No One Wants $100 Oil Changes
By Costa Kapothanasis, Founder & CEO, Costa Oil – 10 Minute Oil Change
The quick lube industry is in danger of losing sight of its most basic truth: no one wants $100 oil changes.
For years, I’ve watched operators across the country lean harder and harder into ticket inflation. As car counts soften, the industry’s reflex has been to push average tickets higher—upselling everything from filters to flushes—until a simple oil change starts to feel like a major automotive repair bill. It’s not sustainable, and customers know it.
“The reality is simple: people come to us because they want a fast, affordable oil change. The moment you cross the line into $100 territory, you break the trust and push them out the door.”
Customers aren’t blind. They know what an oil change should cost, and they aren’t willing to bankroll bloated overhead structures, oversized facilities, or real estate-driven business models. They’ll pay a fair price for good service, but there is a breaking point—one the industry is rushing toward.
At Costa Oil – 10 Minute Oil Change, we’ve built our entire brand around the two things customers actually care about: speed and service. If we can deliver both consistently, at a fair price, customers will keep coming back. That’s the formula. It’s not complicated, but it requires discipline.
“The job isn’t to squeeze every last dollar out of every car that pulls in. The job is to provide value, respect the customer’s time, and make the experience so simple they wouldn’t dream of going anywhere else.”
The danger in chasing higher and higher ticket averages is that it doesn’t just erode trust—it erodes volume. Once customers feel like the oil change has become a profit trap, they start to look elsewhere. And when they leave, they don’t just take today’s ticket with them—they take a lifetime of repeat business.
The quick lube industry doesn’t need $100 oil changes to survive. What it needs is to get back to its roots: fast, affordable, reliable service. That’s why Costa Oil is expanding while others are struggling. We’re not chasing short-term gains; we’re building long-term loyalty.
Because at the end of the day, the truth is this: people will always need oil changes, but they’ll only keep coming back if they feel respected. And nothing feels more disrespectful than paying $100 for something that should be quick, simple, and fair.