Engine seized after oil change

2011 sonata, when my car broke down they took it to the dealership they took a look at it to see what happened … and that’s when they told me my engine was on recall but it will take 3 months to fix back order on engine but I get a rental all paid for by dealership

I seriously doubt if the dealership is the one paying for rental cars for all of the owners of these recalled vehicles. Recall expenses–including ancillary costs such as loaner/rental cars–are normally paid for by the vehicle manufacturer that issued the recall.

Don’t be too sure about the recall, they may be replacing only engines that failed for specified reasons and not those run without oil - if they inspect they’ll know, but worth the try. You may still need the receipt from Pep Boys and Firestone’s write up.

PepBoys may have left your car empty, or the oil may have leaked out either due to their fault or some other failure. Check your oil immediately following a change and in a mile or two look under the car for leaks, and check oil regularly, perhaps once a week or every second gas stop. Check the other fluids regularly. Pull over and get towed asap if oil or cooling lights come on of if the engine seems strange. Check that all the lights come on when you turn the key, one could be burned out or it could indicate another fault. Use trusted established mechanics, not chains (dealers generally okay for oil changes, sometimes with decent prices).

My son works for a Valvoline quicklube joint. They dispense all oil fills from the bulk tank into a pitcher to double check the fill amount before emptying it into the vehicle. While some quicklube places are terrible, the shop he works at has a great local reputation. Most of the techs have been there a long time and have taken additional training to achieve “master tech” status. My experience with any quicklube chain is that they are only as good, or bad, as the tech staff in a particular location.

The best person to change your oil is yourself. 2nd best a certified and reputable mechanic. 3rd is a new car dealership. Most would choose the 2nd, if you can not or would not do it yourself.
This is whether the problem is due to Pep Boys or not, just future reference.
Lots of horror stories on the quickie lubes, and even Firestone (in my experience). There are good ones, but the risk of something going wrong is much higher.

Firestone? I’ve only used them over the last 20 years on vacation in Florida. I guess their work was OK but did try to do a triple cost upsell. While there a woman was also complaining about a brake job they had done that wasn’t satisfactory. They had replaced everything for the elderly reasonably well to do retired lady but still wasn’t up to par. I told the story before so I won’t go into details but treat them as a chain with the quality that can vary with the particular franchise. Myself, I’d choose a dealer, but they vary too.

I only use a reputable independent shop these days. Found 2 that are great. Some years ago I had an extended warranty on a car that used Firestone as their fix it shop. Took it there to have leaky power steering hoses replaced. Drove it home and smelled something burning. Open the hood to find PS fluid everywhere. Called them and they trucked it back to the shop and fixed it. I was lucky I did not have a fire to contend with.