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Who knows about engines/ how car dealerships operate? (Ran out of oil)

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hey-dude-its-me
Posts: 4238 - Karma: 412
-2010 Honda Insight

-Last oil change was end of April, about 2k of the allotted 5k between oil changes

-Driving on highway, "Check Engine Oil Level" light comes on

-Within 2 miles of the light coming on the engine grinds to a halt

-Get it towed to dealership, they tell me the oil drain plug isn't there anymore

-Surprisingly they take full responsibility and are paying for the tow/rental/ and service charges

-They are having an insurance adjuster come look at the car since it was there fault



So my questions are:

1.) Do I need to have someone "on my side" look at the car? I feel like the insurance adjuster will be working for the dealership, not me.

2.) I was involved in a road rage incident 2 days prior to the oil leak. Is it possible that guy could have removed the plug without opening the hood? Is it possible he opened the hood without having access to the interior?

thanks men
Jun 23 2011 12:27PM
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AWALLRUS.
Posts: 5762 - Karma: 223
pour oil in the gas tank, exhaust pipe, and every hole in your engine.

it'll run real smooth
Jun 23 2011 12:28PM
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TechnoPotamus
Posts: 11626 - Karma: 3,522
you're just full of bullshit responses today aren't you
Jun 23 2011 12:29PM
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Caveman.
Posts: 9067 - Karma: 330
Yes, this is totally possible however you should have noticed the giant puddle of oil under your car when you left. When your oil was changed at the dealership they probably didnt put the plug on tight and it rattled off, hence why they are paying for the damages.
Jun 23 2011 12:32PM
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hey-dude-its-me
Posts: 4238 - Karma: 412
would it be easy for the road rage guy to just loosen it in the parking lot? The car is pretty low to the ground and everything but it still seems so weird that the day after this crazy road rage incident my car is completely out of oil. The insurance adjusters have looked at it twice and haven't made a decision yet.
Jun 30 2011 2:40PM
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RubberSoul
Posts: 11249 - Karma: 14,642
is the road rage story worth telling?

and i can't help you with the car stuff sorry, you don't want my advice on cars or anything about them except driving
Jun 30 2011 2:42PM
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Ski_the_east01
Posts: 5203 - Karma: 2,306
That seems strange they are taking full responsibility..did they perform your last oil change? Maybe they are blaming it on one of the techs at the dealership for not tightening the plug

Yes, absolutely have a thirdy part mechanic look at your engine, running an engine without oil is similar to a human body not drinking water for an extended amount of time - it seriously fucks shit up

Its very easy for someone to remove the drain plug, all they would need is a wrench and to shimmy underneath your car to the oil pan which is located at the very bottom of the engine and is easily accessed from underneath the car, but like someone said you would (hopefully) notice a large pool of oil if he did that
Jun 30 2011 2:50PM
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Ski_the_east01
Posts: 5203 - Karma: 2,306
i dont know why i said third party mechanic thats pretty stupid, just find a mechanic with no affiliation to the dealership to look at your car
Jun 30 2011 2:53PM
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geteducated
Posts: 6410 - Karma: 86
i'd wait till the adjustment. if the dealership is taking responsibility than you might be okay.

and its possible that the guy could have done it. thats kinda gnarly that you car was running without oil. can you go to where you broke down and walk back a few hundred yards to find a line of oil?

if the guy did it he would need to have a socket wrench with the right mm for the drain bolt. he could have loosened the bolt to where its blocking flow, but you can still hand twist the bolt. then the vibration of the car did the rest.
Jun 30 2011 2:56PM
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hey-dude-its-me
Posts: 4238 - Karma: 412
I just called and cylider four is ruined so the block needs to be replaced, the adjusted will look at it for the third time

