Engine Seized after oil change...filter fell out car....owner won't pay at all

Fight the Good Fight!! Don't give up and take it to them!!

Seriously, as a member of the completely fallible human race and a tech, I will shamefully admit, I have screwed up in the past and made mistakes. I have since trained myself to double check filters, drainplugs, fill caps and fluid levels. I use whatever trick is necessary to make I don't repeat some of my past mistakes. However, whenever I DID goof up, I admitted it and fixed it. On one occasion, I did wind up overhauling an engine after leaving a fill cap off. (Since then I place the fill cap on the hood latch, if it gets broken, the cap is much cheaper than an engine!)(and at NO COST to the customer, luckily my boss paid for the parts and I did the labor)

We are all human (I Hope!) and we all make mistakes. As a businessman, the owner of that shop should be ready and willing to accept that fact and pay for the repairs to your car.

Good Luck, and please let us know the outcome.

 

This is a very unfortunate situation. First thing I would do is forget all the "armchair lawyering" you are getting from very well intentioned folks on this forum. Spend a few bucks and seek out a reputable attorney who specializes in dealing with these kinds of disputes and see where you go.

Sometimes, the more well intentioned advice you get, the muddier the water becomes, the more stressed you get and the more challenging it is to make an informed decision which is going to be best for you in both the short and long run.

Just my 2 cents....

Rick

 

and with a lot of lawyers, the first visit is free. Even if you decide not to go with the lawyer, you may have gained some new useful information.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ Aug 15 2007, 05:18 PM) [snapback]496473[/snapback]</div>

Maybe that's because if you're at 10,000 feet and the engine quits, it's not quite like being on the ground in your Prius?? Although my Prius IS at 5,300 feet. Yes, stories like this are why I change my own oil. Had my Saab's oil changed (lets see, 1988 maybe?) at the dealer, drove it home, and had an oil trail up my driveway. Dealer had not even hand tightened the drain plug. Thus I usually change my own. You can't trust any business to do the simplest work, because they have the simplest people do the simplest work!!!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ Aug 15 2007, 04:18 PM) [snapback]496473[/snapback]</div>

Hobbit, I am surprised you would write something like that. Are you really saying that it is the consumers job to check the vehicle for oil leaks after having the oil changed? Maybe at the next time you fill up for gas you should check the oil level, but seriously... When you take your car to the dealer for the 30k service, should you check to ensure there are no leaks around the air filter? Recheck to ensure the brake master cylinder cap is installed correctly. Come on.

 

Search Amazon.com for the Nolo Press book on small claims court. It is really helpful and well worht the paltry investment.

Anything more than a few seconds without oil and oil pressure will damage the engine. You could be reasonably expected to take the time to find a safe place on the road to pull over. Your primary mission while driving is safety, not saving an incompetent shop a few bucks at your own personal peril!

File, and he WILL cave. He might wait until just before court, so get the Nolo book and be ready! But he will cave, since writing a $5K check is better than writing a $5K check AND being found liable in a public court.

Small Claims court is a civil court, and you only need to show that it is more likely to have been his fault than yours, a trivial feat in this case.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Winston @ Aug 16 2007, 01:11 AM) [snapback]496721[/snapback]</div>

Umm....yes, that's what he's saying. And he's right. If you think it's not your responsibility to ensure that maintenance was performed properly on the car that you drive, then who is? Do you think the mechanic making minimum wage into his third week on the job really cares if your engine dies an early death? He's not thinking that far ahead. This thread proves that many of them won't take responsibility, and they have to in order for it to be worth anything.

Just because so many people treat their car like a household appliance doesn't mean it's a good idea. (And that's not meant as a dig against the OP.)

 

For years I'd do my own oil changes but now the deals are too cheap to pass up. Our local Toyota dealership will do the oil/filter change and check all fluid levels, blah blah, for $17.95. Much cheaper than the "express" outfits and way to cheap for me to fool with it -- and from Toyota.

 

Sorry to hear about your Prius, I suggest to everyone that whenever you do an oil change or get it serviced to check your oil level, before starting it, after the first drive, and then check it again the next day before leaving the house. When I still lived at home I once changed the oil in my mom's car and I didn't notice that the washer on the drain bolt slipped off. It had lost about a quart overnight through a slow drip, it was only noticeable because I always check the level the following day. But I also am that a-hole you see at the gas station that checks his oil, cleans his windshield, and checks his tire pressure at every fill up.

