Should an oil change cost 145 dollars?

Im sure from the title of this blog most of you would assume that an oil change should not cost this much. However if your me it does, allow me to share my experience.

So I got off work early today and thought wow I have time Im gonna be a responsible car owner and take my vehicle to Jiffy lube- thats right jiffy lube I will not hide their name to protect them in any way. So I get there and they bring my car in (now for those of you who have never had the joy of jiffy lube I will explain- its jiffy beacsue they do the oil change while your sitting in your care reading a newspaper and drinking a coffee- not a bad service however im pretty sure I know how they afford it!!) So they start to ask me some basic questions name address etc. Then they get to the car questions- of which I have no idea the answers. So smart Cherie says, I dont know anything abotu my car I just drive it quote "do what you need to do" that should have been my first warning.

First I find out my car is "special" and needs a differnt oil or something so I have a 10 dollar service charge. Ok no prob Im drinking coffee reading the paper. Then I get notified that my air filter is really dirty and the guy "jeff" shows me this air filter from my car and scares me with horror stories of poor gas milage and car damage. So I say go ahead put another one in- how much coudl it be! Then as I continue to read the paper I get asked when was the last time you had your wind shield blades replaced? I was like I dont know, so Jeff says well we have these new ones that are really great they dont freeze up with the snow and ice and they scrape the water and ice away like a squggie (cant spell sorry!) So common sense says I should now ask for a price and he says 24.99. He even will "install" them for free. I say yes go ahead. Now let me tell you what I learned: by 24.99 he meant each wiper blade not both, and by install he ment unclip the old blade and snap the new one on a complex process that took all of 15 seconds.

So Jeff says finally that will be 145.00! Im like 145 ? what the heck so not wanting to cause a scene I paid and looked my receipt and sure enough everything on there i had agreed to. I felt violated as a knowledgless care owner I had been ripped off. As Julia made note when I told her the story I could have hired a squggie kid to wipe my windows for a whole winter for the price of that oil change. Alas learning for me and commission for "jeff". No more jiffy lube for me... oh and by the way that free paper and coffee dont quite seem so free anymore!!