Thats why you never take your car to Jiffy Lubes or any other quick oil change locations...let a real mechanic shop do it as its the same price or sometimes cheaper.

You have to remember that the Jiffy Lube guys aren't ASE mechanics. It's possible. Definitely, in that they got it off to change her oil in the first place.

The closest I come to mechanic is changing the oil on my lawnmower, but that damage looks pretty deliberate to me. No sane-minded person would tighten it that much.

Moral of the story: Either change the oil yourself, or take it to a real mechanic. My new corolla isn't going near one of those quick-change places. The dealer costs $5 more and they are trained and certified. A similar thing happened to my dad with his Highlander; he took it to a quick-change place and they forgot to put the bolt on. He drove it home, noticed a bit of oil on the garage floor, and got underneath and found what they had done.

Don't trust someone with a GED and a certificate printed off their laser printer to work on your car. The quick-needitfast-now mentality bites ya every time.

I should clarify; the bolt that they use to drain the oil.

The tinfoil hat brigade is out early today. Chances are they just screwed up. Or, perhaps the unique size of the plug, as noted by the OP, isn't compatible with their machinery. But I highly doubt the mouth-breathers at Jiffy Lube care whether or not you come back.

Looks and sounds like the JiffyLube tech stripped the nut head. Dumbasses.

On purpose? No. Stripping the plug would make it a pain for even them to get it off. Wrecked it by doing it wrong? More probable. It is Jiffy-Lube after all, not exactly the pinnacle of automotive repair shops.

Or...they used a meteric tool on a non meteric nut (or vice-versa)

I thought Jiffy Lube only hired the best technicians to handle your vehicle service needs. (End Sarcasm)

@Front_Towards_Enemy: Maybe they couldn't find the metric hammer...

Send the clowns the bill for the plug, labor and oil replaced . If they balk at it, take them to court. That was pretty much a malicious act that grease monkey pulled off. He needs to be pulled off the rack and put back in the unemployment line.

And this is why pan bolts are supposed to TORQUED CORRECTLY BY HAND.

But, it's Jiffy Lube. You get what you pay for.

But thinking it's malicious? No way. They're just dumb. This doesn't guarantee them any work. I'm sure they couldn't remove it themselves anyways.

I took one of my cars to a quick change oil place, once. They too put the drain plug on so tight, I couldnt take it off when I wanted to change my own oil.

Luckily when I took it back they loosened it without destroying it on purpose (it probably helped that I was standing next to the car while they did it). I did hear "it wasnt on that tight at all", but I got a blank stare when I said "oh really? is that why you had a breaker bar and were hammering on it to loosen the plug?"

Last time I ever let anywhere but a dealer change my oil. Went to change the oil in my wifes car (which has only had oil changes done by the dealer since day 1), and guess what? Not only was the drain plug on tighter than tight, I had to use the "screwdriver thru the filter" trick to remove the oil filter!! And those changes WERE by ASE certified mechanics.

The mechanic I've been going to for ten years... I would never let anyone else touch my car. I can drive in after work (I get off at 4) and hand him the keys, and he will do my oil change, check my tires and windshield washer fluid, and have me out of there before I can finish skimming a couple waiting room magazines. And folks, I'm a fast reader. :D

Yes, they filed it by over tightening it with a pneumatic drill.

Doubtful. Please take off your tinfoil hat.

I've come across cases where they striped the head because they were simply incompetent. I've also come across cases where they simply over tightened it (not with a drill!). What? a bit of oil drip because the bolt has been over tightened over the years? TIGHTEN it some MORE!! That is the logic they employ, rather than sell you a $5 bolt to fix the problem all together.

You'd also be surprised what happens when you heat&cool and heat&cool a bolt...hint: it usually tightens itself.

These shops employ people who simply don't care. They use a wrench that "fits" and are too lazy to get the proper tool once under the car (thus mucking up the head).

