Mr Lube

Yeah, so here’s how it went. My regular auto repair shop was booked up and I thought Mr. Lube on Arbutus couldn’t hurt for a quick oil change & filter before a road trip to Chilliwack.
Mr. Lube Guy (1 minute after arriving), «Yeah, your engine oil is dirty so we’d recommend a flush of your engine. And your transmission & differential fluid levels are fine but the fluids are very dirty and we recommend you change them.»
Me: «OK, go ahead and flush the oil out of the engine but NO to the differential & transmission fluid changes ‘cuz I’m getting a tune-​up anyway in two weeks.» And of course, I’m highly skeptical how all this could be determined within the space of a minute.
(Two weeks later)
My Auto Mechanic: «Nothing much wrong, car’s in excellent shape, topped up your fluids and we changed those heater hoses you were concerned with.»
Me: «So no problem with the transmission & differential fluids? They weren’t dirty at all?»
My Auto Mechanic: «Pfft. Nah.»
My pledge going forward: «Don’t trust anything Mr. Lube says.»

Quick in and out. Super service by the entire team. Coffee, papers. Only found out after the fact that it cost 25% less than the dealership. No upsell. I asked for the cheapest package for my car. Will return. I used to go here before. A friend just reminded me that top-​ups between appointments are free.

I was told my fluids were getting acid an my engine was corroding. Yep. That’s right. They said my oil was becoming acid. Mr Lube is to be avoided.

I would stay away from this location. I went in for an oil change and I will admit I am green when it comes to cars. They obviously realized this and took full advantage. I should have realized this when I saw the guy laughing with another and looking over at my car.
I ended up walking away with a bill over $ 300 when all I went in for was an oil change. Talking to my boyfriend after I didn’t actually need what they sold me.
I won’t be returning to this location.

Quick oil change but poor customer experience. The technician automatically charged me the pricier oil change (he didn’t even offer the cheaper one) with their choice «premium» oil but never gave me a choice and gave me their regular, basic oil.
It felt rushed and did not feel thorough. They didn’t showed me anything on their screens (which they normally do)… Only to say how extremely dirty the oil and filters were in my car. Imagine a guy giving you the «eww, it’s so dirty! You have to get it replaced! It’s a no brainer, it’s so dirty!». Made me feel like I was being dangerous and actually told me that I should not drive my car until I do a couple services that they recommended. Maybe there should be a tactfully way of saying it and justifying it somehow? I went to my regular Honda dealer and found that the services they recommended really wasn’t urgent, one not even necessary. Plus the prices were much pricey than what my honda dealer quoted me.
Sorry Mr. Lube. I will not be back. You upsold me without asking, and made me feel bad. I feel really disappointed with the experience.

Went here for awhile. They always do the upsell thing but the straw that broke the camel’s back was when the last time I got my oil changed there, it leaked oil all over the place! It wasn’t leaking at all prior to going there. Awful! I will never go back!

I should have known better… They overfilled my oil and it caused some issues… young kids earning minimum wage working there probably, so maybe a training issue.
When they wipe your dipstick to show you, the rag goes right to the line, so it looks just right…
Avoid if you want your car to last… I dont think they intentionally ruin cars… but its the blind leading the blind in there.
Initially i gave them two stars, then realized the second star was a pity star… so yeah, one star.

Got my oil changed here and it was aweful. They forgot to screw back the bottom plate on my car and it almost fell off when I was driving to whistler. They replaced my bottom plate but didnt offer any compensation. I will never go back.

Helpful and fast. This place is convenient. They even offered me the newspaper while I waited for the oil change.

Came here for an oil change and some rad fluid. They upsold me some flushes and changes to the tune of $ 400, tried for 500. My regular mechanic said he’d typically do the same — the part of it that was actually necessary — for 200. Two months later, my car is nearly out of oil, I just had to refill. Before that, drove it for four months hard with fine oil level. I recommend going to a good mechanic instead of these guys.

If you’re thinking of coming here then you haven’t’ done your homework. They quoted me the same price as my Honda dealer. That’s also not using genuine Honda parts either that I only found out after I waited in line. Then you have to lineup (I waited 45min — yes, they kept underquoting how long it would take). Hmm, I think making an appointment would have been more time efficient. Also, the dealer uses synthetic motor oil for the same price, this place up charges for everything. So, if you want to feel like you’re saving time and money, come here, remember I said «feel» because in reality you’ve been shafted.

