Was my oil JUST changed?? I think NOT. (Need quick input please)

Had my oil changed at a dealer tonight. I'm going on a long trip tomorrow, so as usual, I'm in the process of just giving the car a once over before packing up and leaving. I check the oil....hmmm...it's awfully DARK, and kina LOW. Usually this place puts too much in, never leaves it low. And it just looks WAY too dark to be JUST changed 30 miles ago.

 

I drove 20 miles home from the dealer, so keep that in mind when looking at these, but I see no way in hell they changed the oil. I've already called and bitched and have an appt. first thing in the AM, but I'm looking to be SURE as I really like this place and it's the first issue I've had there.

 

Dipstick...

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_y662cR2205s/SSyqaQQNiBI/AAAAAAAACMU/Z4Mb3EzGNuU/s800/DSC04450.JPG

 

Filler cap. (notice the residue in there, how could fresh oil have been just down this spout??)

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_y662cR2205s/SSyqb5RoC_I/AAAAAAAACMc/n3DYzbcUVB8/s800/DSC04453.JPG

 

Filter (No it wasnt raining on my way home, and the little plastic door was closed before I opened it. How could this be THIS dirty everwhere and around the connection etc.?)

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_y662cR2205s/SSyqZNSrbYI/AAAAAAAACMM/plh3vkKNd5Y/s800/DSC04446.JPG

Looks like the job wasn't done to me...

My $.02 says you got charged for an oil change that (from looks anyway) was never done. Go back tomorrow and ask to stand either by a window or in the shop as they do it.

i think the 3rd pic is the key. i hope the dealer is not going to charge you for the "2nd" oil change...

 

I think i'd start putting a mark of some kind on the oil filter before you get to the dealer, perm marker or something.

i think the 3rd pic is the key. i hope the dealer is not going to charge you for the "2nd" oil change...

 

I think i'd start putting a mark of some kind on the oil filter before you get to the dealer, perm marker or something.

^^^Great idea! Go out tonight and buy a silver Sharpie marker if you don't have one. Make an "X" on the filter and better yet, make another mark using chalk or the marker on the drain plug. Good luck, tomorrow.

Thanks for the quick input. I know they won't charge me for the change again. I'm sure it was just a lazy/shitty tech...but still. Christ... Just change the frickin oil..how hard is that? (Says the man who pays someone else to do it.)

 

I'll have to do that sharpie/chalk trick next time around. This time I'm stopping with wife/luggage before a long trip for Turkey Day. I'll be at LEAST checking the oil level/color in the lot before I leave. I may ask them to let me watch it get done. Want to be careful though...I don't want to become THAT customer to them. Everyone will have an eye out for my car and try to screw me. Ya know?

 

Sigh.. this was a GREAT dealer in every other way and I've had no problems at all with them. One bad apple though....

If it's a good dealer, they will recognize the error of their ways, not charge you, and understand why you want to see the work done. And they'll let you watch. Well, change the oil that is. Whatever else you want to watch on your own time is up to you. If they come out and kiss your ass, they you know you've won and all will be well. If they give you a hard time, then it may be time to become "that customer" as they don't care of their opinion. And that my friend, is a very bad thing in tough economic times.

Not clear if you are checking the engine oil prior to a stone cold start. However the impurities will collect on the dipstick making it quite dark although it looks suspect for 30 miles old.

I've had cleaner oil a month after an oil change.

That is one of the reasons why my Dad taught me to always change it myself.

Seriously, one of the few times I had it done, the oil filter was left loose and the oil was lost and almost locked up the engine on my S10 truck. I had to park the truck due to oil light and check engine light coming on and call my Dad (I was 18 at the time). He arrived on the seen and looked under the truck, "who changed your oil?"....busted.

that's F'ed up! imagine what would happen to your engine if that happened every "oil change". another reason i dont trust someone else to do it. at least you checked it. wonder how many unsuspecting customers that happened to that never did.

i also think the third pic is key, unless your dealer just reuses oil filters too!

Care to share the dealers name? Not that I live any where close to there, but it would be good to know. Please post your experience tomorrow with them. Bummer man, but a good catch!