I've never worked in a quick-lube place, but I did work in a Restoration Garage that did 'favors' on non-classics simply because we had lifts. Oh the crap I've seen these quick-lube shops do...

My wife and I purchased a home this spring with a nice garage. I could finally change the oil in my wife's car.

Sir, a lack of a garage is not a valid excuse for not changing your own oil. Driveways, streets, even cardboard in the dirt/grass are all valid ways of changing your own oil. By doing it yourself you save money, get the right stuff, and ensure that your vehicle is not damaged by idiots.

A few years ago I drove a Kia Sportage, which wasn't as bad a vehicle as some people think. I took it to a local Jiffy Lube for an oil change.

They drained the oil, but then couldn't get the oil filter unscrewed. After 10-15 minutes of effort, they put the plug back in, filled it back up with new oil, and said "No charge, sorry for wasting your time."

A couple days later I took it do the other JL down the street (Burnet Road in Austin) who managed to do everything with no problem, and laughed at the guys from the other shop. I used that location from then on.

@pockygt: Truth. Why should the mechanic care if the OP had any loyalty to the quick lube place? The mechanic himself probably doesn't have much if any loyalty to the place himself.

Not seeing the bolt on the car before the OP did his thing with a hammer to it, it's hard to tell. However as to his statement that they ruined the head by over tightening with a pneumatic wrench or impact driver, not likely. The threads in the pan would strip before the shoulders on the bolt did. Now what they could have done is use the next size larger socket with the impact driver and used it to shear the shoulders off the bolt. Personally I think they just use channel locks on it every time you went there and that resulte in an eventual rounding of the shoulders.

They almost destroyed mine on my old car. The new guys I took it to took 20 minutes to take it off without completely obliterating it.

(facepalm) I took my van to Jiffy Lube a few weeks ago.

However I've been hearing so many horror stories about oil changes that I'm going to start doing it myself. The only thing that's stopped me is the horrendous issue of dealing with the used motor oil. I refuse to dump it, especially since we have a water well on our property. Yeah, places will accept it, but I have no idea what kind of container to put this stuff in.

A couple of times over the years I've had to have the oil plug redrilled because some monkeys at these oil change places stripped the threads. I think the straw that broke the camel's back at Jiffy Lube, however, was their "service advisor" coming in and trying to upsell me on additional services. Screw 'em, once a place starts trying to upsell me, that's a trust breaker and I never go back.

I worked at a firestone for 6 of the worst months of my working life, and Jiffy Lube here too is WELL known for this. Not that we didn't have our share of idiot mechanics cranking on lugs with an air gun at like 4 times the tightness they're supposed to be. Though generally one of them would say something when they strip the drain plug and we'd throw another one in there. It's not really that they do it to make you come back, they do it because they just don't care. They're getting $8 an hour to crank out as many as they can, don't care if they see your car again.

(timmus goes and adds "jack stands", funnels, and oil collection tray to the shopping list)

I don't think you'll ever be able to prove it was malicious. I've rounded off bolts like that with a hand wrench by accident just because the wrench wasn't on straight. I used to have an old classic car that had opposite threaded lugs on the driver side (right loosey, lefty tighty). I would tell everyone in the tire change place, "opposite lugs on this side! remember! Opposite lugs, need to turn them clockwise to loosen!" and damn if they still didn't snap off the lugs every once in a while.

@timmus:

That's what everyone feels, but the things that are usually recommended are schedule maintenance that people are supposed to do, but generally don't. Granted I believe most of the recommendations at firestone were based off of extreme conditions, so it's not quite necessary, but if we didn't get any of the upsells we didn't keep our job. (I was one of those people who got to tell people "um, your tired has a gigantic bolt in it and you need a new tire because it's in the side wall" then you get their dirty looks like "what are you trying to pull?" and then you show them, and they still say "um, yeah, just leave it, i'll have my husband deal with it"

Never attribute to malice that which more likely can be attributed to laziness or incompetence.

