Oil Change mistake at Dealer, Opinions?
 

Went to the dealer today to get a TSB done on my Navigation. When I drove in he did the customery checkout of my car and when he opened the hood he found oil splattered on top of my engine and the oil cap missing. We found it sitting in the corner of the engine compartment. Lucky for me I was only about a half quart low after driving 1500 miles since my last oil change. I've been having my oil changed at another Nissan dealer close to my house and so far have only had it changed twice by the same dealer. I only have 6500 miles on the car. My question is how should I confront the dealer who is responsible for this? At the very least I want my engine compartment detailed to make sure all of the oil is removed. The other dealership claimed they steam cleaned it but I'm sure they didn't get it all. The dealership also noted on the service ticket about the oil cap being left off. I know it was the dealers fault because the hood hasn't even been opened since I had the oil changed.

If they steam-cleaned the bay, it's probably as good as it's going to get, within reason. I'd be more worried about dirt and crud that fell into your engine with that cap off for 1,500 miles. It would be a good idea to do a full oil+filter change immediately, and maybe add an oil cleaning additive of some kind for this change. Just go to the dealer that screwed up with the cap and ask them to do that for free in return for leaving the cap off, imho.

Grrreeeeaaat. Something else to worry about when going to get an oil change. It never ends. What kind of business do people run these days. That was incredibly irresponsible of them. I would do what is stated above and I would buy a brush and engine cleanser and scrub it out myself. Its the only way to be sure. Make sure your next oil change is free and convert to esther or synthetic if you don't already have it.

This is why I'm going to change my own oil. These guys change oil day in and day out, they get careless sometimes. Most of these guys definitely don't respect your car enough and some of them barely speak English. No offense to anyone, but that's the way it is.

You didn't smell the oil burning for 1500 miles? Wow... what a mess.

Poor Z . :(

Suggestion -

Save yourself a lot of heartburn and use this as a lesson - always check your oil level when you get back from having your car serviced, as well as checking it, and all fluid levels, once a week.

Was it a careless mistake? Yes

Was it intentional? One would certainly hope not. Mantella87 made a great point - these guys change oil all day, a mistake here and there is inevitable. Unfortunately this time, they pulled your lottery ticket.

I don't know how old you are, but take it from one of the "old guys" here on the Board - the only person you can ever truly rely on is yourself. Even then, we all still make careless mistakes occasionally; it's human nature.

I'd be upset too over what happened, but also grateful to the other dealership for steam cleaning your engine, and move on. It's your decision whether the convenience of doing business with the dealership closer to your house is worth the worry of them doing things properly. Convenience has its price.

If we all spent less time worrying about being wronged, and concentrated on what it takes to keep things right, we would be a lot happier.

I'd probably follow up on the advice given here and get an oil change ASAP. I hope all is well with your car.

:iagree:fully.

I've learned this over the years: If you want it done right, do it yourself! Buy the service manual and a few tools to start off. If you can do the job yourself, the money you save in labour is spent on more tools. Eventually you will be able to tackle the more difficult maitenance and repairs. Also, know your limits!

:iagree:

Went back to the dealer today after talking to the service manager on the phone. They gave me a free Ester oil change and cleaned my engine. They have to replace the rubber seal around the engine bay/hood because it was saturated with oil. They had to order it and it will be one more trip to get it replaced. At least they made everything right by this mistake.

This happened to me on my SUV. I drove it for a few weeks without knowing until one day I smelled oil. Opened up the hood and saw a oil mess. I called the service place and spoke to the Manager and told him what happened. He got a tow truck to my house the next day and had it towed it in and did a full Oil change and replaced the oil cap (was missing) They then paid for a full professional engine steam clean.

Mistakes happen, but due to this (and other issues I have had to deal with) I always check up on work done on my cars and call them out when they do something wrong. I am OCD about it now--have to be. They don't care as much as I do about my car.

Sounds like they are trying to make it right. Actually sounds like a stand up dealer.

Glad to hear they are taking care of you.

Did I read your first statement right? 1500 miles and the hood hadn't been opened? How often do you check your oil? Not trying to cause problems, but I would assume you would check your oil more often than that. RP

This is why I always do my own oil changes....I don't trust anyone else to do it correctly and properly as myself. Plus, you can save a few bucks in the process.

It's not practical for me to change my own oil. I have a different mind set than many of the other people on this forum who heavily mod there own cars. I love my car but in the end the vehicle is transportation for me and a daily driver. I'm a single parent over 50, putting both my kids through college and have a very busy schedule with my job. To be very honest with you I will very likely sell this car at the 3-4 year old point and upgrade to something else. I do ocassionally check my oil and have added oil to it. During this last fiasco I had driven the car on a 1000+ mile trip and didn't have a chance to check it up to that 1500 mile point.