I hate normal/lower end dealership service, straight up they annoy me. Anytime I get something done which is not very often as you guys know. It ends up being done half assed or something needs to be fixed.
I do pretty much all my maintenance work from brakes, timing belts to valve adjustments even a turbo here or there. However from time to time either the weather or time make it so I just say F it and take it somewhere.
Took the wifes Civic SI in for an oil change, I provided the mobil 1 oil since we run mobil 1. fast forward 3-4 months to last weekend. I changed the oil and noticed that the oil cap was broke. The oil cap/gasket is fine but the outer piece was broke off, either it's someone elses cap or maybe it fell from high up and caught the edge just right, regardless, it's broke. Thankfully it's just cosmetic and is fully functional, I didn't pop the hood to an oil soaked engine bay.
Next I get to the drain plug. I put my wrench on it and give it the nice little bump like I normally give to pop the drain plugs loose. Normally I get it in one hit... nope no go. So I switch to a bigger socket/ratchet... no go. Ok F this. I pulled out my breaker bar... no go. (I was laying on the ground so couldn't give it my all) I had to hit the breaker bar to bust the nut (no pun) free.
Thankfully the oil filter was put on like normal, I didn't have to hammer a screw driver through it to get it off.
I called up the service manager today and he said, we use a special torque wrench that is designed just for the oil plug so they can never be put on too tight. I have zero doubt that that is fully true. However. I have zero doubt that on a busy day when the oil change boy is getting yelled at for not getting cars out fast enough little details like using a torque wrench VS a impact gun get thrown out the window. He asked if it was on a lift or if I had it jacked up. I told him it was up on jacks, and he said I didn't have good leverage on it. That must have been the issue.... I couldn't turn a wrench 22-24 ft lbs.... Although he said their special wrench is set to something like 34lbs.
As to the oil cap. He said its been awhile since they last did the oil (back in Oct) so it could have been anyone/anything.
I knew I have zero chance in making him think otherwise since clearly his whole staff works to a T with zero issues. So I didn't press the point I just said, welp just wanted to let you know. And cut my losses there.
I'm sure I'm a PITA customer that knows everything and since I don't get my car serviced there every 3-4 months, no big loss.
What really pisses me off is I know that if the oil pan got screwed up. It would have been 100% my fault. First off, he would have said, you should let the pros do the service to avoid problems like this. And would have said, I was the one who screwed it up. If they found a problem with the oil pan on the next oil change if I took it to them, I would have never heard about it.
On other stories, last time I had my Z in the shop when they drained the A/C they left the brake cover on top of the engine and sandwiched it between the hood/engine. That got nice and hot on the way home causing it to warp out of shape.
Anytime I ever use a dealership for basic stuff, I always have to top off the fluids or end up having to put something back in place. Hell, first time I had the Z in the shop back in 2003 for a window motor they scratched the inside door panel. I'm anal with my cars. I know when something isn't right/is different. Go figure it was already like that.......
I trust two shops as of right now.
Nissan and Infiniti mechanic in Baltimore
Frank is just as anal as me.
EuroMotorcars, Inc. - Premier Dealer of Mercedes-Benz, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Maybach, Sprinter and Smart Vehicles
Euro motor cars is just awesome. They for some reason are smart enough to not allow the shop boys to do half of the basic work like oil changes and tire changes/rotations. Or maybe they don't hire 16-17 year olds for shop work.
Either way I've never been able to find anything out of place with euro motor cars.
Then Hills, while not a dealership, it's one hell of a shop. I hope he grows and is able to manage his employees to keep the same level of analness.
I hate the feeling of not being able to trust major dealerships but I truly don't outside of Euro Motorcars, that's the first car dealership I've been able to trust, ever. At least they've yet to do me wrong.
/Rant
I do pretty much all my maintenance work from brakes, timing belts to valve adjustments even a turbo here or there. However from time to time either the weather or time make it so I just say F it and take it somewhere.
Took the wifes Civic SI in for an oil change, I provided the mobil 1 oil since we run mobil 1. fast forward 3-4 months to last weekend. I changed the oil and noticed that the oil cap was broke. The oil cap/gasket is fine but the outer piece was broke off, either it's someone elses cap or maybe it fell from high up and caught the edge just right, regardless, it's broke. Thankfully it's just cosmetic and is fully functional, I didn't pop the hood to an oil soaked engine bay.
Next I get to the drain plug. I put my wrench on it and give it the nice little bump like I normally give to pop the drain plugs loose. Normally I get it in one hit... nope no go. So I switch to a bigger socket/ratchet... no go. Ok F this. I pulled out my breaker bar... no go. (I was laying on the ground so couldn't give it my all) I had to hit the breaker bar to bust the nut (no pun) free.
Thankfully the oil filter was put on like normal, I didn't have to hammer a screw driver through it to get it off.
I called up the service manager today and he said, we use a special torque wrench that is designed just for the oil plug so they can never be put on too tight. I have zero doubt that that is fully true. However. I have zero doubt that on a busy day when the oil change boy is getting yelled at for not getting cars out fast enough little details like using a torque wrench VS a impact gun get thrown out the window. He asked if it was on a lift or if I had it jacked up. I told him it was up on jacks, and he said I didn't have good leverage on it. That must have been the issue.... I couldn't turn a wrench 22-24 ft lbs.... Although he said their special wrench is set to something like 34lbs.
As to the oil cap. He said its been awhile since they last did the oil (back in Oct) so it could have been anyone/anything.
I knew I have zero chance in making him think otherwise since clearly his whole staff works to a T with zero issues. So I didn't press the point I just said, welp just wanted to let you know. And cut my losses there.
I'm sure I'm a PITA customer that knows everything and since I don't get my car serviced there every 3-4 months, no big loss.
What really pisses me off is I know that if the oil pan got screwed up. It would have been 100% my fault. First off, he would have said, you should let the pros do the service to avoid problems like this. And would have said, I was the one who screwed it up. If they found a problem with the oil pan on the next oil change if I took it to them, I would have never heard about it.
On other stories, last time I had my Z in the shop when they drained the A/C they left the brake cover on top of the engine and sandwiched it between the hood/engine. That got nice and hot on the way home causing it to warp out of shape.
Anytime I ever use a dealership for basic stuff, I always have to top off the fluids or end up having to put something back in place. Hell, first time I had the Z in the shop back in 2003 for a window motor they scratched the inside door panel. I'm anal with my cars. I know when something isn't right/is different. Go figure it was already like that.......
I trust two shops as of right now.
Nissan and Infiniti mechanic in Baltimore
Frank is just as anal as me.
EuroMotorcars, Inc. - Premier Dealer of Mercedes-Benz, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Maybach, Sprinter and Smart Vehicles
Euro motor cars is just awesome. They for some reason are smart enough to not allow the shop boys to do half of the basic work like oil changes and tire changes/rotations. Or maybe they don't hire 16-17 year olds for shop work.
Either way I've never been able to find anything out of place with euro motor cars.
Then Hills, while not a dealership, it's one hell of a shop. I hope he grows and is able to manage his employees to keep the same level of analness.
I hate the feeling of not being able to trust major dealerships but I truly don't outside of Euro Motorcars, that's the first car dealership I've been able to trust, ever. At least they've yet to do me wrong.
/Rant