Never changing oil on a new car... nice read.

[jhenle]

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=432771

Guy's wife never changes oil on a new leased SUV. Wonders why the engine makes noise at 20k miles. Read on.

(edit) I just realized you need to be registered with that site to see it, so here's the post:
"So, my wifes car engine was making noises, and she brings it into the dealership to get it repaired since it's still under warranty (and it's a leased Lincoln MKX [the small SUV]).

The service guy calls me at home midday today, and tells me that there was almost no oil in the car....and that the factory filter was still on it (the car has about 20K miles according to him) indicating it's never had an oil change. The remaining oil was 'sludgy,' and he says there's major internal engine damage.

I called the wife at work, and she's 'pretty certain' she had the oil changed sometime last year.....but we have no documentation to back this up (and the fact that the factory filter is still on the car tells me otherwise).

Dealer says my cost will be about $9k as the engine needs to be replaced (I do not have this kind if money).

Would my cheapest way out be to set up a payment plan with the dealership (if they will), or maybe see if they'll workout locking us in to a longer lease on a different vehicle? Or am I just screwed?

I realize this predicament is entirely our fault.....but has anyone ever dealt with a problem such as this?"

 

[Drew99GT]

You must register to read it.

Can you cut and paste it here?

 

[sciphi]

Doh! That's incredible. They're screwed.

 

[bdcardinal]

its nice how ford uses different filters on the factory versus in service. makes it real easy to catch that kind of abuse.

 

[Al]

I have heard this read a couple times before on different car forums with different times. This is a 10 year old internet story.

 

[stranger706]

Amazing. I thought all Ford/Lincoln/Mercury vehicles had oil change reminders? On every FLM vehicle I've seen, the display on the dash says "change oil soon" until you push a bunch of buttons to reset it.

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: Al
I have heard this read a couple times before on different car forums with different times. This is a 10 year old internet story.


I can't vouch for the accuracy of this story, but with millions of cars on the road, it happens.
When I was turning wrenches for a dealership, our shop foreman came out with a small booklet that listed incident after incident where this was happening. I remember one was a female Ford executive who made it to about 40K miles before her engine croaked, all because she had never changed her oil. It makes a great reading material when passed around to all the techs.
And yea, maybe Ford has a reason (besides saving money) to put generic, unmarked Champ filters for the initial oil fill. A customer has a hard time winning an argument when that filter is still on the block.

 

[ctrcbob]

1. OEM filters on the 3.5/3.7 V6 was put on by a gorilla, and is very hard to get off.

2. The OEM Motorcraft filter, although the same as the ones you buy at your FoMoCo dealer, have a paint mark on them from when the engine was first assembled.

Same brand and model of filter, but that paint mark is a giveaway.

 

[tmundal]

GM does the same. OEM filters are a different color than the delco ones

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: Al
I have heard this read a couple times before on different car forums with different times. This is a 10 year old internet story.


I can't vouch for the accuracy of this story, but with millions of cars on the road, it happens.
Yea..for sure.

 

[GMBoy]

Originally Posted By: tmundal
GM does the same. OEM filters are a different color than the delco ones


Not true anymore. The original filters used to be black and all your aftermarket AC's were blue. NOw they are all blue - same exact filter you get from the store. This happened quite a few years back. I doubled checked today at work (GM plant) and all the new engines coming in still have blue filters.

 

[greenaccord02]

Toyota does it, though.

 

[pitzel]

She probably could have gotten away with it, without engine damage, had she bothered to top the oil up, as needed.

Oil quality really isn't the root cause of this failure, the failure was likely caused by oil quantity.

 

[Audi Junkie]

She might have actually gotten an oil change, but the Looboob did not change the filter.

I agree, quantity is the issue. 20k is not astronomical.

I pretty much leave others to their own devices. Meanwhile, my cars are just fine. No burning oil, no burned clutches...etc.

 

[JHZR2]

idiots in many ways. The biggest telling way is that they bought a fancy lincoln SUV, but cannot afford a $9k bill.

Should have lived within their means...

 

[addyguy]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
idiots in many ways. The biggest telling way is that they bought a fancy lincoln SUV, but cannot afford a $9k bill.

Should have lived within their means...


Ain't that the TRUTH!!!

 

[silverrat]

The new Escapes and Tributes come with plain white filter with FoMoCo written in black letters, nothing else.

 

[BrianWC]

A Lincoln MKX is not "fancy" enough to allow you to ignore an additional $9,000. Also note that they leased the vehicle.

 

[Kestas]

JHZR2 is correct... sounds like another story of someone with more money than brains.

 

[mrsilv04]

I bought my Silverado from a Chevy/Cadillac dealer.

Salesman has an older gentleman that trades his Caddy DTS every year, like clockwork. As soon as the crops come out of the field, it is time for a new car.

From the time the car leaves the dealership, to the time it comes back one year later, the hood never goes up once.

And the dealership tells everyone who is interested in the car that the old guy trades in that it is a one year old, one owner... guy trades every year... and puts a premium price on it.

If the car gets traded in with less than 10k miles, then it isn't an issue. If it gets traded in with 15k or more, then it likely is.


After he retired, my Grandpa did the same thing, but with tires. When it needed a new set of tires, it was time to trade it in.