....and yet MORE $tealership horror stories!

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Was just speaking to my Mom yesterday, and she told me about how
her friend's 2013 Toyota Camry Hybrid which cost around
$28,000 and has 9,000 miles on it was in for a
mundane oil change at the local Toyota dealer in the upstate area of SC. They go to pick up the car and drive it home, about 20 miles or so. As the husband is driving back to the house with my Mom's friend they notice that the engine "is making noises, that don't sound normal." Husband pulls the car over and checks the oil....
NO OIL ON THE DIPSTICK AT ALL!!!!! But no oil leaks underneath drain plug was installed and still there....

Turns out the grease monkey FORGOT to fill the car with new oil and they were driving on nothing but an oil film!!!!!!

They get the car towed back to the $tealership and what do they do? Add oil and tell them everything is just fine! OUTRAGEOUS!!!!

Thing is this couple were going to take this car on a cross country trip. I told my Mom to tell her friend that they need to go back to that $tealership and ask for a loaner car because they do not feel confident that the engine will not fail. I believe that once that engine started making noise it was on its way to seizing and that the life of engine has been drastically reduced, as has the resale value.

The couple are putting in a call to Toyota Corporate about the matter, and are looking for a replacement vehicle from that shop.

There is no excuse for this [censored], whenever a job is performed the service manager should be checking the car before it is released to the customer to make sure everything is done correctly!

It is unfortunate that they didn't check their fluids BEFORE they left that $tealership. Although I have to say that just recently I was basically yelled at by an independent shop owner/mechanic for checking my fluids on his property....well I told him where to stick it.

Again, the auto repair industry richly deserves the horrid reputation they have. BEWARE most are either crooked, and or incompetent.
 
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Whenever I've taken my moms car to the dealer for an oil change, before I leave I always check to see if it's got fresh oil in it and I can see the shiny new oil filter.
 
Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
As the husband is driving back to the house with my Mom's friend they notice that the engine "is making noises, that don't sound normal." Husband pulls the car over and checks the oil....
NO OIL ON THE DIPSTICK AT ALL!!!!!

Doesn't the car display some sort of a warning message in the dashboard pertaining to low oil level or oil pressure?

Did he not see it?
 
That's a bummer of a story. When I worked as a dealer mechanic waaay back in the 90's, I always checked the dipstick level after a service. The oil came out of an overhead gun and had a gauge saying how much you put in, but I didn't trust it and wanted to see it for myself. I am happy to say I never ran an engine dry.

I am surprised it made it 20 miles but I would guess being a hybrid it was running on battery part of that trip?
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
As the husband is driving back to the house with my Mom's friend they notice that the engine "is making noises, that don't sound normal." Husband pulls the car over and checks the oil....
NO OIL ON THE DIPSTICK AT ALL!!!!!

Doesn't the car display some sort of a warning message in the dashboard pertaining to low oil level or oil pressure?

Did he not see it?


Pretty sure this model does NOT have a low oil level warning light, and because there might have been some residual oil left from before the change it was probably just enough pressure to keep any warning light off during the initial few miles they were on the road, but they had NO warning lights on when he stopped the car.
 
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Originally Posted By: 29662
Was it Easley or Greenville?


No. I am not going to identify the $tealership until the situation is resolved. I understand why folks would want to know of course.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Are you sure they just didn't drastically under fill it? Maybe it had 2-3 quarts in it?

i'd want a uoa on the current fill immediately.


According to the husband there was NO oil on the dipstick. They did not drive the entire 20 miles to their home I think they were about 3-5 miles from the $tealership when they realized something was wrong.
 
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Since it's a hybrid the dealership tech probably never ran the combustion engine after the oil was drained and the owner probably was on battery power too until it was too late.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
there is some sort of oil light im sure. driving blind?


Just like I said, there was NO warning light on. These people are intelligent enough that they would have stopped immediately if that would have been the case, only when they started to hear noises did they realize something was wrong.

I'm just guessing, but there was probably enough residual oil left in the sump to keep the pressure in spec for that 3-5 mile drive.
They saw NO warning lamps at all during that time.


The worst part of the whole thing is how the $tealership causually just puts new oil in and tries to send them on their way.
Creeps!
 
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This is *exactly* why one should NEVER get work done on a vehicle before leaving on a long trip.

Why are people so stupid as to think that nothing will go wrong when their vehicle is being worked on?

Get the work done a couple of weeks BEFORE you plan on leaving. How simple is that?
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
This is *exactly* why one should NEVER get work done on a vehicle before leaving on a long trip.

Why are people so stupid as to think that nothing will go wrong when their vehicle is being worked on?

Get the work done a couple of weeks BEFORE you plan on leaving. How simple is that?


They were going to leave in about 10 days.

I believe the $tealership said that since they were going to be driving around within an hour or so of home for the next week if anything serious was going to occur it would happen before they left on their trip....LOL What a crock !
crazy.gif


In any case there is NO excuse for this kind of nonsense since the
$tealer should have a double check in place, where the work is done and then another person rechecks the job to make sure it is done right. Any place worth their salt does just that. NO excuse for a car leaving that shop without oil in it. NONE.
 
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I think that some folks probably think if they have the work done before a trip and they trust their dealership that they will not have to worry on their trip as everything is freshly done. That does not make them stupid.
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
This is *exactly* why one should NEVER get work done on a vehicle before leaving on a long trip.

Why are people so stupid as to think that nothing will go wrong when their vehicle is being worked on?

Get the work done a couple of weeks BEFORE you plan on leaving. How simple is that?


And that would have changed what? They would still have a car that they had planned on taking on vacation, but is now questionable.
 
No offense but while this story is bad it has nothing to do with the term $tealership and nothing to do with Toyota. This could have happened at any shop - it's not like dealerships put a master tech on oil changes. Same at any shop.
 
Nothing to do with the term $tealership? Really? I consider any place that fails to refill a 28,000$ vehicle with oil during an OC, and then after seeing the car has NO oil on the dipstick has the nerve to try and fob off any concern the customer has by simply adding new oil and sending them on their way..that IS part of the definition of
$TEALERSHIP
...and who gives a darn if the place doesn't put a "master tech" on that job, the shop still has an obligation to check their work to make sure it is done properly.

I mentioned in other threads that working at a number of
$tealers over the past couple of decades (as a detailer and painter) that the RULE in the mechanical service part of the shop is poor quality work, sloppy quality control, and dishonest dealings with the customer.
 
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Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
This is *exactly* why one should NEVER get work done on a vehicle before leaving on a long trip.

Why are people so stupid as to think that nothing will go wrong when their vehicle is being worked on?

Get the work done a couple of weeks BEFORE you plan on leaving. How simple is that?


The car has under 10kmi, I doubt they expected any major failures after an oil change (which they shouldn't).

Get a grip.
 
Originally Posted By: heynow
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
This is *exactly* why one should NEVER get work done on a vehicle before leaving on a long trip.

Why are people so stupid as to think that nothing will go wrong when their vehicle is being worked on?

Get the work done a couple of weeks BEFORE you plan on leaving. How simple is that?


The car has under 10kmi, I doubt they expected any major failures after an oil change (which they shouldn't).

Get a grip.


I almost can't believe that just a week ago I was ranting about this industry, and here we are are again because a sloppy $tealership seriously damaged my Mom's friends car due to them failing to refill with oil during an OC. I couldn't make this up.
 
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