Don't you guys think that the color of the oil AND the LOW level is a clear indicator here as well? I know that other impurities will darken new oil...but this stuff is 10x darker than every other time I check it after a change. Keep in mind the color of the oil in the pic is lit with a flashlight like RIGHT on it in a dark garage. Wiped on a cloth....it's BLACK. And the filler cap.. why would there be a puddle of clearly OLD dirty/oxidized condensation sitting right there if the oil was just filled through there?

 

I guess it's a moot point as the filter is very clear they didn't change it.

 

I don't change my own, because well, it's $20 to get a change at this Suby dealer. My garage is tiny, it's freezing half the year up here and I have no interest in freezing my a$$ off under the car lying in a puddle of mud/salt etc. and being dripped on. I also want PROOF the oil was changed on paper, from the dealer, in case any warranty work is needed and they try the "you didn't maintain your oil change interval" BS I've read many times here. I realize I don't HAVE to have that from them, but having it removes any argument if there are issues down the road. It's just worth $20 to me for that piece of mind and lack of hassle to do the change myself.

 

Of course there's the added hassle of things like this, which thankfully don't happen often. I guess it's the risk I take paying someone else to do it...which is also why I check my oil religiously and after every change to make sure the oil at least looks new. If it doesn't, like this time, I will crawl under and get proof. It'll be easier if there's a next time because I WILL be marking my oil filter once a new one is actually installed.

 

Anyway.. thanks again.

Care to share the dealers name? Not that I live any where close to there, but it would be good to know. Please post your experience tomorrow with them. Bummer man, but a good catch!

 

If you really want to know, PM me. I'm sure anyone in this area knows who the dealer is. There are only 2 really to speak of. For now... I won't share in this thread. They really have been great to me since buying the car from them and I don't think this warrants an Internet smearing at this point. If they give me any sh#$t tomorrow, you bet your a$$ I'll be posting who it is. I really see this as a tech issue, not the place as a whole. Only time will tell.

 

I'm out of town directly after they make good on this, but I'll post how it goes when I get back on Sat. or Sun.

made me imagine a commercial:

"Inspired by car dealerships across the nation... Imagine that during your last oil change mech was too lazy and 'forgot' to do it... Imagine it happened many consecutive times in a row.. Imagine your oil wasn't really changed for past 100k miles... Now Imagine if it didn't matter...

Mobil1Futuretechh motor oil, even if your car mechanic f**cks up, your car doesn't"

Change your own oil you can do it much faster than all the time and effort you are spending on this issue.

If you ever doubt someone's work, take a bottle of nail polish and paint every bolt/nut/whatever right where it contacts the mating surface. If the seal was broken, at least you know they did something.

 

We had to do this with a company which we do couple hundred thousand dollars worth of business. We would find parts out of adjustment and send them back. They come back saying it was within tolerance and charge us for wasting their time. They started admitting the units were out of calibration when we painted each one of the adjustment knobs before we sent them back.

That's why I hate stealers. And that's why they deserve that name.

 

Post the outcome and the stealer's name, regardless of the outcome.

MESSED UP! That is infuriating!!! Wow...this is exactly why I prefer to change my own oil. 20 miles of driving shouldn't make the oil that black and like you said the filter proves it.

 

The Subie dealer here told me not to worry if I do my own oil changes, just as long as I keep the receipts.

Hell, tell them to give you a free oil change next time it is in. Never hurts to try!

^^^Great idea! Go out tonight and buy a silver Sharpie marker if you don't have one. Make an "X" on the filter and better yet, make another mark using chalk or the marker on the drain plug. Good luck, tomorrow.

 

Knock a dent in the filter and take a pic. A marker or a chalk can be wiped off.

I would insist that they at the very least give you 3 additional free oil changes. Considering the time you lost having to go back to them, the fact that they could have ruined your engine and the fact that the only thing they did do was defraud you..

I would insist that they at the very least give you 3 additional real oil changes. Considering the time you lost having to go back to them, the fact that they could have ruined your engine and the fact that the only thing they did do was defraud you..

fixed

Knock a dent in the filter and take a pic. A marker or a chalk can be wiped off.

 

true.

but... if they are not changing the oil... why would they be looking under the car at the oil filter in the first place...