Diary of a Recruiter

Oil Change in a Small Texas Town (February ‘09)

So my “change oil” light had been on for about 500 miles after I reached my destination in Pilot Point, TX. On Wednesday, I was losing hope in my search for a lube shop that would charge me less than $38.00. I ended up heading out to Nocona to take photos of old cars/junkyards/gas stations from the 40’s and 50’s, and on the way back, I stopped at a small auto shop in the town of Muenster. The owner of this shop apparently needed “advance notice,” so he sent me to his friend’s place on the other end of town (his friend had apparently just started the business, and moved into his auto garage only a week earlier). Oh, and “the other end of town” was about 3 miles down the road… if that.

I arrive at this garage, and introduce myself to the “friend” who was happy to help me out. I was apparently his first oil change. He asked what kind of oil I take… I told him 5W30. The only problem was, he didn’t have that grade on hand (which surprised me, considering it’s incredibly common). Also, I wanted to pay with a credit card, but their c.c. machine wasn’t going to be set up until later in the week… and I didn’t have a check or enough cash. I thanked him anyway and turned around to leave… but he quickly stopped me, explaining that he’d be happy to go to the store to pick up the required quarts of oil, AND he’d stop by the bank so I could use the ATM machine. The whole thing seemed a little odd to me, but I took him up on his offer.

For the next 15 minutes, I traveled with the mechanic to the bank, and then the auto-parts store… browsing around at all the car-related stuff I’d never buy on my own, as this man purchased my 5 quarts of oil and talked with some VERY friendly locals (guys who were obviously friends of his).

When we returned to his garage, he got in my car to pull it in, but was suddenly confused. I proceeded to explain how the “push button” ignition works, and how his foot needed to be on the break. It’s not like I have a fancy car or anything (2007 Nissan Altima), but not-so-surprisingly, the man had never seen anything like this before.

About 20 minutes later, the oil was changed, and the final damage was $35.00. Not a bargain by any stretch, but I was happy to give this gentleman my business… And then I realized the guy didn’t make a dime.

5 quarts of oil: $22.
Oil filter: $10.
Tax: $3.00.
Good old-fashioned southern hospitality: PRICELESS.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 10:17 pm and is filed under On The Road. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.