Okay guys, I need to vent. When I bought my car a week ago I posted that my car was overfilled by at least a 1/2 quart of oil. Now I've been doing my own oilchanges for 20 years but in recent years because of a hectic schedule, I've been taking it to a mechanics shop. Well the 1/2 quart thing has been bothering me, so I did even worse. I took it to those quick lube shops. What a mistake!!I took it in and told the guy the car takes 41/2 quarts. He told me he knew. I said alright. We'll see. When they were done, I checked the oil and IT WAS OVERFILLED AGAIN!! I was beyond angry. I looked at the recept and it said Pontiac Grand Prix. They didn't even have the right model car!! I took it back and bitched about it. They took the filter off to drain some oil out and put it back on. I didn't like that one bit. Now they broke the seal and the sucker could start leaking. I just don't undderstand this and how this happens because when I did it myself, although the car calls for 4/1/2 quarts, it took almost five for it to reach full. So what are these guys doing? I think these shops don't give the oil enough time to drain. Plus they don't put in oil quart by quart like the ol fashion way. Checking it along the way. They use these pumps that automatically put in the the amount.
So anyway, I ate the $30 went to the store, bought oil and a filter and was going to do it myself. Went to take off the drain plug and found the plug was almost completly rounded. The socket couldn't grab. I had to get channel locks to unscrew it.!. So now when I do the oil again, I have to get a new drain plug. Unbelievable. I can't believe you have to be a certified mechanic for a simple oil change.
NEVER GO TO THOSE QUICK LUBE PLACES!! You should of seen the characters that work there. What was I thinking!!

Grand Prix Engine = Bonneville Engine

I understand that, but still they don't know what model car is what. Suppose they had different engines?

Not all of the quick lube places are the same. I've had mine done at the one right around the corner from my house since I've had Sapphire. No matter when get there the owner always seems to squeeze me in.
Very professional service everytime I go and they even check the air in the tires and vacuum her out for me.

It does help that the owner also has a sprint car race team and his wife had a '98 SSEi when I started going there. Unfortunately she lost the car to an inconsiderate driver. Now she has an'02 SSEi

As a matter of fact it'* time for a change in a couple of days. Number 8,I think and I've only had her a year. Every 3000 miles and it NEVER goes past 3100!!!!!

I was just making sure....But running 1/2 qt over isn't enough to be a concern.

I certainly understand your frustration, but I have to wonder - if two different places overfilled it - (and you're measuring it by the dip stick right?) could it be that maybe the wrong dipstick is in your engine - therefore making it seem like its overfilled when it really isn't? (sorry, I can't remember your previous post on how you knew it was overfilled). And since you just bought the car, perhaps the plug was stripped before either places did the oil change and they didn't bother to tell you. It'* not possible to know exactly who stripped it.

I'm not saying your frustration is not warranted, rather I try to think outside the box instead of the "obvious" facts. Certainly, stating that no one should ever go to a quick lube place would be like saying don't ever go to a barber again because the one you went to butchered your hair. Choosing a quicklube place is no different from chosing a mechanic, body shop, doctor, or barber - you have to shop around and find the one that you feel is competant and will meet your needs.

In any event - I guess the true test is how did it measure when you did it yourself putting in 4 1/2 by the bottle? Did you have the same sized filter? could they have been using the wrong sized filter? If these are dumb questions - the just ignore this post.

Actually, I was thinking the same thing. It did cross my mind if I had the right dipstick but I wondred why would the wrong one be in there? When I put in the quarts by the bottle it took about 43/4 quarts to fill it. Almost five. What about everyone here? Does that sound right? The only way for me to really find out is I have to look at another bonnie and check out his dipstick and compare.

Try doing a oil change by yourself next time. Check the oil level as you add to see how much is enough oil for your 'grand prix' also if you have it check a haynes manual they have all the specs such as oil capasity. I don't know if you mentioned this but what year is your bonne?

i went to walmart to get my first oilchange on my car. told the guys to put only 4 quarts in it because i had some stuff i wanted to put in it <engine restore and prolong booster>. they put 5 in it anyway, and were kind enough not to put my drain plug in tight, leaving me with an oil leak ALMOST as bad as my power steering leak.

Fliud capacities are listed in the back of the owners manual.