Reply #9: Moral of the story: there is no "competence" fairy.

[bluedigger]

This could happen anywhere you get your oil changed: dealership, oil shop, or independent garage. Oil changing is considered an entry level task at a garage. I did it myself for a Subaru dealer about twenty years ago, and my brother has worked for one of the chains for nearly ten years now. And I've heard some stories, too. Including customers trying to fake damage to defraud the oil shops.

The advantage to a dealership is that they should have the correct items to do the job, as well as manufacturer training on your model. The new guy will still be doing the work, though, and supervision may be hit or miss depending on the shop floor workload at the time. It will usually cost more, but that may vary. Assuming your vehicle is running well generally it also gives them a chance to check for warranty updates, recalls, etc... if it hasn't been to the dealer for a while.

Oil shops offer convenience and competitive pricing. The big chains will track your vehicle wherever you take it and perform regular maintenance for common things, including topping your fluids for free, usually. They hire high school dropouts at minimum wage, but they also have pretty good training, procedural protocols to perform tasks, and good supervision. When the protocol isn't followed you have potential problems. Where they take you is in the upsells for "treatments" and "additives" - don't buy that crap. (I usually get my oil changed weekday afternoons when the kids aren't too hungover - never Saturday morning.)

You just can't beat a good independent mechanic - they are worth their weight in gold. But if they do screw up, they may not have the ability (or resources) to make it right in a timely manner, so you have to keep that in mind.

Given the number of vehicles getting their oil changed every 3-5,000 miles, it is easy to find anecdotal evidence of incompetence. I guess that's why we have lawyers.