Fast and easy, great service here.

I had no difficulty at all with my oil change at Mr. Lube. I think the key to a good service experience is to go in knowing what you want and then politely decline the upsells they offer, unless you want them. I did not get a real hard sell here but one of the techs launched into their spiel to get me to pay for an engine flush and in the midst of it I told them that apart from oil changes I get all service work done at GM per the maintenance schedule. I also told them that I prefer they not top up fluids either but that’s mainly because I checked them all myself prior to going and knew they were all good. They tried to persuade me to go with Castrol rather than my usual Mobil 1 and again I merely said that I want what I want thank you. The coffee wasn’t bad for a service station. They have one of those single serve machines and it was hot and tasty. You get to keep a copy of The Province too.
If I have one complaint it’s that they did not get me to reset the oil life clock but I guess with so many different cars they can’t know how to do them all. Everyone was friendly and I was in and out in perhaps fifteen minutes.

Looking to get your car fixed? Want someone to break it even more for you? Than this is the place for you!
I needed an oil change, and decided to go get one from Mr Lube since it was near my work and my house. It had always seemed busy to me when I drove by and so I figured that they could be trusted with an oil change.
I went in on a Saturday and it was packed, tons of cars. They have three lanes so I got into the shortest line up. They offered me coffee and a newspaper and cleaned my windows for me, which was really nice of them. I requested an oil change and asked them if they could change one of my headlights because I had been too busy to go and buy one myself.
While they were doing the oil change they began to pressure me into getting all kinds of other things done. Because I do not know a lot about cars, and I had been neglecting my car lately I agreed. Now I know I shouldn’t have gotten anything they recommended done besides the oil change and I felt stupid and ripped off after. Since I am a positive person I tried to turn to it into a positive by figuring I wouldn’t have to get a couple things done for a while.
So pleased with my service I was driving along and my car got stuck in second gear (I drive an automatic), of course I had no idea it was stuck in second gear but the car was stalling and wasn’t going above 40 km an hour with about 3000 RPM. It was super scary and awful to drive, later on I figured out that my car was stuck in second gear once my boyfriend drove it and I googled the problem.
The next day (Sunday) I went back and complained. They realized that they had put too much transmission fluid in the car, so they drained some out, still didn’t work. The car was stalling more then ever at this point, and wasn’t going much faster then 40 km. Since the manager doesn’t come in on Sunday’s I couldn’t speak to him personally. They assured me however that all repairs that they did would be covered by the shop and I wouldn’t have to worry about anything. At the end of the day I had to surrender my car to them so that they could give it to an actual mechanic who could fix it. (The car garage next door to Mr Lube, fixed it for them).
Kicking myself for my stupidity I spent the next day, phoning them over and over again asking what was going on and how my car was doing. The manager doesn’t come in before 11am by the way, which is just a sign of laziness in my opinion, he also has very bad English skills which is something he should work on because he was not able to articulate himself properly (at one point I thought I heard him say I would have to pay for everything, which resulted in a bit of a melt down on my end) thankfully we were able to resolve the issue.
They got my car fixed in two days, and I was able to pick it up on the Tuesday in the afternoon. The car is thankfully fixed and they paid for everything. It turns out that they pulled a wire attached to my transmission, which was causing the problem. Which to me doesn’t make any sense because they were changing oils, not dealing with any sort of electrical issues. The «mechanics» working here must really not know what they are doing if they are unable to change oils without ruining a transmitter. Although I appreciate the fact that they fixed my car with no extra charge I am very annoyed that they did this to my car. I’m not sure what kind of training the people who work here have but they should consider practicing a bit more instead of just improvising on people’s cars.
I would give them one star but they earned a second star because they were able to resolve the issue.

Had an excellent experience today getting my oil changed. Called ahead to see if I needed an appointment and was told things were slow and that I would have the whole team on my car when I came by. Was greeted with a coffee and a newspaper and exceptionally friendly staff — they seemed to be enjoying themselves, which is always a plus. After all was done, less than 10 minutes by watch, they said I was good to go and knocked a few bucks off the bill for helping them out on a slow Sunday. Great customer experience.

