Dealer Service Center Oil Change Nightmare

[ScionOfHorus]

For those who want to make sure they don't go there, it's a Houston, Texas Toyota/scion dealer. Out of respect to him not wanting to say the name publicly I won't.

But if you are in Houston and want to know who it was... you should have seen his posts in the Facebook group and know who to avoid.

[GotBRZ1691]

Better Business Bureau will be your best friend. Contact them and tell them everything. Document your phone calls, record them if possible. On the BBBs website you can place a formal complaint against Scion, and quite possible the dealership. Scion will (or at least) step up once there is a complaint there. Next Contact a Lawyer and sue them for the equivalent of malpractice, Car malpractice? Again document all of this.

Document the miles you drove and the time before the service department called you back. Go to an independent garage and get a compression test done, and have them bill Scion for the labor. I would then work with your insurance and tell them, hey so when this car shits the bed further down the line you know you guys are going to be the one paying for the new motor because all i have to pay is the deductible.

Between the BBB and your insurance company, you should find yourself in a new scion, or at least a new motor. Sorry to hear about this, shits the worse.

Something like this happened to a friend of mine with his volvo. Notorious for head gasket leaks and having foamy oil because leaking coolant. Well the shop he had the work done at failed to torque the bolts to the right spec

EDIT: Also put bad reviews up everywhere you can on the internet. Yelp, Google, YellowPages, ETC...

[Turdinator]

Originally Posted by mike the snake

I understand this is a big mistake and a nightmare for you.

I wonder though just how much damage could have occurred. ATF is oil, no pressure was lost, rings seated long ago, you only drove a few miles like this, I'd bet you'd be fine with a flush of one or 2 oil changes.

To the engine, it is probably like you just rand a different weight oil, with a different addative package. Unless the ATF affects the seals in some way, I would think nothing bad has occurred.

I agree, I doubt any real damage was done. But if I was in his position I would want assurances as you just don't know what may have happened inside the motor.

[mike the snake]

I thought I read that they offered a 100k warranty. That is fair IMO. Pretty much guarantee no questions asked if anything happened to the engine for 100k.

[agile30]

Originally Posted by mike the snake

I thought I read that they offered a 100k warranty. That is fair IMO. Pretty much guarantee no questions asked if anything happened to the engine for 100k.

Not really. Because it comes down to what they cover in that 100k warranty. Plus if they are being shady now imagine what will happen if the motor goes after another 10k miles. Plus they could mark off on the VIN and note to scion that there was an issue with the engine and void his power train warranty because of the ATF put in. Plus he notified Scion already so they are aware of the issue.

[Squishy]

This would be more on the shady side of the tracks.

They do not want to admit liability as by what was offered. I would also take any "assurances" from that dealer about as far as I could throw them. If there is no admitted liability then the warranty claim would be just as easy to deny.

The fact the finance guys tried to pull one on him on top of his loan is lawyer up time in my book. Granted running a 75w90 in your engine (about three times as thick could possibly be ok) but would you be ok with that on your own car? Offering him options to get snowed in under on payments is not accountability but just shady to the max.

I see little options but to lawyer up and hit the media channels.

[FRS-Texas]

There is your proof....... :-P

[xlid007]

Best best here is to get in touch with an attorney and start a case. In the end you will come out winning because you can tag loss of time which equals money and grief from all the back and forth. You can probably end up with an FRS fully paid off at the end. Like the others said, DOCUMENT EVERYTHING!

[B-R-Z]

Throw your story up on dealerrater.com. I did this once because of poor service and the manager called me within 2 days. They will not like this going public, they make good and most of their money on service I believe.

[FRS-Texas]

Ok guys..... As you can see, I've deleted all my posts relating to the car problems I've had the past 6 days. I showed good faith to the dealership to help us come to a mutually agreeable corse of action to resolve my "issue". The outcome is this.... For the next 5000 miles, I am getting a free oil change every 1000 miles along with oil samples to send to Blackstone Labs for analysis. Based on those ongoing results more action (repairs, etc) may need to be done. Along with that, they are extending my warranty 75k miles for 5 years. Yes, this isn't the greatest conclusion but it was the best thing considering all the money I could spend on legal fees, an expert witness, master mechanics, etc. all on the hope that I could prove damage was done.
In conclusion, I am satisfied with the end results and that's really all that matters.


Also, I'd like to thank all the people who tried to help me with this issue in the group.... This is why I love the community, when people have real problems, most people try to offer real advice..... (Haters gonna hate.... Horses gonna horse.....)

[Timmy_Jones]

Im glad you get to keep your car...seems like a reasonable outcome. no one really know what happens when trans fluid gets int he engine, I'm sure it isn't ideal, but with the monitoring solution they offered it seems reasonable.

My only concern with this outcome would be; ok what happens if an oil analysis comes back bad?? Then what? Just make sure you have a backup plan for that.

[mike the snake]

I'm glad you came to a conclusion. I'm positive that no damage was done, from seeing countless cars running on ATF for days, but it's good you got the extanded warranty just in case.

[Foobar]

Not sure I'd trust these guys to add air to my tires let alone change my oil 5 more times lol!

Still, I think the offer is fair and worth agreeing to.

I'd hover over them while they change your oil and pull the Blackstone sample, just to be on the safe side.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[CruiseZen]

OP, why is this same thread posted to 3 different sections of the forum, each with the same exact title? I've now found it in the General Section, Engine Exhaust and Transmission section and the Mechanical Maintenance section.