician maintain their certifications to continue working at a franchise service center. Their certification requirements assure you that your car will receive quality care every time you bring it in for service no matter if it’s for something as simple as a tire rotation or oil change or for something more complex like A/C Servicing.
Conclusion
No matter where you take your car or truck for service you should take care to make sure that it’s a “Blue Seal” shop. Blue Seal shops are shops that have received the seal of approval from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence and their technician wear the ASE Certified Automotive Technician patch on their uniforms. Auto technicians spend hours in study and then must pass both written and hands-on examinations for each service area that they are certified in so you can be assured that they are experts on those systems.
