Another dealership horror story

Brought my truck into the dealership for its first 5k oil change this morning. Leave the dealer and discover that the tech left a plastic oil-catch bottle in the engine bay. They use the bottle to catch and drain the overflow coming off the old oil filter. The plastic bottle (now filled with used oil) happens to be resting on the alternator pulley and belts. Of course, this in turns burns it's way through the bottle, and voila! - Oil all over the engine compartment of my brand new ride. It's all over the alternator, belts, pulleys, suspension, pretty much everywhere in the bay. To hell with the free oil changes. Will be doing my own from now on.

 

I had the same thing happen to me but mine ended up causing damage and they had to replace the alternator, belt, and a few other parts.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/great-job-big-two-toyota.252513/

 

You went back and had them clean the mess??

Things happen

One of my guys did something stupid caused $8000.00 damage and shut a plant down most of a day

 

I hope you took it back and ripped them a new one!

 

So sorry Derick!I would be furious and demand something to satisfy you being its a new truck!I haven't had anything like this happen to me but everytime i leave the dealership after oil changes i looked under the hood and underneath the truck before i leave!I've even have service writers before ask me what i'm doing or they ask if there's a problem!I just simply tell them that i'm making sure the technician didn't screw up anything!Best wishes in getting this resolved to you!

 

please tell me you went back to the dealer and ripped them a new one! this is unacceptable, if they forget a damn bottle to catch oil did they forget to put oil in the truck as well!?!?! (i watched the dealer working on my truck just about start my truck without oil in it and yelled at the oil change boy as well as the head service tech who was standing right there... my truck has never been back there)

 

Never brought it back for the free oil changes, and they were surprised when I told them I don't trust them

 

That blows! I'd certainly be making them make everything spotless.

Just another reason I do my own oil changes now.

 

ive let the dealer touch my truck a total of 0 times since I got it

 

Your rubber nipple cap under the filter drain is now long gone. I'd ask for a new cap.

 

Yup thats BS. I once saw a new guy at a shop do an oil change (simple enough, right?). But after bringing the car down and topping of with new oil, he fired it up to pull the car out of the stall only to find that he didn't replace the filter after removing it to drain! Needless to say, there was oil everywhere as the oil pump was shooting it straight out. All this in front of the owner and other customers. Lesson learned, I check now too.

 

Sorry to hear about that, especially on a new ride.

If you start doing your own, poke a hole in the oil filter and give it a few minutes, all the oil drains out and you don't even need to use a catch bottle.

 

Had 1 free oil change at the dealer and the monkey put the filter on so tight I had to jam a screw driver through it, the one and only time I had to do it and I used to do 100s of LOFs at my step father's auto shop. So...every time they've offered any free service I decline.

 

Shit happens, I would be pissed too.

I do think its unfortunate that people get on this forum, read about some bad experiences and then think all Toyota dealerships are shit. I have owned 3 Toyotas from the same dealer, had all of them serviced there, even had my tundra in the body shop owned by my dealership for 3k worth of front end damage, with 100% satisfaction.

My Toyota dealership is way better than the Nissan, Mitsubishi and Chevy dealerships I have dealt with.

 

Update - So I went back to the dealership this afternoon and, at least to their credit, they were very attentive and apologetic. They degreased and washed the engine bay right away so that I wouldn't have to wait too long. They also acknowledged what a f#@k up it was, especially on a brand new truck. Service manager and his boss got involved directly. They also put down in writing that if any problems were to occur down the road, they would replace any and all parts as needed. Threw in a complimentary full detailing and another engine cleaning that I can use at any time. Still feeling pissed though. Mistakes happen, but this is just plain careless. I can still feel the oily residue so will be hitting it again with Simple Green to further degrease.

ODNAREM, which dealer (if any) in HB do you go to? I went to the one on Beach Blvd.

Thanks for the heads up! Will be sure to get it replaced!

Is there anything I should be paying particular attention to or checking to ensure nothing is damaged? Besides a visual inspection and listening for strange sounds? Any particular part of the engine that may need special attention?

 

People knock Jiffy Lube and places like that. I've done it myself. The ones you see in the news do not reflect how all are operated.

I'm beginning to believe that overall, there's no difference in skill level between dealer lube techs and many quick lube techs.

 

hey Derick what part of LA you in? At which dealership did this happen?

 

I'm in Huntington Beach. Dealer was Toyota of Huntington Beach

 

Stay away from Manhattan Beach service department. My horror story is much worse.

 

Funny, I work in the South Bay and see TW members out and about sometimes. Sux that one service department can F it up for some hard working people. My old man was a Mazda/Ford ASE master tech since before I was born and he always had a story of some new guy making total rookie mistakes. But there are some good people out there wrenching everyday. That being said, I was raised by a mechanic and he taught me that you shouldn't pay for something that you can do yourself and I take a lot of pride in working on my own junk.

Sorry, back to the topic at hand...