All-In-One Service Centers

Yknow the ones, Valvoline, Jiffy-Lube, etc.

I debate this with them all the time, but why, why, why must they top off my fluids so that when I check them I spill all over the engine bay??

Pwr Steering, for instance on my car there are 4 important levels, from the bottom up: Min Cold, Max Cold, Min Hot Max Hot. I visually check it in the shop after they service my car, and forget "Hot Max" - I cannot even see the top of the fluid until I remove the cap and spill some fluid on the power steering line and the engine block!

Engine Oil: It's never filled to just within the cross-hatch/grid on the stick! It's waaay above that, and this is room temperature shop oil, not the hot old oil I just drove in with for service.

All in all, they insist these fluids are filled correctly, and that I should consult my owner's manual. WTH? I checked the manual and it simply confirms the markings on the stick or canister under the hood.

Where's the disconnect here, folks?

Dont know what they are playing at with the power steering its not really that difficult to top up. But imagine they have a computer that says your car takes x amount of oil so they stick that in. Unknown to them it is actually supposed to take y amount of oil. I personally would say that it should be just below maximum when cold.

Being a Jiffy Lube employee requires a piss test and watching a 15 minute video. Not kidding. Going to Jiffy Lube to have any service done is like going to Freshman Pre-med major to get brain surgery.

Just don't.

There's about a zillion stories of bad service out there from shops like these.

IMO your local store probably has a manager with some quirks or shortcuts, and teaches all the employees his bad habits.

My dad used to go to one of these places for years, They never tightened-up the oil filter to spec. It was always a bit 'loose', imo so they could unscrew it more easily in 3 months time. I always had to snug it up a bit.