Quick Lubes Take the Crown: Industry Brief for September 22, 2026

Marcus: Welcome to the Mobile Oil Change Industry briefing. I'm Marcus. Dana: And I'm Dana. It's Tuesday, September twenty-second, twenty twenty-six, and we've got a packed show for anyone who makes a living keeping engines running. Marcus: Today we're talking about a changing of the guard in automotive service. The latest J D Power aftermarket study is out, and quick lube shops are having their best year in recent memory. Dana: Let's start there. J D Power surveyed more than ten thousand vehicle owners for its twenty twenty-six Aftermarket Service Index, and customer satisfaction in the quick oil change segment rose four points on a one thousand point scale. Marcus: And the winner, for the fourth year in a row, is Express Oil Change and Tire Engineers, with a score of eight fifty-four. Take Five came in second at eight thirty-three, and Jiffy Lube and Valvoline Instant Oil Change tied for third at eight twenty-three. Dana: What's interesting is what's driving this. Cost is becoming the deciding factor for more and more drivers. J D Power found that people are more satisfied with quick change locations than they were last year, but less satisfied with full service shops. Marcus: And there's a bigger story behind that satisfaction number. New research from Ducker Carlisle shows dealerships are steadily losing service customers to quick lubes, tire chains, and independent shops. Dana: The reason is almost embarrassingly simple. Price. An oil change at most quick lube locations runs five to fifteen dollars cheaper than at a dealership. And since twenty twenty-two, the average dealer transaction cost has jumped one hundred twenty dollars, the biggest increase of any service channel in their data. Marcus: One analyst put it bluntly. He said dealership service retention has been declining for about eight years, and at this point it is not a fluke, it is structural. He called quick lubes the thing everybody in the industry should be worried about. Dana: And here's the kicker. Drivers aren't just chasing the lowest price. They're chasing predictability. When you go to a quick lube, you know exactly what you're getting. An oil change, maybe a tire rotation, and you're out. Nobody is going to hand you a list of everything else they found wrong with your car. Marcus: That predictability gap is exactly where mobile oil change operators live. If a fixed quick lube wins by being fast and transparent, a mobile operator wins by removing the trip entirely. You don't drive anywhere, you don't wait anywhere. The service comes to your driveway or your office parking lot. Dana: And there's one more detail that should make every oil change operator smile. All of this is happening even as more electric vehicles hit the road. The quick lube segment is gaining share despite the growth of E Vs. Marcus: Right. The vehicle fleet turns over slowly, and there are hundreds of millions of gas powered cars and trucks that will need oil changes for years to come. Hybrids and fleet vehicles keep the bays busy too. Dana: So let's talk about what this means if you run a mobile operation. The tailwinds are real. The NOLN twenty twenty-six operator survey found the quick lube sector fundamentally healthy, but consumer softness is pressuring car counts, and some drivers are deferring maintenance or doing it themselves. Marcus: Which means the operators who win are the ones who remove every bit of friction. Online booking, text reminders, transparent pricing before the van rolls up. Subscription based maintenance plans are also gaining traction, giving customers predictable costs and giving operators predictable revenue. The mobile model already owns convenience. The job now is matching the big chains on consistency and trust. Dana: Speaking of the big chains, consolidation is the other major story this year. Two of the earliest Take Five franchisees just merged to form a company called Founders Automotive Services Team, or FAST. Fifty-two Take Five locations across five states, making it the largest Take Five franchisee in the country by revenue. Marcus: And Valvoline Instant Oil Change just topped Entrepreneur's twenty twenty-six list of automotive franchises, ahead of Tommy's Express Car Wash, Midas, Jiffy Lube, and Take Five. Dana: What does that mean for the independent mobile operator? Two things. First, the big chains are getting bigger and more standardized, which raises the bar for everyone on service speed and consistency. Second, it validates the model. Serious money keeps flowing into fast, focused oil change service, which tells you exactly where the demand is. Marcus: One more headline before we wrap. Strickland Brothers, the ten minute oil change chain, just opened three new shops in West Texas, in Midland, Odessa, and Lubbock. They're now past two hundred ninety locations in twenty-seven states. Dana: Ten minutes, no appointment, drive thru. That is the promise customers are responding to across every segment. Speed plus transparency plus consistency. Marcus: And one watch item for operators. On recent earnings calls, Valvoline and Driven Brands both flagged a potential medium term shortage of Group three base oil. If supply tightens, smaller operators without big purchasing scale could face allocation issues. Worth keeping an eye on your supplier relationships. Dana: Good note. So the takeaway for today. The industry is shifting toward fast, affordable, predictable service, and quick lubes are winning share from dealerships for the eighth year running. Mobile operators sit right in the sweet spot of that trend, as long as they match the chains on consistency and pricing transparency. Marcus: That's our briefing for today. I'm Marcus. Dana: And I'm Dana. We'll be back tomorrow with another look at the mobile oil change industry. Thanks for listening.