My daughter is 28

ANONYMOUS

MEMBER
2012 TOYOTA RAV4
10,000 MILES

My daughter is 28. She bought a new rav 4 a few months ago.
her second oil change at the dealer did not go well.
the oil filter was not tightened proper;y. Yep you guessed
it she did not make it home.
the oil dip stick was without any oil and a crispy critter. The engine made a really bad noise.
now here is what the manager at the dealer ship said.
upon inspectiion on the dealers lift, they acknowleged that the filter was at fault. Now here comes the question to his/managers excuse. We filtered the remaining oil thru a paint filter. No pieces were found. We put new oil in it and it is fine. Reason given, the car has a shut off switch built in and their was 1 and a half quarets of oil in the crank. The car is fine and the motor is o k.
is their in fact a shut off switch and will their in fact be oil even though the stick is dry?
every one I talk to says the engine is gone and a new car is in order.
gary thanks for the reply

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,912 POSTS

If it's running fine now, just hang onto any documentation including the receipt for the last oil change. An observant driver would usually notice a problem before something major happened. If the oil pressure warning light wasn't on yet, there was still some oil in the engine. I've had multiple occasions where my '88 Grand Caravan started to rattle from low oil and three quarts didn't fill it up. The engine only holds 4.5 quarts. It has close to 400,000 miles on it now.

Hyundai, Toyota, and Chrysler are the three most customer-friendly manufacturers in the world with their policies and business practices. In the case of Chrysler, if an intermittent problem was documented while the car was in warranty, they will take care of it if it doesn't act up again for the mechanic to diagnose even if it goes out-of-warranty when it does act up again. All they require is documentation that the problem had occurred in warranty, and that's where the dealer is your advocate, not your adversary. They keep those records for many years. If an engine problem develops, the documentation exists to show there was an oil-related problem that was not due to normal wear and age.

Asking for a new car is out of line. You have a used car now, not a new one. Every shop and every mechanic makes mistakes at some time, just like people in every other profession. We all have gotten defective new parts too. That's why they come with a warranty. If you insist on a different car, it is fair for the dealer to trade the current one in on a new one but you can expect to lose a dollar amount similar to if you had been renting or leasing it.