I have noticed whenever I get an oil change at the dealer they ALWAYS overfill the crankcase. this just stupidity or are they scrooging a few extra bucks for oil from customers?? JUst today I drained off almost an entire extra quart (!!!) from my Prius!! This can't be good for mpgs or for the motor? I will find out today if the mpgs are affected but this is really irking me to the point I am going to buy a oil filter wrench to fit this car and start doing oil changes myself!
I am not being a smart a$$ or anything. Just a thought that crosses my mind when I see posts such as yours... If you are willing to drain the excess oil, why not reach up and change the filter yourself? Problem solved and a few extra bucks in your pocket...
Not just dealers, 3d party companies do it too. I've replaced my drain plug with a Fumoto valve. Since I replace the oil filter each time, I tighten it enough that the next time, I do the change without tools. My typical protocol: supplies day before - I get a foil turkey roasting pan, three quarts, and filter put on clothes to lay on ground and get dirty run car for a minute or two to warm it (if I remember) put turkey roasting pan under Fumoto valve and open it reach up near front for the oil filter and get it loose take a 5 minute break while oil finishes close Fumoto valve shift turkey pan under oil filter and take off ... dump oil in pan slide turkey pan so it is out of way install replacement filter, fingers tight pour three quarts of oil into engine, careful not to spill any pour old oil into empty oil containers dump turkey pan and old oil filter in trash can drive to recycling auto-store and leave old oil containers with them for recycling Go home and clean-up. BTW, I also clean out the engine air filter and do this process twice a year, Spring and Fall. In the Fall, I put in a bottle of injector cleaner. I also use part of a can of throttle cleaner and a long brush to clean the throttle plate area. I also use the Rain-X brand windshield cleaner and check the wipers. I also have Firestone check the wheel alignment but in my case, I don't have them rotate the tires. I'm starting to adopt the European practice of letting the front tires wear out first. Then I get two new tires and put them on the rear and the rear on the front. This means I don't have to buy four tires at a whack. Of course if I see a four tires for the price of three and I know it is not a jacked up price, I can be persuaded. Bob Wilson
no I don't normally take the trouble to drain the extra oil, this time they filled it extra high! Pissed me off. Wth? can't trust ANY mechanics anymore!!! Get ripped off every time or else they don't do it right!! How am I supposed to get my car fixed if I can't find a trustworthy mechanic!? And I don't change my own oil due to the hassle of what to do with the old oil.
Buy three quart bottles of oil and leave them on the seat for the tech. Tell the service writer you will measure the oil level yourself before you leave, and if it's overfilled they will fix it before you leave.
That's EXACTLY what I intend to do from now on! I don't want to be an donkey but I'm tired of being ripped off. The owners manual states that this car hold 3.9 quarts and states "do not overfill". Upon reviewing my bills from this dealer for the past two years I find that they have charged me for 5 quarts each time. Wonder if I can sue? I still have the extra oil and the bill... I have filed a report on Angies list and may consider further action... isn't this called "fraud"?
sue a dealer over an extra quart of oil..? Go for it...It'll cost thousands in lawyer fee for whats essentially frivolous. Most likely the tech or computer system is wrong about oil capacity for your car. They charged you for 5 and actually put 5 in.
I know, just taking awhile to cool down. Best to just check the oil before I leave the dealer. And everything else they may miss just because they don't give a shit about my 10 year old "p.o.s." in their minds. Maybe not fraud but just sheer "don't give a shit" on the part of the tech.
I have an extremely negative option of Toyota service. I can't say that I've really ever really had a positive experience at dealer service which (really, really) sucks when you pretty much have to bring it in to the dealership since there aren't many independent hybrid mechanics out there. Every time I bring my car into the dealership for maintenance, I pray they they don't f- it up any more than they normally do (which seems to be a regular occurrence). I've been through three dealerships in the chicagoland area so far and haven't found one that hasn't screwed at least something up. We had one put the wrong engine oil in my car after "customer brought own oil" was written at least twice in red marker on the work order, and we had to go back to confront them about it becasue they completely didn't notice. At least the second dealership that put the wrong oil in the car noticed their mistake before telling up it was "done." For me, a good dealership experience has been that they don't manage to somehow screw something up. A bad experience - well, there's really no bottom to that. the whole experience has been bad enough that my family and I have decided that we will not purchase another Toyota because we have to deal with their service departments (and god help you if you need warranty work). The reviews on Google maps if you search for Toyota dealership in the Chicagoland area shows what I'm talking about: they're all one or two stars (out of 5). Based on my cumulative (very poor) experiences, there's a good reason for that.
When it comes to Prius oil, Toyota dealers are criminal or completely incompetent.. I tend to believe they aren't too stupid to know how to change oil.. So that leaves one possibility, the dealers knowing it is an Aktinson engine are overfilling the oil on purpose. They aren't just leaving it at the "F" mark either, it's always way above..... They overfill by a quart every time (I'm not the only one who has observed this). In my opinion it my not "damage" the engine, but it is really bad for it and ruins the throttle valve..
BTW there is no way Toyota and every dealer isn't aware of the damage and problems of overfilled Prius. So you have to wonder why they still do it everytime even in 2012. Especially from the TSB dated 2004. I would argue a class action suit would be relevant if you could show repairs required for non-starting or fouled plugs or towing bills. Anyways it isn't an isolated and it seems to happen at every Toyota dealership. And they have known about it for almost a decade.. Another Dealer Overfilled my Oil Thread! | PriusChat Overfilling oil damage? | PriusChat Oil Overfill Question | PriusChat http://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/f51/first-oil-change-overfilled-24624/ Oil overfill - GreenHybrid - Hybrid Cars
