If it actually had no oil, you wouldn’t have made it there unless your home was next-door to the dealership. Is it possible you meant to say that when you started the engine at the dealership, it seized-up a minute or two later?
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VDCdriver, when I pulled the dip stick I didn’t see obvious oil on the stick. I guess out of 4.5 quarts it could have been low 2-quarts, which is what I poured in. Just weird. Why wouldn’t the engine have been full of oil?
Because the sleazy dealership didn’t actually have anyone do a pre-delivery inspection of the car, even though they are paid for that by the manufacturer. Many years ago, my SIL bought a new Datsun, and the sleazy dealership’s pre-delivery inspection obviously consisted of nothing more than washing the car and removing the plastic from the seats.
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Years ago we bought a used 1984 Pontiac Sunbird that had supposedly been checked out by the dealership. It had no gas cap and a broken radio antenna, both of which I discovered fairly quickly. Later I learned it had a hole in the muffler. All that for a car that had been “inspected” prior to sale.
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I have seen plenty of that, people steal gas caps and break or steal antennas on the lot even in good neighborhoods.
In Kenosha they set fire to the entire fleet on the lot, a stolen fuel cap isn’t so bad.
speaking of theft . . .
There’s rampant catalytic converter theft in many of our fleet’s service yards
and people are too scared to approach the thieves and/or chase them off if they see them . . . because the thieves might be packing heat
I for one am not going to risk my life to prevent a catalytic converter from being stolen
I kind of wish there were armed security guards with explicit instructions to shoot to kill any thieves caught in the act
It would make life a lot easier for everybody . . . with one obvious exception
In my opinion, thieves are the lowest form of life. In fact, they’re wasting oxygen that could be better used by worthier people
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It’s those dang battery operated angle grinders or whatever they use. They were having a rash of that at the Park and Rides for a while in the Minneapolis area. While you rode the bus, the thieves would crawl under the cars in the parking lot for the jackpot. I think the police started coordinating with the junk yards to put a lid on it but still happens some.
cordless “sawzall” . . . I’m pretty sure they’re not using a genuine Milwaukee, though
Apparently the police here can’t be bothered to coordinate with the junk yards . . . or scrap metal recyclers, or where ever they bring their stuff. If anything, I think it’s the scrap metal recyclers that don’t ask too many questions when guys bring in their stuff
It’s not that I have a problem with law enforcement
I’m saying that because there has been absolutely zero decrease in catalytic converter thefts here
Some of our fleet’s workers take part in actions where homeless encampments are cleared out, in conjunction with the department of sanitation and the sheriff’s department. Apparently many stolen catalytic converters also turn up during those events. yet nobody knows anything, and nothing is done to deter anything
Regarding PDIs, at one dealer where I worked (GMC/Pontiac/Subaru/ Mazda) I do not remember ever seeing one single vehicle going through a PDI performed by a full fledged mechanic. That kind of falls into the line mentioned by VDCdriver about washing them and removing the seat plastic.
It’s not difficult to see the reason behind giving the consumers short shrift. Factory pays dealer to do the PDI, dealer has the PDI done by a low paid wash room guy instead of much higher paid mechanics, and multiplied over time with thousands of cars the dealer makes a substantial amount of money with the corner cutting.
And then some dealers tack on a customer pay PDI charge to boot… 
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That was actually the full extent of the capabilities of the “service department” at Rick’s Datsun, in Jersey City, NJ. They had one employee, a very elderly man, and all he was qualified to do was to wash the Cosmoline off the cars and rip the plastic off of the seats.
When customers brought their cars in for warranty-related repairs and for regular maintenance, the cars were taken to a Gulf station a block away.
The guy at the Gulf station had neither the training nor the inclination to chase the MANY problems that these early Datsuns had, with the result that nothing more than oil changes and filter changes were ever done. When customers complained to the two crooked brothers who owned the dealership, they were convinced that it would not be good for their health to return.
My daughter worked at a store in a large mall. Part of their training was shoplifting. They were told to alert the manager if someone was suspected of shoplifting and to never approach the person or persons stealing the merchandise. The manager contacted mall security and they dealt with it.
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I worked retail in the past, and we were told the same thing. However, there’s a huge difference. If someone is stealing merchandise which I don’t own, why am I going to risk being attacked physically, and risk losing my job for disobeying my employer’s orders to try and stop them? On the other hand, if someone is attempting to steal my vehicle, or some expensive part from my vehicle, I have a lot more “skin in the game”.
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Many years ago, my second job–which was necessary in order to survive on a teacher’s salary–was as a retail clerk in a now-gone department store. There was one particular door that was a favorite exit for “grab and go” thieves who would gather-up an armload of expensive suits and then escape to a waiting car.
When I was assigned to the cash register closest to that exit, I was shown the button hidden underneath the counter that would lock those doors, and simultaneously summon store security and mall security. Luckily, I never had to use that button.
In this case I’m inclined toward “they missed it,” given the hole in the muffler. It wasn’t even necessary to break the antenna, it was a type that unscrews at the base. I thought at first it was retractable, LOL.
It wasn’t necessary to break the antenna on my car but it has happened several times by vandals passing by.
Ok, great stories, please wake me up when we figure out what happened to the OP’s car 
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