 

another option might be to call your local tv station. many have consumer affairs reporters that jump all over stuff like this. the gas station might settle up quick once the tv cameras show up.

as previously stated, i'd also write to the parent corporation of the station - e.g, write a letter to whichever big oil company this franchise is.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(brick @ Aug 17 2007, 07:35 AM) [snapback]497720[/snapback]</div>

Now wait a minute. If I take my Civic in to the dealer for a valve adjustment, and their mechanic sets the exhaust valves at the intakes' clearance, and vice-versa, and burns a valve, are you saying I'm responsible, and not the mechanic? That's absurd.

There is legal presumption of responsibility of any mechanic who works on your car, and gets paid for doing so. If some yokel can't manage to tighten an oil filter properly, HE is responsible for any ensuing damage, not the car owner who paid good money for that mechanic to tighter that oil filter.

After all, oil filters can (and have) fallen off of cars that have just left garages for an oil change.

The owner trusts the mechanic to do the work properly, and a judge would agree.

Harry

PS: I change all my own oil. I've had an idiot "mechanic" round off the bolt head on a drain plug bolt. How freakin' dumb can you get?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(noillusions @ Aug 16 2007, 09:10 PM) [snapback]497561[/snapback]</div>

Noillusions, the advice you got from that lawyer was worth about what you paid for it. Any screwed on part can loosen itself and fall off over a period of time. Let me say that one more time "Any screwed on part can fall off over a period of time". If you screw it on half a turn it might fall off in a couple minutes, if you screw it on all the way, but don't tighten it the proper amount it might fall off in five days. There is no need to proove that in your small claims court. The judge will make his decision between the following two scenarios. A. Was it more likely that the oil filter fell off because the mechanic did not tighten it properly or B. Was it more likely that the oil filter fell off because the car owner did something to the filter to make it fall off.

Unless the mechanic can show that you have a history of lying, the judge will have to believe that you did not sabatoge your own car.

You don't have to write a letter to the guy, but by doing so you let him know that you are serious, thereby increasing the chance that he will settle with you before going to court.

Of course, do what you want, but I think that attorney is giving you poor advice.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(brick @ Aug 17 2007, 04:35 AM) [snapback]497720[/snapback]</div>

Brick and Hobbit, you guys are amazing. Hobbit gave the example of a Pre-Flight check. Do you guys know what a preflight check consists of? For a little Cesna - I do. It involves checking the oil level, and looking on the ground for oil leaks, but it does not involve checking the work performed by the mechanic during its last maintenance.

Any trained mechanic that blames the consumer for not checking their work when they screw up something should not be a mechanic. Period.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(noillusions @ Aug 17 2007, 12:20 PM) [snapback]497904[/snapback]</div>

Even if you do pay a portion of the cost, you're getting a brand new engine replacing the two year old one, when you sell it you should be on the higher range of sale value for the same model year.

 

You guys are completely mising the point of what we're saying. Nobody said that the mechanic is not legally responsible for messing up your car. But you have YOUR OWN SEPARATE responsibility to look into these things. Periodically checking that there's still oil in the crank case after a change isn't that hard (is it?) and could prevent a situation like this one. Get it into your heads that there is more to car ownership than who has to pay when something gets messed up. There's the matter of accepting that work may be done wrong and taking reasonable precautions to check for it. There is only ONE person in most cases who is in a position to do that: US.

This conversation reminds me what a messed up, litigious society we've become: it's always about the money, who gets stuck with the bill. The intermediate stage of preventing that bill is often skipped as if it doesn't matter because we think we're "covered" by the other party's liability. But you won't get your lost time back, and it takes a heck of a lot of effort to sue somebody. There's no question that the mechanic has at least some liability in this case, and probably most or all of it. But come on. Just taking a stranger's word that he did what was paid for and driving off blissfully is, pardon me for saying so, entirely foolish.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(douglas001001 @ Aug 17 2007, 01:32 PM) [snapback]497909[/snapback]</div>

BULL






The judge will make him pay for everything. You shouldn't settle for anything less.