Questionable dealership service
 

Hey, I just wanted to see if anyone else has ever been in my situation and was unsure of what to search.

During October, I hit the 7500 mile mark and was ready for my first service of oil change/tire rotations, etc. I went to a local dealership and they performed all these for me.

Today, I noticed my car was leaking oil. I never actually paid attention or checked on my oil due to my ignorance of trusting the service done to my car. The oil is pretty low and will need to be refilled. I believe they did not properly tighten the oil pan plug.

I'll be calling/bringing in my car Monday, and was hoping to know in advance what to expect. Do you think they will service my car for free due to their negligence or would they put the oil leak against myself claiming it as my fault for not properly checking my vehicle regularly?

Go to see the Service Manager, calmly state your complaint, and open fire.


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It is anybody's guess as to what they will do.
Just make sure you approach them in a calm and professional manner and the odds will be more in favour of them treating you well.

... and then open fire.


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hmmmm......first off, @justin6280 , if then car is more than a quart low, I'd suggest you put some oil in it before you drive it anywhere.

Can you tell where the oil is leaking from ..... around the oil filter .. ?? Around the crankcase drain plug .. ?? Other place(s) .. ?? It would be good to know this before you took in in.

How much is it leaking ... enough to puddle up on the floor/driveway .. ??

Has stuff ever happened to me like that. Oh, heck yes. I've left the dealership with leaking oil filters ..... filters that weren't changed .... spark plugs that weren't changed .... car washed with recycled water and comet cleanser (I suspected) ...... tires that weren't rotated ...... and that's all I want to remember ....... :mad0260:

What do I do now? Before taking the car in for service, I mark the tires and mark the oil filter. I put a BIG note on the dash DO NOT WASH THIS CAR! After the service, before I leave the establishment, I check to make sure the tires were rotated, the oil filter was changed, the proper amount of new oil was in the crankcase and their isn't any oil dripping from the drain plug.

In your case, I suggest you follow the recommendations of @Tcoat ..... not so much @Hotrodheart. Which reminds me, I always take my loaded .45 ACP out of the glovebox before I drop off the car .......... the FIRST time ..... :paddle:

I believe most dealerships want to please ...... but, many of them have some lazy, unfocused, ill trained, irresponsible employees ...... :sigh:

I suspect they will make it right for you and your car ...... :)


humfrz

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I'll be following this advice soon, due for next service in less than 200 miles. Especially the car washing thing.

I'll bet anything its a wrongly inserted washer, probably with the wrong tools, important thing is that they didnt damage the groove( where it fits if thats the correct word ) or else things get a bit complicated.

I asked the mannager to let me pass to the garage, now i know what exactly they are doing
I cant sleep well without knowing what type of oil they are using on my engine, transmission.
But yes sometimes sometimes they make me want to kill them with fire cuz they are slugish

The first (and last) time I had my oil changed at the dealer didn't go well either.
After waiting a couple hours I went to investigate what was going on. They had my car on a lift and were taking it apart. The service manager was there and I asked him what was going on. He said they double gasketed the oil filter and the oil sprayed out all over the engine. They had to take the skid plate off and clean the entire engine compartment. It took hours. This is by far the easiest car I've ever had to change the oil on and they couldn't do that right. From now on I do all the work on my car myself.
And yeah never let them wash your car.

Chill brother. Even if there is an oil leak you have a warning light. It's nothing major, are they official Toyota mechanics or can you just change them easily. If they're Toyta then send an email to their headquarters with some photos as proof and bills etc. That's how you screw them properly. I assume you had no oil leak when you took it in and then it started leaking after the oil change.

Do not use the oil light as an indicator for low oil. At that point it is probably too late. Always check the dipstick.

Sure the dipstick, but worst case scenario is the low oil light comes on and then you need to switch off the engine immediately. If you don't use a dipstick right though you can get a totally wrong reading. I can't even remember how that works. Switch off engine, wait 5 mins, check after wiping dip clean. Can't recall.

That's not how it works, the "oh the car will warn you mentality" doesn't work on any car long run. And you don't start by sending an email to headquarters, that's one too many hoops to go up to wait for them to contact the dealer, speak directly to the service department manager, if nothing comes of it then you move to the top.