I lube tuners, and I also put lightweight (Hipshot Ultralights) on all my gigging basses. Basses are heavy. The lighter Fender basses are under 9 pounds, but some are heavier and even a half-pound makes a difference during a four-hour gig. Further, bass necks are long (34-inch scale), and the weight of the heavy stock tuners causes "neck dive" where the neck basically tries to move toward the ground unless you are holding it. Lightweight tuners help address all these problems. I don't have a gigging Fender bass that weights more than 8 lbs 3 oz! I have a Jazz bass (heavier than Precisions) that weighs only 8 lbs, 1 oz! Probably none of this will resonate with folks who do not struggle with the struggles of bass-playing.
But yeah....crappy tuners will work better after a drop or two of 3-in-1 oil.