Lube Talk

This month in Lube Talk, our forum of operators discusses keeping the “fast” in fast lube and where they source their technical information.

Scotti Lee
Lee is the former operator of Oil Change Express in New Castle, Delaware, and a current principal with the California-based Oil Changers chain.

Q: What do you do to keep the “fast” in fast lube? Do you offer any services that take an extended period of time?
A: We do not rush the services. By this I do not mean we take an hour to change the oil, but I would say that most of our customers are not in a big rush. If they need to get in and out, we move them to the third bay. We have been here for more than 23 years, and we know most of the families and kids, so it’s pleasure and business.

Q: What source do you get most of your technical information from? What do you do if there is a problem you’re not able to solve?
A: The problem that I had was to find out where Scotti Lee was — he took care of all my technical problems or could get the information from the OEMs. It’s strange, but I haven’t heard from him in a while, maybe he is at his cabin in Michigan?

Brad Phillips
Phillips operates a three-bay Valvoline Express Care in Lubbock, Texas.

Q: What do you do to keep the “fast” in fast lube? Do you offer any services that take an extended period of time?
A: To make sure that we keep the “fast” in fast lube, we are constantly monitoring our bay times. We use our POS computer system to monitor bay times, and we usually have two members of management keeping an eye on the flow of cars in and out of the bays. We are very fortunate to have been in the business long enough that our customers know the routine and are aware of the process for our 20-point full service oil change, and they know what to expect.

Many years ago we actually had a 10 Minute Lube sign on the front of our shop. Just like the $20 oil change, that sign has been gone for a long time. Thanks to things like skid plates and canister oil filters, a 10-minute oil change is a thing of the past.

We constantly strive to get our message across to the customer that we are about quality work and taking care of their car, not quantity of oil changes. We make sure that we are efficient, but we aren’t looking to put a car through every 10 minutes.

We offer lots of services that can take an extended amount of time. We offer transmission flush, radiator flush, power steering flush and brake flush services. We do fuel injection cleaning service and replace fuel filters, too.

We operate a three-bay shop, and when a customer buys additional services, we will close down one bay and get everything done while running all other cars through the other two bays. We tend to focus on ticket average, and you can’t very well do that if you are striving for 10-minute bay times. Depending on your goals as a fast lube operator, you have to find that balance between good bay times and great customer service, so everyone is happy at the end of the day.

Q: What source do you get most of your technical information from? What do you do if there is a problem you’re not able to solve?
A: We use the ISI computer system. They have up-to-date Chek-Chart information, and that is our primary reference for oil filters, air filters and fuel filters. We also get our information from them for service reviews and mileage intervals on service recommendations.

Through our partnership with Valvoline, we have a customer service rep that is a phone call away, as is the Valvoline trainer and also a Valvoline VPS Chemicals rep. We have a hotline provided by Valvoline, as well for additional information if needed.

We are very fortunate to have a crew with over 100 years of automotive experience between them. We also have contacts at many of the dealerships and at reputable mechanic shops that we can go to for more technical information if we need to. We have never had an issue that we could not solve with our resources that we have available.

Continued
[ 1 ] [ 2 ]

[Printer-friendly version]