@timmus:

Put it in a one gallon milk jug. That is what the local recycling company requests we use.

Or get one of those nifty oil drain pans that stores oil in the base. Mine holds enough for 2 changes.

They tried to charge me for more oil than my car will even hold.

Incompetence, yes Malice, no. I have been working on my own vehicles now for 19 years. I know for a fact if they used air tools on an oil plug the threads in either the pan or the plug would be stripped. This on the other hand looks like they were using channel-locks or vice-grips on the plug.

Oh and folks just so you know your oil plugs will always be made of a softer metal than normal. In case you're wondering why it's so the plug will strip out before the threads on the pan will. That way it only costs you $5 instead of $200+ for a new pan.

@zentex: Actually, I've had two landlords tell me that it's illegal to change my oil when parked on the streets in my city. I haven't had a driveway or an off-street parking spot in 13 years. So, in my book, not having a safe place to change your oil is indeed a valid excuse for paying someone else to do it.

Well there you go.....yet another reason to not go to these types of places. You let them off WAY TO EASY; I would have gone for the throat for wanton, malicious destruction of your property. But then, I like to fight when provoked into doing so....

I had a friend who took her 4Runner in for an oil change. They either lost the drain plug or put in the wrong one but the bottom line was that they put in a larger one. The next time she took it for an oil change, I think it was the dealer, she had to have the whole oil pan changed b/c the plug was now too big.

Oh and yes I do use a quick-lube chain. I don't have the patience it takes to change oil anymore. Not to mention I hate cleaning spilled oil out of the interior of my vehicles.

Folks, let's remember the comment code: don't blame the victim or call them names. Civil disagreement, e.g. BeeBoo's comment, is okay; telling the victim to take off their tinfoil hat is not okay.

I absolutely believe this. They are not certified mechanics, and in some cases, will hire anyone who can turn a wrench. I have worked at 2 car dealerships and have seen cars coming in from these places and the damage that they do. Sometimes it may cost you a bit more at the dealership, but they make sure that their guys are certified. Most times, if you bring in a coupon from Jiffy Lube or another place, they will honor it to get repeat business.

First off, an impact wrench and a pneumatic drill are 2 different things. An impact wrench is (as you would guess) a wrench. A pneumatic drill is (again, as you would guess) a drill.

I also attribute this to incompetence rather than malice, but the OP should be using the right tools to get that stripped bolt out. For 5 bucks he could have a bolt-out set that would have taken it out in 5 seconds.

Using the wrong tool for the job will ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS cause you more issues than the right one.

Next time don't ruin your tools. Use a drill and an extractor. This is what they're made for.

I agree with some other readers - they probably didn't do it intentionally, but because they are idiots.

I've had my own trouble with Jiffy Lube in the past. I used to have an old 92 Eclipse and the seal on the rocker cover would keep busting, but it wasn't a big deal. Sure, sometimes a drop or two would leak out. I went in for a safety inspection and oil change. The geniuses decided they were going to fix it for me without telling me first. I didn't know until I came back and see that they have the rocker cover off and standing around staring at the engine with blank faces.

A year or so later, I took a different car to a different Jiffy Lube. This time, I went in for an oil change and they checked all the fluid levels for my "convenience". Unfortunately, when I lost all my coolant because they didn't screw the radiator cap back on tightly, it became a great inconvenience to me.

Jiffy Lube is the worst. I still use a quick change place for routine maintenance, but it is locally owned and I have always received great service.

Try this sometime. Remove a metric bolt with an SAE wrench (or vice versa), using the "close enough for government work" wrench or socket that is just small enough to grab the bolt. Chances are you'll ruin either the bolt or the cheap-ass Walmart* wrench or both trying to turn the bolt. Now add pneumatic power to that. That's what Jiffy Lube did, and they ought to get sued for it.