the story wasnt that great, mom and gf in car, merging from 2 to 1 lanes, I signaled way longer than I normally would and he still sped up to cut me off, he failed so he started driving next to me in the wrong lane, and then he saw me park at the restaraunt
Jun 30 2011 3:04PM
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tronned
Posts: 1098 - Karma: 790
the dealership will most likely cover all costs on the motor, i work for vw/ porsche and have seen this situation play out a few times. The dealership is on the hook for all costs and dont let them make you pay for athing. They will replace your entire motor, if they dont want to replace the motor, you must demand a long block motor as running a car out of oil effectively destroys every single bearing in the motor with these bearings being soft metal bearings with .003inch clearance. If you were to just repair the certain cylinders for complete failure, you will have oil pressure issues within 100k km. IF a oil drain plug is finger tight, its hard to judge when they will fall out, sometimes its 50km and sometimes they will stay in the car for 8000 km and come in the for the next oil change with a finger tight drain plug. it is possible the guy did get at your drain plug but the option isnt really viable, as passer byers would see a guy half under neath your car struggling to get a drain plug loose, the dealership prob just left the drain plug finger tight and it took 2k miles to finally fall out. You dont really need to keep in touch with insurance, you just need to clean the air with the dealership exactly what they plan to do. What i would do is get your parents or who ever owns the car to get the full details of what they plan, write it all down... and come to me and ask if its good enough and what exactly they are replacing. I will make sure you arent getting fucked over.
Jul 3 2011 1:07PM
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.jersey
Posts: 1925 - Karma: 9
You are such a legit member its ridiculous
Jul 3 2011 1:47PM
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hey-dude-its-me
Posts: 4238 - Karma: 412
damn thanks a lot man that was much better response than I expected. the insurance adjuster is supposed to look at it again tomorrow so I'll let you know. like I said all they told me was they changed the bearings and it didnt do anything and cylinder 4 is all scratched up
Jul 4 2011 4:05PM
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TheClap.
Posts: 21664 - Karma: 4,128
pictures of said gf and mom
Jul 4 2011 4:14PM
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2L208
Posts: 1075 - Karma: 308
lol do you know how a car even works? the drain plug is on the bottom of your oil pan under the car. did they change our oil? then they are getting an agent to get an estimate of the damage costs so the insurance will pay not them, its why everyone has liability insurance.
Jul 4 2011 4:24PM
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tronned
Posts: 1098 - Karma: 790
keep me updated. If they replaced just bearings on the top end or bottom end of the engine... I would stop right there.. major red flag. There realistically should not be insurance involved and the engine should be outright replaced. Id be interested in knowing exactly what action was taken. My work is pretty good about this stuff, they put the customer up in a rental for as long as it takes to replace an engine at dealership cost. I wish i was closer to you so i could walk into the dealership with you and throw some shit down for you and you will walk away with free stuff for life of your car and a new motor. If you want your parents to get in contact with me directly i can advise them aswell, just send me a pm and i will shoot you an email address.
Jul 5 2011 3:11AM
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Troy.
Posts: 5070 - Karma: 12,549
The guy above me is the coolest guy on this forum, currently
Jul 5 2011 3:52AM
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Skiing.Nz
Posts: 279 - Karma: 49
Quite possibly the most helpful person I've met.
Jul 5 2011 5:00AM
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hey-dude-its-me
Posts: 4238 - Karma: 412
Ok, I definitely should have given these people hell from the beginning, they have now taken the attitude that they're doing me a favor.

Anyways, they just now got the parts in today. The main guy in charge of it isn't there today but I was told they are putting in a new short block.

I know this will depend on each situation but are they going to give me any reimbursement besides just fixing their fuck-up? My mom was in town for 3 days and I had to spend an entire day of that time dealing with this shit after getting straded 40 minutes from home. Also, for the last month I have been forced to drive a car that gets 1/2 the gas mileage, considering gas mileage was the sole reason I even bought the Insight in the first place. Do I have a case or no?
Jul 15 2011 11:21AM
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T.L.
Posts: 4729 - Karma: 3,008
STEALerships.  I hate em'!


Jul 15 2011 11:48AM
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Huck_Norris
Posts: 11487 - Karma: 18,627

You are the luckiest oblivious sonofabitch ever.  WOW.   

