My father has been getting his oil changed for his 2010 Toyota Highlander at Walmart, and has been opting for the more expensive oil they offer him (only 2 options) I told him not to use there oil or services, but he refuses and says its great. Am I right for thinking you shouldn't use their oil and there services may be inferior?
If they use quality oil & filters its probably okay. Just make sure the person doing the work puts the drain plug back in. There's not much else to mess up.
I personally would not go there. There are still ways to screw up an oil change; even some dealerships screw those up.
But, it’s his car and his choice. You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make the horse drink it.
The oil is fine, but have you see the people that work at Walmart?
There's no way I'd let them touch my car.
There's not much else to mess up.
There's plenty to mess up. This forum is full of stories of mistakes.
Things I've seen:
- incorrect oil filter
- cross-threaded drain plug
- overtightened/stripped drain plug
- missing or loose drain plug
- overtightened oil filter
- leaving the fill plug off
- upsold bogus products (flushes, "premium" oils, etc.)
has been opting for the more expensive oil
- dropping cars off lifts because distracted by smartphone
- driving cars into shop wall
- doing a burnout in the parking lot and taking the car for a rip around the block
- I could go on like this ...
Don't forget draining the transmission and dumping 5 more quarts of oil into the engine. I know someone that happened to, albeit at Jiffy Lube rather than WalMart. (I expect both employ "technicians" of the same skill level.)
I wouldn't let WalMart touch my car. Even when I buy tires there I take the rims off the car and take them in for mounting and balancing. (The WalMart "Douglas" brand tires are made by Goodyear and are a good quality budget tire but I don't want the store's "technicians" anywhere near my car.)
I know someone that happened to, albeit at Jiffy Lube rather than WalMart.
Jiffy Lube takes the cake
As long as they aren’t incompetent and they use the right oil and filter.
