LegendKiller

And tuesday I didn't have school, so I didn't go anywhere.

So, yesterday I go to school, which is about 25mi away from where I live ( I live in a suberb north of miami and my school is in west miami). Everything is fine, my GF and I are going to a hockey game after a meeting I have with my group.


Then, I park my car. I notice smoke coming out of the hood...


I look in the engine, there is oil everywhere. I thought I blew a gasket, or somehow I got a hole in the engine, or a line busted, or anything catastrophic (because, its my life).

However, I notice the DIPSTICK next to the hood prop.


F'ING MORONS!

I had no oil in my pan, because its all over my engine. I am lucky my engine didn't die. I found one of my friends at school and he went and got me 3 quarts so I could go home.

Now its time for the garage to pay up, big time.

Next time you get your oil change, check your dipsticks because you never know if the mechanic is a dip*****



LK

molecularfire

That's why I change my own oil. A LOT (I can't say all because I used to be one) of mechanics are morons.

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Disclaimer - The above opinion should not be taken as medical advise. My only advise is to talk to your doctor. If you are stupid enough to take anything I say seriously, you have nobody to blame for your cranio-anal inversion but your stupid self.

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attgig

dang...that's just retarded.

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Cubsfan

Was it one of those places that did it in like 7 minutes?

TERRIBLETOM

I've heard stories of them forgetting to put the oil in, some of those quick oil change places have so many of them working on your car they don't know what the other is doing...

i6s1

...or forgetting to put the oil pan plug back in.

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YVAN EHT NIOJ

Persius

SAME F&#kin Problem here
about 2 months ago
the idiots forgot to put the fREAKIN CAP ON
it smoked and i found the cap in the engine like about to fall off!

THESE MECHANICS THESE DAYS!!!#@#$$
SIT SIT SIT

LAZY

~Persius

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Im so lazy this is my Signature

Speedfreak

C'mon people. Change your won oil. It's cheaper (unless you have coupons or something) and if you make any mistakes, it's your own damn fault, and a learning process.

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CoolSpeed

Tommy Boomfiger

a friend of mine had a similar problem on a brand new accord, the mechanic put the plug back in crooked. oil slowly dripped out over a couple of weeks and the car started having problems. also by forcing the plug in at an angle, it made the plug and drain threads all scratched up so that when they found the problem they couldnt fix it without replacing parts. the shop he went to did not admit fault and refused to fix it or pay for service for weeks. even after repeated threats of legal action. they just said that it had been almost a month and anyone could have removed the plug and messed it up. they took the owners to court and they had to pay damages of almost the amount of the car.

look_ma

I drive an early 90's car and it is not the most beautiful thing and WAS to lazy to change it myself because my oil filter is inside the oil pan, versus the conventional can type on side of engine. So I took it to wal-mart, biggest F@#%in mistake I made I a while. First, they slam my hood down, after I told them not too, so they slammed it even hard which causes it to get stuck, then by that they cracked the hood latch, and they grease on my steering wheel. Also TERRIBLETOM, why does the mechanic need to lower my window when they change the oil? Also, where do you guys *dump* your used oil?

psycho-

I pay 10 bucks more and wait 1 more hour for my dealer to change it. THey use the pre-pressurized oil filters (All volvos are speced that way) and the work is guaranteed and done with an all ASE staff, many master trained. It makes me feel better that way knowing they use good components and use skilled workers

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Victor

NuTs62

i used to bring my car in to get checked from the dealer every time.. man was that costly... even on regular checkups, every 3k miles, i'd bring it in to dealer.. just bruoght my car into a Penzoil oil change place... dealer takes a day or so to get my car done.. so i figured i'd do it the quick and cheaper route.. man, i hope my car is ok

attgig

my local autozone takes the old oil for free.

check your auto supply store, and ask.
or just ask your gas station..i'm sure they'll do it for a few bucks.

rasetsu

Everyone should try to change their own oil unless you really can't because of where you live or the filter is just unreachable. It's a pretty simple operation on most cars. Most auto parts stores take used oil for free or a nominal charge to recycle.

