Lexi66

A friend of mine does not trust dealerships. He's using the dealership for oil changes because he's
still under warranty. Has oil changed twice a year since he doesn't drive 5,000 miles a
year. Wants to know how he can tell that they actually are changing his oil? I know ...
sounds paranoid ... But ...

dreyfus

Look to see if the oil color is clean immediately after servicing and compare that color to the oil on the dipstick immediately before servicing. The only way to prove they changed the filter is to pull it out and see if it's new. Of course, you'll have to replace a lot of oil after that.

You can go all undercover and hide a micro video bug in the engine compartment to film what they're doing. I love seeing dishonest mechanics getting busted by film crews showing them the video of their shoddy work.

But as far as Lexus dealers go, they're not going to stiff your friend out of an oil change. Their franchise isn't that poorly run.

KevinJLR

I work in a dealership, and I know they invest a lot into their mechanics. I highly doubt they'd rip someone off like that. It's just not worth the risk. If it were some no name shop, then yeah, I might question it.

Tetguy

Tell your friend to run the engine until it warms up. Take a clean white rag and pull his dipstick. Let a few drops fall in one spot and mark it old oil. Immediately after you bring your car back after the oil change, repeat the same procedure and let the oil drops a couple of inches over on the same rag. If the oil was changed you will definitely see the difference in color even if its the same brand and visc.
As far as the filter is concerned, if your buddy is capable, he could jack the car up and crawl under the car and inspect the bottom of the filter housing. If its nice and clean and appears a bit oily chances are that the filter was changed. If road-grime is on the filter and no oily shine appears, chances are the filter was not changed.
As Dreyfus says, I would be very surprised to see a Lexus dealer stiff you. Oil change shops.....I don't trust any of them at all. Although I'm sure some of them are quite legitimate.

LexBob2

Your friend should rest easy. There are a lot of places to safely get an oil change. Millions of them are done each week. He should just find a shop or dealer to get it done. Any Lexus dealer would be a safe bet IMO. Can something go wrong - Yes. Will something go wrong - Probably not.

EAS

I buy oil and filter myself and take it to Armenian shop. I watch them install it in front of me.