Jiffy Lube is a chain of over 2,000 businesses in North America offering oil changes and other automotive services. The company is based in Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

, and is a subsidiary of Shell Oil.

History

Jiffy Lube traces its origins to the early 1970s, when Ed Washburn opened the first service center in Ogden, Utah

Ogden, Utah

Ogden is a city in Weber County, Utah, United States. Ogden serves as the county seat of Weber County. The population was 82,825 according to the 2010 Census. The city served as a major railway hub through much of its history, and still handles a great deal of freight rail traffic which makes it a...

. He began franchising shops throughout Utah until 1979, when he was bought out by Jim Hindman, a millionaire nursing home developer. At the time Hindman purchased Jiffy Lube, he was working for free as the football coach at Western Maryland College. Reportedly, one of his players had challenged him to earn another million dollars.

Jiffy Lube grew rapidly throughout the 1980s, from ten shops to about 1,000, and was acquired by Pennzoil

Pennzoil

Pennzoil is an American oil company founded in Los Angeles, California in 1913. In 1955, it was acquired by Oil City, Pennsylvania company South Penn Oil, a former branch of Standard Oil. In 1963, South Penn Oil merged with Zapata Petroleum; the merged company took the Pennzoil name. During the...

 in the early 1990s. In 1998, Pennzoil merged with Quaker State

Quaker State

Quaker State may refer to:* Pennsylvania, which is colloquially known as the Quaker State* The Quaker State Corporation, a manufacturer of motor oil and other lubricants as of 2006 known as SOPUS Products* Quaker State , made by Pennzoil...

, whose Q-Lube oil service centers were then rebranded as Jiffy Lube. Pennzoil-Quaker State was ultimately purchased by Shell Oil in 2002.

Controversy

In 2003, Jiffy Lube was the focus of a KNBC

KNBC

KNBC, channel 4, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KNBC's studios and offices are located within the NBC Studios complex in Burbank, California, and its transmitter is located on Mount Wilson...

investigative report that alleged that Jiffy Lube was charging customers for services not performed. After the investigation aired, Jiffy Lube claimed to perform sweeping changes to their training program to prevent this; however, according to an interviewee, those training changes included how to spot investigative journalists. At the end of the investigation, Jiffy Lube installed cameras in their stores to allow customers to observe repairs.

In 2009, Jiffy Lube was found to be performing repair procedures on vehicles that were recommended against by the manufacturer due to the potential to cause engine damage. These procedures included engine flushes and fuel injection cleaning which can cause engine and fuel injection problems.