Yesterday I made the mistake of going to one of the local dealers for a "Fastlane" oil change. I do not know what anyone else is experiencing. I was billed a total of $58.36 for an oil change. I was told that the "misc." on the bill is due to my insistance in the use of 5W30 motor oil rather than the 5W20 oil they wanted to put in the car. The bill was advertized as being 32.99. As high as it is it is better than doing it at home and being harrassed by my condo for maintaing my car in the parking lot. I asked the clod at the desk what he was planning to put in the car since another fast-lube place told me that the PT oil spec had changed to use 5W20 oil (which has not been verified: Chrysler still maintains the oil spec is the same - more below).
Besides the fact that they wanted to do other work on the car steering mechanism when the car steers just fine they maintain that the oil spec changed to 5W20 rather than the original 5W30. I suspect that they want to force the same oil on everyone so they can buy in bulk and save on supply costs. My valves do not like 5W20. It makes 'em noisier as the oild gets worn. I left in in after losing the shouting match for a couple of weeks until I had time to go elsewhere to have it changed (again). I will not go back to that dealer regardless.
I called Chrysler. Chrysler maintains that the specified oil is still 5W30 and has not changed. The lady on the phone read from the 2006 manual. I made a complant against the dealer. The Case # is 22581734. I'll hear something (or not) some time next week. Am I alone in this? Has anyone else experienced this sort of dealer behavior with Fastlane?