Took the car in for an oil change, picked it up and drove about 100 miles,parked it in my garage and overnight most oil leaked out. I had a driving vacation planned over Christmas and so I had to rent a car. Could the engine suffer damage, how to I get it back to shop, do I add oil or have it towed(10 mi)and should they pay for rental car. It wasn’t the dealer. And also it left a mess of my garage and the back of the car was covered in a film of oil. What should I do? I’ve had this car since day one it has 125 k mi and I’m very angry about this
One thing you must NOT do is start the engine. Raise the hood and check the oil level as a first step.
If the oil is only down a quart then no harm, no foul.
If there is no oil showing on the dipstick then there is likely a certain amount of engine damage, all depending.
It is also quite possible for an engine to suffer damage due to being excessively low on oil and run fine. The big question is how long will it run fine before problems appear.
Keep this in mind. If there is no oil showing on the dipstick and the car is towed back what will likely happen is that they will fix the leak, top off the oil, and pronounce the car perfectly fine if it seems to run well. Maybe, maybe not.
The most likely reason is that the oil changer didn’t tighten the oil drain plug or oil filter.
It is very unlikely that they will take responsibility.
Tow your car to another shop and get your car evaluated and get an opinion in writing. Then take that information to the shop that caused the problem.
That 3rd party information would be very helpful if you end up in small claims court or even outside of court once you show it to the shop that caused the problem.
The shop that caused the problem should pay for your rental and any damages to your car. It won’t be simple to get reimbursed but you’ve got the law on your side.
If the shop asks you why you didn’t bring it back to them to fix, your answer should be simple. You would ask him why would he would think that anyone would want to have a car repaired by someone who couldn’t even change the oil correctly.
Was that one of those fast oil change places? They are well known for causing damage, selling unneeded services and products.
The simplest problem would be the drain plug or oil filter being loose. Call the shop that did the change and ask them how to handle it. Probably there is no oil in the engine so do not start it. I would hope they would tow it in, or send someone out to take a look, and pay for the cleanup of the garage. I think since the rental car was done without giving them a chance to fix the problem it would be a long shot.
You should call whoever performed the oil change service and tell them about the leak. From your description there is no oil in the motor and it is not safe to start it or run it at all. The shop should tell you have to handle it and pay for a tow if one is required.
You might add 5 quarts of oil and drive it to the shop, but the safest option is to have it towed or have a mechanic from the shop come and plug the leak before starting the motor.
Your next move is to get on the phone.
Too late. I drove it from the shop and it had to have been leaking while I was driving around, I parked it and backed out and saw the pool of oil. Since it was Christmas eve day, everything was closed. I left for vacation on Monday and returned yesterday. I backed it out to see if there was any more oil, checked dipstick , it didn’t have any oil on it. I left a message on their machine, since the shop is closed. Why wouldn’t the oil light come on? Should I take it to the mini dealer?