Insist on a new engine. Be polite, but firm. If the service advisor refuses, it’s because he is not authorized to do it. Image what a heel he feels like telling you this. Speak to the service manager. If you get nowhere, speak to his boss. Keep going until you get to the owner of the dealership, even if that means calling to a remote location. After you exhaust all options with the dealer, contact Honda and explain your plight. They don’t need stupid dealer tricks messing up thier business. While they are not responsible for the error, they have a huge hammer. Also insist on a comparable Civic loaner while all of this is going on. It may also help if you document this in letters. You are in no hurry since they will provide a loaner. Move fast, be firm, and as polite as you are with us.
Deffinetly dealership fault. They should not repair the damage because that is just going to mask upcoming problems which I gurantee will snowball unless they replace the entire engine. Don’t sign anything other than authorizing them to begin the rebuild even if you have to threaten them with taking the car to an authorized Honda mechanic for rebuild…I keep mentioning rebuild but the only thing they would do to cut their losses is to put in a “Short block” or “Long block” because it is very expensive for a dealership to break down an engine to rebuild. You also have the option of demanding arbitration with a mediator who will just repeat to them that they are completely liable and they need to do everything you say, and they would have to absorb the costs of arbitration. This arbitration can either be with or without your area’s Honda Factory Rep. If the Rep is involved mention customer satisfaction and repeat business somewhere along the lines of your conversations.
I can’t over stress how important it is that you get a complete engine overhaul, and that means that they should redo everything in the head (Where the valves are) including the cam and bearings - that is just as important as the crank and the main bearings. If they don’t redo the head and valves it will never run as it did when you drove the car in to have the oil changed. The engine will vibrate, run rough, etc and you will be stuck with a complete valve job within 5,000 miles. I’ve worked on govenment vehicles for years and I have learned that the only thing a dealerhip is good for is buying cars. Salesmen, whether car sales or service sales, will come after your money like a downtown crack whore. Find yourself a good independant shop with a low shop rate…even if you have to drive a hundred miles to get to them. There is a reason why good, independant shops have low shop rates. But they are hard to find.
May I just add the poster get ALL discussions, etc. in writing and signed for his future protection.
This happened to me with a Saturn, except it was closing time on a Friday when I picked up the car. When I realized it, the shop was closed and everyone was gone. So I put oil in it, there was a supermarket nearby, and drove it home (needed to get to work the next day). Left the dealer a message about what happened and they had it towed in on Monday, looked it over, and gave me $7 for the oil I put in it. Their story is “the oil leaked out due to a faulty seal oil on the oil plug”, I found this funny because my supermarket oil didn’t leak one bit over an entire weekend and 50 miles of driving, their response was that my oil was thicker so it couldn’t leak past the faulty seal.
2 days later the car dies on the way to work (15 miles into a 25 mile trip) The dealer determines we need a new crankshaft which will take 2 days. Get the car back, exactly the same thing happens, dies on the way to work. Tow back to the dealer, now its a new oil pump, they mustn’t have flushed out the dirty oil full of metal bits, and fouled the oil pump. Another 2 days in the shop. Get the car back and guess what, breaks down at the same point on the way to work. Now I’m furious and call corporate tell and them this story. They verify with the dealer and tell them to install a new engine, which takes 4 days, and they cover 2 lease payments for my trouble. Car worked fine for the next 35 months when it was returned to the dealer. I haven’t had a Saturn since.
Short version: you should probably get a new engine, there is a lot of damage that can be done running a car without oil. Also don’t have work done on a Friday.
Agree with all above posters. One may have mentioned it, but if you get any resistance, get a lawyer to send a letter to the dealer, copying Honda. The dealer is 100% responsible for this problem.