When I had my last oil change I think the guys forgot to completely fill my oil. It was 5 Qts down in 3000 miles! They now want to do an oil analysis. Other than seeing that there is metal in my oil from my rod bearing that is now knocking what are they trying to determine? What scam(s) might they try to pull to attempt to avoid replacing my motor? The car had never used oil prior to my visit to Mobile lube express
The onus is on you for not checking your oil more regularly…You will have to PROVE they did not fill your crankcase. They will claim they are not responsible for cars that burn oil…Oil analysis proves nothing, means nothing…You will NEVER get a free engine out of them…
Has Anybody Inspected The Engine For An Oil Leak ?
Quick Oil Places Sometimes Drain Oil And Then Fail To Refill.
The Fact That You Made It 3,000 Miles Indicates That It Wasn’t Just Drained And Forgotten About.
It either wasn’t comletely drained (not likely) or it wasn’t completely filled (not likely), but possible.
I think you might have to accept some responsibilty here.
Besides making the decision to take a Jaguar (not the most common car make) to a quick oil shop, how soon after the change and how often did you check the car’s oil?
Also, what did you do when the “oil pressure light” or warning came on? If it didn’t warn you then what’s the matter with it?
Sometimes shops suspect customers and wonder “What scam(s) might they try to pull to attempt to get us to replace their motor?”. They could honestly be trying to determine what happened.
What model year is this car and how many miles on it?
CSA
Does This Car Have A Conventional Oil Pan And Oil Filter?
This isn’t some exotic British design with a dry sump and remote oil resevoir with oil lines connected to the engine, is it?
CSA
I’ll wager that they are trying to get out of their liability. Here’s what i think they’ll do.
‘their’ Analysis will show that it is not their brand of oil therefore it must not have been them who did the ‘no fill’ oil change.
Here’s the catch.
If they forgot to put oil in, and your previous oil change was elsewhere…
the residual oil in there WILL NOT BE THEIR BRAND anyway.
Don’t let them pull that on you.
Ken, How Do You Think It Ran For 3,000 Miles? Also, Don’t You Believe Oil Should Be Checked At Least Every 2 Or 3 Tanks Of Gas, Or So?
Most Owner’s Manuals say to check it at each gas fill-up.
CSA
Sorry for your loss, but I think the owner is responsible for checking the oil level in his/r car. Since service stations are now self serve it is up to the owner to do the under the hood checks.
If you checked the oil level just after the oil change, you’d know rather than think they underfilled your motor with oil. In 3,000 miles you should have checked the oil level several times and added oil as needed to avoid motor damage.
If the motor had run out of oil and sustained damage after 100 miles and/or a week after the oil change you might have a claim. After 3,000 miles and several months you are “up the perverbial creek without a paddle”.
Get one done somewhere else, too. You’ll want it when you take them to small claims court.
This engine’s oil capacity is unusually high being between 7 and 8 quarts.
It has never leaked any oil and is spotless.
In the previous oil changes at 3000-4000 mile intervals it had never been even a quart low and these changes were all done at the same place with the same mobil “Clean 5000” product. At each change my receipt shows that they did check the level prior to changing so there IS evidence that it was not consuming oil. In addition Jaguar has no TSB’s for problems with consumption on this motor.
The oil pressure light did not come on until it was 5 quarts low and at idle in my driveway and after the knocking started. The light was not much help since it measures pressure not level.
I don’t know if it is a dry or wet sump. My guess is they drained 7-8 and put in 4-5 quarts.
Oops my bad, wasn’t reading completely, just surmising what they’d be looking for with an analysis.
It’s now waaaay too late to even assume it was they who underfilled the thing.
Ragtop would have to have checked the oil level the very same day or next, then returned immediately.
There is now no hope of such a claim. Mobil is correct is suspecting a customer mistake here.
The car is a 2000 with 79000 miles
Sorry Ragtop, It Still Sounds To Me Like You Were The Key Player In The Problem.
You knew a Jaguar was a bit uncommon, particularly for a shop that doesn’t specialize in them. You know it’s unusual for a passenger car to hold 7 or 8 quarts of oil.
You said, "This engine’s oil capacity is unusually high being between 7 and 8 quarts. "
Why not blame Jaguar for not having an adequate low oil warning system?
My Pontiac Bonneville comes from the factory with an “oil pressure warning light” and a factory installed “oil level warning light”. It is illuminated when a switch that is visible on the outside of the oil pan senses low oil, long before any damage to the engine can occur.
How many times did you check the oil in that 3,000 miles, exactly?
Let me play devil’s advocate. Please look in your Owner’s Manual now and post verbatim what it says about checking engine oil on a regular basis.
Maybe somebody can pull it up on their computer. It’s a 2000 Jaguar XKR, I believe.
CSA
In your opinion the Mobil Oil Change place is responsible, even though you did not even check the oil level once between visits for oil changes, correct? If you feel you can get a small claims court judge to agree with you, then sue for damages.
I’d be upset and mad too, but I’d be angry with myself. This is like the Mazda CX7 owner that didn’t get an oil change for 20K miles and now has a sludged up motor. At least that guy is taking ownership of his mistake, you need to do likewise. Blame others if you wish, but if you don’t learn the lesson that checking your oil level is your responsibility then you are likely to burn up another motor someday.
If there are no oil spots on your driveway or in your garage, then you may have some proof that they have some liability. You may also need to have an independent shop look at the engine to see if there are any leaks. If there are no leaks, then the oil simply did not get into the engine.
They just want you to know they’re going to nit pick this to death.
Too much time has passed, You have no case. Although your side, your anecdotal evidence sounds as if…you got nuthin.
Unless you happen accross that one minimum wage grease monkey who’s eyes get as big as pizzas when asked how much oil he put in that car…
You should check the oil at least once a year!!
Like I said we need tort reform for the Quick oil change industry. What would you suggest to business man that wants to run a quick oil change place? new idea? How much do you think you can pay employees? do all the work yourself?
If you didn’t check your oil in 3,000 miles, the shop owes you nothing. It could easily have been full 3,000 miles ago and no one can prove otherwise.
Oil light on + knocking = some degree of engine damage.
Failure to check the oil for 3000 miles = your fault.
Any car made may start using oil at any time and if I was the owner of a high end Jaguar I’d raise the hood once or twice a year rather than rely on sheer luck to get me by.
But how gawd awful numbers of people never do.
The fact that it’s a Jag represents that demographic of poeple who, for the most part, NEVER open their own hood - might not even know how - and wouldn’t know what they’re looking at if they did.