Your Oil Change Prices

I have heard this question a lot: "How Much Should I Charge for An Oil Change?"

There are two ways to answer that question. You have to consider two things. First whatever you do charge you need to be making $100 an hour. Second, what is the price of an oil change at Jiffy Lube.

I will attack the second consideration because I have already talked about the first one at length. I would like to say, if I have not already, that I like Jiffy Lube model. I have spoken to the owner of the Jiffy Lubes were I live, have been in them, and I love their system. They have created a great assembly line type system for oil changes. I have learned a lot by watching and copying their model and applying that to a mobile operation. Obviously it works. I figure they have to know what they are doing. If they didn't than they would not be in every city and on every block.

So what does what I just said have to do about pricing? Well, what I just said about watching Jiffy Lube applies to a lot of facets in this business but setting your prices for a typical oil change is one of them. Think about it! They know the market better than anyone. Jiffy Lube will always charge what they market will bear. They are never too low or too high. Where I live they charge $54.99 for a regular oil change. They charge $57.99 for an AWD or 4WD vehicle. I know many of you gasp when you hear that but I promise you customers were lined up, some bays 5 deep, yesterday. What does that tell me? Why should I be any lower? If anything my price for an oil change should be at least $56.99 because I am bringing the service to them!

Where you live I can promise you that Jiffy Lube will have already researched the market for you. Set your prices right where they are. Not their seasonal or at times special discounted price but there standard prices. They do the $19.99 oil changes too but only on certain days and for certain times of the day for most places.

No matter where you live I can guarantee that your prices should not be less than $35.00 for a basic oil change. If your market cannot or will not bear at least that I would suggest buying a Taco Bell or KFC franchise. I rarely see a place those two stores cannot make money in.

Do not worry about Wal Mart's prices. They cater to the people who would not use your service anyway. They do terrible service and make the customers wait for a long time on purpose. They want people to shop more. Thats the only reason they have it.

So you have the answer now. For your average price of an oil change your prices needs to be A) at Jiffy Lube's rate or higher and B) high enough where 4-5 vehicles can net your $100 per hour. Its that simple.