For those who do their own maintenance
 

What if something goes wrong with the engine, transmission, etc.?

I do my own maintenance, oil, filters, breaks, etc. But just realized, if something were to get wrong with the engine then I don't have any way to prove I did the required oil changes... would my warranty still be valid?

Should have held on to my receipts when i bought the oil + filters but not sure if that would even be sufficient considering I'm the only performing the oil change.

Yep, you should have!
A lot depends on your dealer. There are several threads on this subject and most have had issues with the dealer wanting proof.
There is no issue with doing it yourself but you will need to be able to prove it was done.
If you bought the supplies with a credit card you may be able to get records that way but cash or debit will not likely help.

if you have a warranty and the work is free why are you doing stuff your self?

saves time + i know what oil im getting

quick oil change before a wash

I have a folder I keep, everything related to the car I buy or thats done regarding maintenance gets a receipt saved as well as a note with mileage

so basically you guys are saying im shit outta luck?

This is my first time buying a new car still under warranty and i didn't think about this.. think i messed up big time.

What if i start collecting receipts now?

What's your mileage and how long have you owned it?

You could always go to the store you bought the oil from, its possible they would be able to pull up old purchases and print them out for you...

Only reason I mention this is a co-worker of mine had an engine go in his Rav4, they were going to deny him because he was missing a few reciepts.. Ended up going to wherever it was he bought the stuff and was able to pull it up via his credit card.

30,000km

owned it for 18 months

did 4 oil changes, don't have receipts for any of them :thumbdown: think I paid debit each time

What work is free? The first free oil change? Yeah I've seen too many stripped oil pans, missing or doubled crush washers, grease stains and missing fasteners to take my car back to any dealership for any reason.

With regards to the OP, receipts are usually considered proof enough that you've done the maintenance, if you bought the oil online then the vendor likely can dig up a copy, not sure about local auto parts stores it might be worth a shot.

I'm at 31k miles (~50k km) haven't been back to the dealer once, I've saved the receipts (or can get copies) and taken pictures to document some of my maintenance, hopefully I'll be lucky to 60k or any serious problems wind up with a full recall...

I do all my own work. Try to keep receipts, but sometimes I forget. What I usually do though, for all in-warranty oil changes, is take a pic on my phone when I'm doing the oil change of the new oil and filter in the engine bay of the car. It is date stamped, so I at least have that as a record.

If you paid by debit or credit card, you should be able to retrieve the record of sale.

I would suggest you start a maintenance log (bound notebook), post dating when you did the maintenance, what you did and what parts/or fluids you replaced.

That may satisfy the dealer that your car has been maintained properly...:)


humfrz

The original factory warranty doesn't include free work.
The dealer may throw in some oil changes or something but it has nothing to do with the factory warranty.

If you do your own maintenance, you'll do your own engine, transmission, etc. at least that's what I'm trying to learn.

"I'm not too worried about it" --Mr. Kruger

5-6 oil changes are all that's needed inside the bumper to bumper. Do it yourself and I can't imagine anything going wrong. Besides, showing a receipt that you bought 5 qts of oil at Pep Boys doesn't really prove anything.

Just create a google spread sheet so you can access it anywhere you have an internet connection.

I log down every single thing I've ever done to my car, noting the price, person/store I purchased from with their contact info, date, item being put on, brief description, and mileage when it was installed. Even include a DIY link if the item happens to have one.

I also do this with my gas mileage with the "Fuelly" app...

Eh, if something goes wrong i'll just tell them tear it down and prove it was lack of oil changes. If they screw me oh well I guess. I log everything I do in mysubaru site, but that is not a receipt just a place for reference.

If you bought an FR-S in the U.S.A. then you get the first 3 oil changes/tire rotations free under the Scion Boost program. This isn't under warranty so you're technically correct but it's a perk for Scion owners that they are entitled to.

Some of us DIY this stuff because the "free" work was done poorly and not worth it. I had 2 oil changes done at the dealer. Will never take it back to them after the second mess.

Too bad they will never say. Hey, congratulations on your new scion. You need to get this car serviced at a subaru dealership because they actually know how to work on boxer engines. Have a great day!

Plenty of people share that sentiment. I prefer to change my oil myself, I did the first oil change early in fact and I believe it cost me about $75 for the 6 quarts of 0-W20 and a decent oil filter. I only took advantage of the free oil changes because they are damned expensive. At least my local dealer was able to do those with no issues. They can't do warranty repair work to save their lives. I wouldn't trust or actually pay them to do any other work so I do understand why you wouldn't want to have your car serviced at the dealer.

Hey thats not fair, Toyota only needed 7 trys to fix the oil leak in my car...
They obviously know how to fix a boxer engine.

At no point does toyota require anything from you for warranty work. Your warranty says you can use non oem parts and do the work yourself. If you have at least one set of receipts for an oil change your fine. I warrantied a camry that had its oil changed once in 100k. Toyota didn't care.

Really? Just because it's free doesn't mean it's good.

And yeah, they'd be liable for anything they fuck up but who wants the headache? I don't. I just do it myself.


EDIT: sorry, I've just never understood this way of thinking.

ive worked at dealerships previously for almost 6 years and once you've been on the other side of the dealer you understand it differently. techs will shit bricks for messing up and they also get into alot of trouble too. yes there are morons that will be employed and there are those that go above and beyond the job just because.

The problem is you never know which one you're going to get. I've had my car to the dealership twice, once for an oil change and once to have the drivers side window switch replaced. They over filled the oil and used the wrong filter the first time, and took 5 hours to replace the switch the second time. Never again. I'm not gambling my $32K (after taxes) on getting a decent tech.

Totally not my experience.

Had my second oil change done, found a mess under the hood with oil puddles and drips all over the place. Spent hours cleaning it all up. This was after having to wait more than twice as long as they said and having them never call me to say it was ready but finally just showing up out of frustration and a need to get home to make dinner! I also found out months later when I went to do my own change that they had torqued the drain plug so tight I had to totally destroy it to get it off.

After the clean up, I answered the Scion email survey honestly and clearly and answered the email from the Svc Manager in the same way. Nothing nasty or unprofessional. I also called them (after hours on a weekend, so only could leave a message).

I received ZERO response from either one. My conclusion: the dealer had idiots working on my car, they don't care, and Scion corporate doesn't care either.

So they can bite me.

But it's FREE!! Why on earth are you refusing to be lazy and not taking it in to the dealer for maintenance??

"Can you prove you changed the oil on time and properly?"

I don't need to. Prove that I didn't, and then prove that the damage was caused by an improper oil change. Otherwise, warranty the repair.

this is exactly i am thinking
even though, i keep all my records for my own history