Ah yes, I think you might be right, thanks.Originally Posted by RevolverRob
Ah yes, I think you might be right, thanks.
"Not sure, but why does it matter"
Because if you drove it a block before noticing the check engine light... it might be salvageable. If you drove it 20 miles, not so much. All that said, it's a major screw up on their part. I'd demand that the whole engine be replaced, not just the bottom end (reasons why have already been explained by someone else). I highly doubt they are just going to give you a brand new truck and eat the 10k... But I'm not a lawyer. If you really want to be able to leave on your planned trip, towing a trailer, that is going to be the fastest way into a new truck.
This is also why I do all my own wrench spinning unless I absolutely cannot fix it myself. I don't trust very many places to take as much care of my vehicles as I do. Not even for an oil change.
A glass shop screwed up a windshield install on my wife's car, and ruined a wiper arm. It took me a few months to catch what was going on ( we had been moving, and I had been swamped with extra work). The final clue was when I discovered the entire bottom trim of the window was missing ALL the screws/clips/hardware that holds it down. In order to replace the glass the wiper arms had to be removed to remove that trim, and they had failed to re-install any of the hardware, and then had left the wiper arm loose enough that it was over swinging the A-pillar. By the time I figured out what was going on, the inside of the wiper arm had been trashed enough it could not be tightened to the wiper motor stud, and would loosen up after a few minutes of the wipers being on, no matter how tight I cranked the nut. I was livid when I finally found the real issue and gave the glass shop both barrels. Five extra minutes to finish the install properly vs possibly having the wipers fail with my wife or kids in the car. Some distracted or lazy tech screwed the pooch. To their credit, they replaced all the hardware, had a wiper arm ordered right then, and installed by a mobile tech the next morning. I double checked their work that night.
Shit happens... But I hope they take care of you.
I guess it's true...you only need to replace your engine oil every 10,000 miles.
Man, with all the horror stories I hear about dealership service departments, I really hope they step up and handle this in the best way possible.
There's nothing civil about this war.
BTW: while I’ve never had anything quite like this. I’ve had a few instances where a shop screwed something up. A shop replaced two tires on my car and in the process damages one of the TPMS sensors. When I talked to the manager, at first I got the run around, “It happens sometimes with new tires.” Finally, I very calmly said, “Here is what I know. When I drove in here, I had no issues with TPMS sensors. When I drove out, I got three blocks and it threw a code. If, in the intervening time, the only thing that changes was YOU changing the tires. Who is the responsible party?”
“Well uhh...what would you like is to do, sir?”
“If it was your car, what would you want done?”
“We’ll replace the sensor immediately.”
—
Another instance, the motor for the driver’s side mirror went out on my wife’s car. Wouldn’t you know it, 3k past warranty. First the techs told my wife, “Sorry, it’s $250 + Labor.” She’s at the dealer trying to figure out what to do. So I stop working and call the dealer and ask for the service manager. I calmly, but firmly explained, “It appears the motor is out in the sriver’s side mirror. Now, I don’t even have 50k miles on a 4-year old vehicle. This seems like a premature failure to me. Given that my wife and I have bought two Mazdas and our family has bought three more on our recommendation...it seems something could be done about this.” “We will take care of it, sir.”
Sometimes, folks need to be reminded, firmly, but politely, that your business is a privilege, not a guarantee.
I would go in and talk to the general manager/owner. The amount of money it's going to take to fix this is above the pay grade of the service department, so skip that aggravation. Explain the situation (which they should already be well aware of) and ask for your preference of 1) a complete new motor or 2) a new truck as Revolver Rob suggested. I would not expect an overly warm reception, but you never know. The BS might be the service department trying to cover their asses and the upper management is not fully aware of the situation. If they decline your request of 1 or 2 above, then politely tell them you are going to hire a lawyer and make them pay to fix the truck and make you whole, plus damages for every second of time you spent on forcing them to do the right thing.
Good luck! I hope they see the light and take care of you.
Back when it came to light that some Toyota trucks were having frame-rusting problems, it's my recollection that Toyota was offering owners trade-in prices that were significantly above Blue Book and throwing in other incentives in order to get those trucks off the road. Of course, that was Toyota corporate making those incentives not Jim-Bob's Toyota Emporium.
With regard to the quickie lube places, I know at least one person who had to sue one when the guy in the pit cross-threaded the oil drain plug. Less serious things included not putting the filler cap back on and not ensuring that both hood latches were engaged.
The other knock I have on those places, especially for women, is that they'll try to upsell a bunch of unnecessary services.
If we have to march off into the next world, let us walk there on the bodies of our enemies.
The service Dept is trying to use the ins as fall guy for not replacing entire motor. The Gen Manager was working the trade/sales deel. My logic is it going to cost them 10 k to fix the problem, new motor. This option would fix their mistake in the quickest possible manner. They are pushing for the insurance option because it is cheapest for them.
I don’t care about what it cost for them to fix their mistake. I want a complete new motor at a minimum or a new same model truck.
Another talk with the GM who is part owner is in the works. I feel the way this was mishandled is worth more than 10k in bad press for them, just not sure they see it the same way
Over the years, we have had many instances of towing cars where the oil plug was not reinstalled correctly, if at all. One time a lady got one of the 14.99 specials only to have the oil filter blew apart as she was leaving the station. IIRC, she had no idea what was going on and drove it until the engine seized.
Closest personal experience was back in '95, after I picked up my first GMC Sierra which had to been special ordered from the factory. Drove it off the lot and maybe ten miles down the road, saw the idiot light for the oil come on and immediately pulled over and shut off the engine. Got out, checked the dip stick, called for a hook and had the truck towed back to the dealer where they found that the oil cooler line had been cross threaded but no damage to the the engine. Dealer covered everything under warranty.
Last edited by NEPAKevin; 04-25-2018 at 11:27 AM.
"You can't win a war with choirboys. " Mad Mike Hoare
Have you contacted your auto insurance company? Might be covered under comprehensive.
Because if you didn't go far or put much load on the engine there is a good possibility that the residual oil on all the moving parts did its job and no damage occurred. Obviously not a possibility you want to gamble on.
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