Another lesson to be learned here is ALWAYS check under your hood to make sure everything seems to be where it should after leaving it for service or even car washes sometimes. NEVER leave a mechanic without making sure everything at least looks okay because you'll have a much harder time getting them to repair something after you've already taken the car back. Heck, I check sometimes after I drop my car off with a valet if they seem like they don't have much to do so can afford to take your car for a joyride/jack some parts under the hood when you're not looking. They might look at me funny, but I don't care.

coleslaw

I try to change my own oil when I can, but when living in an apartment, it's almost impossible to do it without a garage to store a jack and jack stands or ramps.

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rasetsu

Same here. That's why I do my oil change when I go visit my parents who have a garage. I take my gf's car to a trustworthy shop around the corner.

SnowSurfer

i change my own oil...and im proud of it

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SupraRZ

One time my roomate had a defective oil filter. 6 quarts of oil spilled out within 2 minutes, the WHOLE neighborhood was..... uhh. dirty

modena

I have a z3 and i get free oil changes and the like at my dealer. One time however, they broke the o-ring around the inside of the oil filter thing, oil drop for a few days, in return for it, they gave me a free dinan exhaust and installation (since i had mentioned to them that I was thinking about getting it at some point).

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EvilHorace

There's a BIG difference between a guy who changes oil at Jiffy Lube vs a real "mechanic" or "technician" (these days).
Anyone can get a job changing oil and many of those guys can't even do that right.
If you don't want to change your own oil and go to places like that, it's best to double check their work. I'd first open the hood BEFORE even leaving the lube joints parking lot (double check the oil level, etc), then peek under the car making sure that there isn't an obvious flow of dripping oil. If all that looks OK, when you're back home I'd still put a wrench on the drain plug making sure that it's tight. Sure, these places have insurance to cover their mistakes but the inconvenience factor just isn't worth it and your car might not ever be the same again after someone replaces the engine with a used one.
I see alot of cars that come from those places and it's obvious that many must have problems as they'll do strange things like initial the filters with a date and use wax on the drain plug to mark it as if to think that perhaps someone else is loosening these items (right!). A person who does this correctly doesn't need to go to such extremes and it's just not that difficult.

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ZeeshanYahya

man, i get my oil done at wal mart, and they do a great job. $32 gets me full synthetic (personal preference is castrol syntec), interior vacuum, and they wash all my windows, check fluids, adjust tire pressure. i think its a great deal, and i just stand there and watch them so i know whats going on. normally im in and out within 20 mins.

ramazank2

My friend(mitsubishi 3000GT 3 yrs old at the time) went to walmart got an oil change and the clerk talked him into getting slick50 to extend the life of his engine. Bastards put it in the tranny fluid. After about 1000 miles he had to have the entire transmission replaced. He had lost the receipt and paid cahs so he had no record and was forced to pay it himself.

ZeeshanYahya

that sounds like quite a bad experience, but like i said, i watch everything they do, and they really do do a good job at the wal mart i go to. but remember, i only do oil changes there, they cant talk me into getting andything else done.

Kevster

My wife took her car(2000 Saturn SC2 with only 31k miles on it) to an EZ-Lube in Manhattan Beach and the #$@%*#$@ left the drainplug washer off. She proceeded to drive the car not realizing that it might be leaking oil. Her oil light comes on and she's almost BONE DRY in her oil pan. We took it to the dealer and they quickly identified the problem. I took it to EZ-Lube and they deny that anything happened and that it wasn't their fault. One month later and my wife's car is now burning oil to the point that we have to put a quart in it every 2 weeks. We're going to have it looked at by the dealer and afterward confront EZ-Lube about the damages.

If they don't pay (and I have a lot of documentation supporting this) anyone know a good lawyer in the South Bay of Los Angeles? (Merlin - please NOT Alicia!)

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I think over again
My small adventures, my fears.
The small ones that seemed so big,
For all the vital things I had to get and to reach.

And yet there is only one great thing, the only thing:

To live to see the great day that dawns,
And the light that fills the world.

-old Inuit song