Potomac-Greg

The Commie in me periodically slips out.

Finman

5k dino or synthetic, 10k synthetic...IMO

Jon C

With the diff. fluids available for modern cars, one MUST read the manual (RTFM) and know what is an approved or appropriate fluid and what isn't. VW/Audi = G12 (pink) coolant, not green, not orange (GM). Power steering = Pentosin, not common power steering fluid. Etc., Etc.

Jon C

You can do a thorough oil change on many cars with a suction device via the dipstick tube, this is a M-B approved method & has been for years. If you want to change the oil filter or do the tranny, you must drop the belly pan but a straight oil change can be done w/ pan intact (I'm not recommending not changing the filter, just making an observation).

Regards,
Jon

CEB

....and not drop the belly pan....

Singletrack

Tell him to quit his day job.

Jon C

I didn't mean to even imply that they may have used the suction, if they cut a hole in his pan, as I understood, that's totally lame.

The tranny change is a messy, finicky procedure, not DIY unless you have a lift or a garage pit IMO.

Best,
Jon

Muhammad

I use an independent repair shop every 3k.

CEB

...are educated car consumers. Fact is, the majority of car buyers know little about their cars and like it that way.

I'd say that the vast majority have no clue that there is a difference in coolant and 99% can't tell you what viscosity in oil means.

I don't recall the manual talking about belly pans, although it does mention that the tranny fluid has no dipstick, and I'm sure that most of us here on the board don't know what part numbers of oil filters are recommended. If I hadn't been on the board here, I would have no clue that the lube joints use crappy filters. Even without the board, I probably wouldn't have taken my Audi to a quick lube just because they don't seem very competent, but the guy in my office had been taking his mid-80's BMW and his late model Town Car to one of those places every 3k miles and felt comfortable with their service.

Drive by the quick lube places and look at the cars there - they often range from old Japanese beaters to late model euro imports......

no.radar

I'll bet they offer to "comp" reversing the polarity of his paint to make it all okay!