Woman Takes Her Car For An Oil Change At Meineke. Then She’s Told It'll Be $800: ‘How Much?!’

"I think I am being responsible..."

Meineke Oil Change

Photo by: Unsplash

Steve Ecker

By: Steve Ecker

Oct 24, at 8:00am ET

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Routine maintenance sometimes comes with surprises. One woman who took her car in for an oil change got some unpleasant (and expensive) news: her car needs a new oil pan.

In a TikTok series with over 1,700 views as of this writing, Syd Bastian (@saltabstract) angrily reveals what happened after she dropped off her vehicle for an oil change.

Bastian says the interaction quickly went south.

“I think I am being responsible. I think I am taking care of business,” she begins.

Soon after dropping the car off, she said she got a call, which she expected to be them notifying her the vehicle was ready. That wasn’t it at all. Instead, they told her needed a new oil pan.

Then they gave her the estimate: over $800.

Bastsian says, “$823. $823 for an oil pan? $800 for an oil pan.”

In the heat of the moment, she toyed with an unconventional and definitely not recommended solution: “I will put a [expletive] soup pot underneath my [expletive] car,” she said.

How Much Does It Cost To Replace An Oil Pan?

Most of us would probably rather spend our money on something other than car repairs. Unfortunately, it’s just part of owning a vehicle. Maintenance is necessary and pretty much any vehicle will need repairs, and more the longer you own it and drive it.

According to Kelley Blue Book (KBB), the cost to replace an oil pan is between $956 to $1068. RepairPal reports that labor is typically between $478 and $701 and the parts can range from $391 to $392. RepairPal also shares that replacing an oil pan is a simple DIY task that’ll take about four hours on average due as major disassembly of the car is required.

The oil pan is one of the most critical components of your vehicle. Needing a new one is not something you should ignore. So if you notice oil puddles underneath the car, consistently low oil levels, or the dashboard warning light coming on, you may need a new one.

It’s best to replace it immediately. Losing oil from a damaged pan can lead to a catastrophic failure to the engine which will cost thousands more to repair.

“It's Literally One Bolt And A Filter”

Viewers in the comment section suspected that the autoshop made a mistake during the oil change and wanted Bastian to pay for it.

“Sounds like they stripped the drain plug. Or the drain plug was stripped from the last one. Either way it can be fixed without replacing the oil pan,” one wrote.

“More than likely they messed up the drain plug and now they want you to pay for their mistake,” another added.

“WTF you need a new oil pan?? If the drain plug is stripped all the gotta do is rethread it,” a third chimed in.

Someone else advocated for Bastian to do the job herself.

“It's literally one bolt and a filter. Please, people, learn how to do it. It literally takes 25 minutes. and all you have to do is loosen ONE bolt. I'm not surprised by this anymore after working in the automotive industry for so long,” they said.

Other viewers suggested skipping the dealership in favor of the mobile mechanics outside of AutoZone and other car parts stores.

What do you think?

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“Never going to a dealership as long as the AutoZone on riverside is open,” said one.

Via direct message, Bastian told Motor1, "I absolutely did not have them change it and it wasn’t a dealership it was a Meineke. I haven’t fixed it yet because they said they just felt like next time I have my oil changed it would need to be replaced so didn’t seem urgent. I had so many people from that video reach out to look at it and have someone’s number from that video that I might reach out to. If not, I have friends who know mechanics who will do it for far less."

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