To make a long story short, our recent 4x4ing expedition left us with a punctured tire on a holiday Monday. Almost every garage or dealership in town was closed but we noticed that Mr. Lube was open. Hoping they could fix our punctured tired, we drove in.
Immediately we were told that Mr. Lube doesn’t repair tires but the technician offered to look at it anyway, free of charge. Instead of sending us somewhere that would cost an arm and a leg to repair or replace the tire, he told us all about repair kits and explained exactly how to fix it ourselves. He didn’t charge us a penny for the advice and simply wished us luck.
While I can’t comment on the quality of the services Mr. Lube provides at this location, I can say that the customer service is top notch. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them.
P. S. We repaired the tire with a patch kit in only a few minutes!

So the owner contacted me privately to inform me that «all oil was different.» Excuse me? I wasn’t talking about the oil at all. It was the flush. Did he even read my review?
When I responded and told him that I’d like a credit or my money back for his «mistake” – guess what? No response.
I’m sorry, but they keep digging a deeper hole here. If only this flush could be applied to so many other things, like this review, for one. (sigh). Why does an owner go out of their way to falsely justify their actions, and then ignore a response when feedback is provided to improve practices? And they are not the only one star establishment to pull this vapid email apology. (can we say Donnelly group?)
I would give –1 star if I could. The time that I’ve spent writing these reviews is now worth more than my flush. Still, if I’ve educated at least one person about this crooked establishment, then it’s all worthwhile.

Any MR Lube across Canada is «Doing it to you right before your eyes». IT is just like any of the other quick lube service business. It makes its money on the «up sell» of unnecessary fluid flushes, Transmission oil changes and windshield wiper blade replacements. Which are generally 20% more then the same service provided by a local mechanic/​garage. Your much better to find a local mechanic who you can do your regular oil changes with. He/​she can do the real needed repairs that he may find. And at a much more reasonable parts/​service price.
The only time I use Mr Lube or any other Quick lube service, is if in a hurry and I have a coupon for a reduced price for just the basic oil change. That is all I get done and nothing more. Except get the free coffee and paper, :-). I love the service «Menu» «can I have fries with that»? ;-)

True, they try to do some up-​selling, let’s put that out there first. Same way Future Shop tries to tell you their extended warranty.
However reason I AM a fan is because of their after-​care. They don’t nickle and dime you for it — in fact it has been free for me on about 4 subsequent visits now: After having gone to them to have various fluid flushes I had to go back in to top up the coolant (I was having issues with the sensor) and while they were at it, they checked out the error code because my engine light had come on. Something my (BMW) dealer wanted me to book an appointment for at a charge for at least 1 hr of diagnostic — turned out to be an O2 sensor. So i had them reset the engine light and went on my merry way.
Few weeks later, I went to check my coolant again, they topped it up (free of charge). Next day, I noticed a bit of minor oil leakage and my engine light came on, so I went back in again, they suspected the filter, replaced it free of charge, and while at it I had them check the error codes for the engine light again (seems its still a problem with the O2 sensor).

It’s hard to trust mechanics and auto repair personel. What with the number of times I’ve been taken for a «ride,» I believe it’s generally warranted. So when I arrived to the professional and friendly staff, well, I could barely believe it.
It’s not fancy, but they have their routine nailed:
–Offer you a paper (National Post/​Vancouver Sun) and a coffee or a tea
–Introduce themselves (I had a very nice guy who was training)
–Take your contact info
–Offer their selection of oil changes on a menu
–Change your oil (that’s what you’re paying for afterall!)
–Top up fluids and air
–Check the lights, the signals
–Grease the door hinges
They also made suggestions for what filters needed to be changed. They weren’t pushy about it and when I said I’d do it soon, they added comments on my invoice so I’d remember. Thank you for not trying to upsell me.
I appreciated their temperament, their work ethic and the fact that even in the midst of all of the testosterone, smells of grease and The Beat on the radio, my service guy and I had a conversation about Hunter Boots. Yup, that happened, Bay 1, noon on a Saturday. You heard it here first ;p
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