Whilst in college, i worked in the pit of a Texaco Express Lube. None of the shops in Nashville used Pnematic tools to do oil changes. Perhaps Jiffy Lube does (i've never seen it), but it is much faster/safer to use good ole standard wrenches to do the oil change. Why faster/safer? Well..in an oil pit....every thing has a thin coating of oil. Most of those places have more than one bay and to have hoses runing to those bays that will already be slippery from being in the pit...it's just not smart nor safe to walk around. Also, many cars..at least 10 years ago, had cross-members, exhaust elements, etc..in the way of being able to get a pnematic wrench squarely on a oil pan bolt.

But hey..it's just as easy to round off a bolt with a regular wrench as it is with a pnematic one.

@Froggmann: "Not to mention I hate cleaning spilled oil out of the interior of my vehicles."

Methinks you might be doing it wrong...

Speaking of Firestone...I had a tire disintegrate a few weeks back and had it towed to them, and asked for an oil change while it was in.

They called the next day saying one of the front brake calipers was siezed up, one rotor was worn down (needing to be replaced in pairs) and needing new brake pads.

~$914.

After talking to my uncle, I bought the parts for ~$190 at Pep Boys and going to his house, I determined that:

1) Neither caliper was siezed
2) The one rotor that was 'bad' could have been turned, but by no means needing replacing
3) Brake pads a crazy easy to replace (with my uncle's help, of course :P)
4) Their labor estimate of 2.5 hours @ $97 was 1.5 hours too long (including test drive)

My shopping list includes the service manual, ramps, jack and jack stands, oil filter wrench, etc... I'll be doing my own plugs, wires, throttle body cleaning, oil changes- whatever I can do on a Saturday.

My wife and I will not be using Firestone except for tires here on out.

I don't get these people who say that a dealership is any better or safer. Firstly, they will give the oil changing job to a junior employee who is - at best - no better than the person at Jiffy Lube et al. so you're no better off. Secondly, dealerships are CASH STRAPPED these days so good luck getting any "special attention" from them should something go wrong. And lastly, even the dealers make mistakes: take the Audi Quattro Coupe I had in the early 90's. The local (and really ONLY) Audi/Porsche dealer in my town forgot to put the washer back on the drainplug, and since the metal of that plug and the aluminum oilpan seemed to get along too well a new hole had to be drilled into the pan in order to drain it and a new plug tapped in. Thanks, experts.

After saying all that, Jiffy Lube DOES owe this guy a new plug.

@The Count of Monte Fisto:

Ah yes the foil beanies.

i had the SAME thing happen to me. Yes, i have learned my lesson.

This happened to me at a Jiffy Lube in Tampa. I should have learned my lesson because it happened again in Maryland. In both cases, I wasn't living somewhere where it was permissible to change my own oil. Now, I'll take it to a mechanic. I won't say it's cheaper, but at least I don't have to worry about the bolt being over torqued. I did it take it to the car dealer once and I waited for 2 hours, so screw that.

@timmus: It's been a while since I've changed my oil (bring it to the dealer now because I hate doing it myself), but when I did, I used to bring the waste oil to Pep Boys. *But* you can probably bring it to any local garage and they should take it, although they might charge you a small recycling fee (that they'd also charge if you brought it to them for an oil change).

fucking jiffy lube

They changed my wife's oil and cross-threaded the plug so that it leaked out overnight, causing a near engine-seize the following day.
After calling the corporate office and receiving a refund, we swore off the Lube-dudes forever

@gorckat: Distributor caps are also notoriously easy to change out.

You know, there's really no excuse for not learning how to replace your own oil and filter. The job is trivially easy, even for the mechanically declined (apologies to Gary Larsen), you save yourself some money, and you know what kind of oil is going into your engine.

In fact, car ownership ought to come with basic information about vehicle maintenance: how to check your fluids, what they all do, how to change your oil, how to change your air filter, etc. Keeping on top of the basics is the best way of ensuring that your investment in your vehicle will last for many, many years.