Quick Lube History: 1987 - IT'S A DIRTY BUSINESS ... BUT SOMEBODY HAS TO DO IT, AND A GROWING NUMBER OF MOTORISTS ARE PATRONIZING QUICK-LUBE AND OIL-CHANGE STATIONS, A 10-YEAR-OLD INDUSTRY THAT TOOK OFF JUST TWO YEARS AGO.

David Wilensky, a Fort Lauderdale attorney, doesn’t have the time to leave his 1977 Grand Prix with a mechanic for several hours. And he’s not mechanically minded, so he doesn’t want to change his own oil.

“I’m not real good at these things,” he said.

So every three months or so, Wilensky, 27, spends about $20 to get his oil changed at Inn ‘n’ Out on Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. He can be in and out and back to the courtroom in a few minutes.

Wilensky is among a growing number of motorists patronizing quick-lube oil- change stations, a 10-year-old industry that really started taking off two to three years ago.

The stations offer an oil and filter change in 10 minutes. They are part of the increasing segmentation of the automobile service industry. Traditional service station’s that did everything from pumping gas to fixing your carburetor is dwindling.

People who watch the quick-lube industry say growth will continue because Americans are keeping their cars longer. Two wage-earner families for whom time is a premium are prime customers. The companies also believe that inexpensive costs, about $20, will begin to lure those motorists who still change their own oil.

There are 2,500 quick-lube stations around the U.S. so far. But there are surprisingly few in retail-glutted South Florida, and some of the biggest chains are not represented here.

One franchised chain has plans for expansion, however, a move that competitors say they will welcome because it will help increase motorists’ awareness of their business.

“This is not a repair business; this is a service business,” said Frank J. Del Rocco, who operates nine Jiffy Lubes in South Florida, but plans to open 15 more. “We don’t do any repair work. The objective is to provide fast, convenient service, no appointment.”

Also, Avis the rent-a-car company is getting into the quick-lube business. It opens its first Avis Lube station in a few weeks in Long Island, N.Y., and plans to open 400 more over the next three years. Franchises have already been sold to operators in Tampa, Orlando, along the Gulf Coast and Palm Beach County. The first Florida Avis outlet should open this winter, said Avis Lube vice president Vincent Russo.

McQuik oil, based in Indianapolis, has outlets in Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Delray Beach.

One station owner speculates why there are fewer quick-lube stations down here: Up north, the seasons remind motorists to do routine maintenance like antifreeze changes, according to Bill Stevenson, owner of Inn ‘n’ Out of Fort Lauderdale and Pembroke Park.

Here, “people don’t necessarily work on their car until it breaks,” said Stevenson, who moved to Florida from Michigan three years ago.The quick-lube stations generally use at least three workers. As one drains the crankcase and removes and installs a new filter, a second adds oil and checks other fluid levels, like transmission fluid. The third worker might wash windows and check air in the tires. The companies train workers for two to three weeks.

Quick-lube stations are important for selling motor oil, too. Pennzoil, the No. 1 motor oil company in sales, claims to supply 1,800 of the nation’s 2,500 quick-lube outlets. Quaker State, which is a close No. 2, owns or franchises 222 of its own outlets, called Minit-Lube. Most are in the Western and Midwestern states, with none in Florida.

C.A. Conrad, Quaker State’s vice president of finance, said quick-lube stations have become extremely important for motor-oil companies because motor oil is a mature market, but quick-lube sales have tripled in just two years.

Conrad and others predict more growth because Americans are keeping their cars longer so they need more maintenance.

The American Automobile Association says U.S. motorists now keep their cars an average of 7.2 years, compared to 5.6 years in 1970.

Jiffy Lube, based in Baltimore, is the industry’s sales leader, with 680 stations and $44 million in annual revenues. Vice president Arnold Janofsky said the company hopes to have 1,500 outlets by the early 1990s.

“Our biggest competition is the do-it-yourselfer,” he said, adding that up to half of all motorists still change their own oil.

Quick lube company owners tend to come out of administrative rather than service station backgrounds. Bob Pavese, a partner in West Palm Beach-based Oil Connection, used to be a civil engineer. He got into quick lubes when his North Palm Beach consulting firm folded. He now has four units in South Florida, and plans to build two more.

Del Rocco, who owns the Jiffy Lube franchise for Boca Raton, and Dade and Broward counties, used to be an executive with MCI’s international long- distance service. When he decided to leave MCI, he looked at McDonald’s and Burger King, but decided they were too costly and the waiting list too long.

Jiffy Lube has nine outlets open in South Florida and plans to have 24 by the fall of 1988.

Each costs $500,000 to $600,000 for land and construction, Del Rocco said.

Del Rocco said he spends a lot of money telling motorists what a quick- lube place is. With 24 outlets, he expects it will be much more economical to advertise efficiently so Jiffy Lube’s “flying J” sticks in customers’ minds.

He predicts that a year from now, there will be a lot more competition in South Florida.

Recently, while sitting in a Bennigan’s restaurant, Del Rocco said he thought he could see the future of his business. The restaurant chain guarantees that if lunch isn’t on the table in 15 minutes, it is free.

“I thought, ‘what a good idea,”‘ he said, imagining a promotion campaign offering a rebate if the lube took longer than 10 minutes.

“I can’t give them free service because I’m not as big as Bennigan’s, but I would like to do something like that,” he said.

Sending

User Review

0 (0 votes)

Quick Lube History: 1987 – IT’S A DIRTY BUSINESS … BUT SOMEBODY HAS TO DO IT, AND A GROWING NUMBER OF MOTORISTS ARE PATRONIZING QUICK-LUBE AND OIL-CHANGE STATIONS, A 10-YEAR-OLD INDUSTRY THAT TOOK OFF JUST TWO YEARS AGO.

User Review

Leave a Reply Cancel reply