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Getting your oil changed should be one of the more routine and affordable parts of owning a car. But for one woman, a quick visit to the mechanic turned into a confusingly expensive bill and a fast-food pity meal.<\/p>\n
In a trending video with more than 212,000 views, content creator and mechanical engineer Marissa Jean (@marissajeanbean) shared what happened when she went to the mechanic for a simple oil change.<\/p>\n
In the video, Jean appears to be at a Chick-fil-A restaurant as a consolation prize from her husband for possibly getting scammed by her mechanic.<\/p>\n
Her husband seems to be reviewing the printed statement from the auto shop, confused by how much Jean paid.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen your oil change is way more expensive than expected, so your husband has to review the report after buying you Chick-fil-A,\u201d Jean wrote in the on-screen caption.<\/p>\n
The audio on the video is No Doubt\u2019s hit song \u201cJust a Girl.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was covered in my maintenance plan\u2026\u2026 it was not,\u201d Jean explained.<\/p>\n
On average, an oil change should cost between $30 and $125, according to Kelley Blue Book<\/a> and AutoZone<\/a>.<\/p>\n The cost of an oil change can vary quite a bit depending on a few factors:<\/p>\n Type of oil:<\/strong> Whether your car uses conventional, synthetic, or high-mileage oil will affect the price. Synthetic tends to cost more but can last longer between changes. The general rule of thumb is to change your oil every 5,000 to 7,500 miles. For the average driver, that should translate to two to three oil changes a year.<\/p>\n A study<\/a> from Northwestern University found that women do get scammed at the mechanic. While the research is a decade old, it puts data behind the experience that so many women report.<\/p>\n Researchers had people call auto shops across the country asking for quotes on a radiator replacement. Some callers gave a ballpark estimate for the cost; others didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Women who didn\u2019t mention a price were quoted significantly more than men, who also sounded uninformed. But when women said, \u201cI think this should cost around $365,\u201d the price dropped\u2014and the gender gap disappeared.<\/p>\n The researchers call it \u201cstatistical discrimination:\u201d Mechanics assume women know less, and some adjust prices accordingly.<\/p>\n Basically, sounding like you know what you\u2019re talking about can save you money, especially if you\u2019re a woman.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was me and my husband after I got an oil change at Valvoline,\u201d a top comment read.<\/p>\n \u201cYou gotta tell them it\u2019s just the oil change and nothing more because they will change everything if you don\u2019t tell them no,\u201d a person said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe real question is why isn’t a simple oil change included in the maintenance plan?\u201d another pointed out.<\/p>\n Motor1<\/em> reached out to Jean for comment via email and TikTok direct message.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Getting your oil changed should be one of the more routine and affordable parts of owning a car. ...<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-event-coverage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3998"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4001,"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3998\/revisions\/4001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nYour vehicle:<\/strong> Some cars need more oil, special filters, or a specific oil type, which can bump up the cost.
\nLocation:<\/strong> Prices can change depending on where you are. Labor rates and shop pricing vary by region. You won\u2019t pay the same in a high-cost-of-living city like Los Angeles as you would in Salt Lake City.
\nExtra services:<\/strong> Some places include (or upsell) things like tire rotations, fluid top-offs, or full inspections, which can increase your total bill.<\/p>\nDo Women Get Scammed at the Mechanic?<\/h2>\n
Commenters React<\/h2>\n
\n\u2018I Paid $127:\u2019 Texas Woman Takes 2022 Audi Q3 to Jiffy Lube for Oil Change. Her Engine Was Busted Within the Hour<\/a>
\u2018Express\/Savana GM Vans Still Peel:’ Man Says White Paint Peels Faster on Cars. Is He Right?<\/a><\/p>\n