Seriously, you lucked out.  No way it took 3 months for a drain plug to come out.  No way would you ever need to pop the hood or open it to drain the oil either and it's entirely possibly dude drained your oil out, that's a fkn awesome oldie but goodie.  If there isn't a huge puddle of oil anywhere you drove from the last place you parked, yeah he obsconded with all your lubes hahahahaha

BTW, the insurance adjuster isn't going to fuck you.  You'll be fine if they've already accepted blame. 

Oh, and if your oil light comes on, you're already fucked but DO NOT KEEP DRIVING BECAUSE YOUR MOTOR WILL SEIZE.  Pull over, turn it off, call a tow truck if you don't know what to look for i.e. a drain plug and a dipstick.   

Jul 15 2011 1:40PM
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charmander
Posts: 10636 - Karma: 370
its actually worse that that haha

its weird that the dealer is taking responsibility, but thats good for you i guess

i dunno what insurance adjustment there is to be done, yo need an engine, not body work
Jul 15 2011 1:48PM
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hey-dude-its-me
Posts: 4238 - Karma: 412
the porsche guys seems to know much more than you, but thanks I guess.

idk if he did it or not, I cant even fit under the civic they gave me and I think the Insight is even lower. also I drove like 50 miles after that so Im starting to think its just a coincidence.
Jul 15 2011 1:52PM
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charmander
Posts: 10636 - Karma: 370
just be lucky you got what you did, honestly, if i changed your oil and the drain plug came out 3 months later id tell you to go fuck yourself if you wanted anything, it is in my entirely non professional opinion that the dealership is liable for nothing in your situation. also, not immediately pulling over when the idiot light comes on should just invalidate any kind of claim you hoped to make.

and what are you gonna do? sue em for having to drive something that gets bad gas mileage and not getting to hang out with your mom? people like you are whats wrong with america today.
Jul 15 2011 2:10PM
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hey-dude-its-me
Posts: 4238 - Karma: 412
hahaha omg dude dont start I dont want to get banned tearing your life apart
Jul 15 2011 3:15PM
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hey-dude-its-me
Posts: 4238 - Karma: 412
also you have never bought a new car in your life so fuck off, who else's fault would it be when I buy a brand new car from a Honda dealership, have all the recommended service work done on time at a Honda dealership and the car shits out after 2 years?
Jul 15 2011 3:18PM
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geteducated
Posts: 6410 - Karma: 86
i think you have a case, how about you go resurrect johnny cochran to do your case, so your hippy ass can sue honda for having to pay gas mileage (on a civic none the less) like the rest of us.
Jul 15 2011 4:10PM
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tronned
Posts: 1098 - Karma: 790
i would honestly be a little upset if my engine seized and all they offered was a shortblock. The dealership might offer free services and such, but honestly bring those points to the head of the dealership. Also, if you find yourself being fucked in anyway, ask their service manager for the honda customer satisfaction line, shit gets done when they get called.
Jul 15 2011 8:12PM
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tronned
Posts: 1098 - Karma: 790
you know nothing... now go play with your toys in the corner.

It is entirely possible for a drain plug to take 3 months to fall out, Ive seen loose drain plugs in cars for 6+ months. Oil in a running motor does not take time at all to come out, maybe 30 seconds, so if he was at highway speed its entirely possible the light came on and the engine was fucked within 2 minutes.

Insert foot in mouth.
Jul 15 2011 8:15PM
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hey-dude-its-me
Posts: 4238 - Karma: 412
FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

I got the car back yesterday after $5,600 in repairs that they paid for.

Today there is a huge puddle of oil in my garage.

Getting it towed back to the dealership again.

I hate to be that guy but I'm really thinking about getting one of my lawyer friends involved.
Jul 22 2011 2:37PM
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PON3
Posts: 3817 - Karma: 783
do it!

and btw people in KC are fucking terrible drivers and do any thing just to piss you off.

I got in a fight with a guy after he cut me off twice near 435 and metcalf
Jul 22 2011 2:58PM
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