Dealer mistake on oil change, would like an opinion

warehouse

Opinions welcome .

Took the car for an MOT and service at a local main dealer in March and have done 4000 miles since, all hassle free. Last week on holiday the good Mrs Warehouse said the car sounds a bit noisy, I said it's a diesel and sounds OK. We got home Saturday.

This morning after I got back from a small run she said there was oil all over the drive. I moved the car and a few large pools of oil were visible, (already got sand on it to try and mop it up). I opened the bonnet and the oil cap was completely gone. The engine bay is coated in oil. Since the service in March the bonnet hasn't been opened.

Rang the dealer who said not to drive it but get it down to them to take a look at, and admitted they'd never heard of an oil cap ever coming off on it's own. Got the RAC out to tow me to the garage, but the guy who came over said it was fine to drive a short distance after he covered the hole, (he couldn't find the oil cap).

So the car is at the dealership, ready for a cleanup tomorrow I assume? My question is should I hold them liable and if so should they be paying for someone to clean the drive, (I'm assuming it will stain).

As I said above, opinions are welcome, just want to know how the MSE mob are seeing this.

pappa_golf

so you have done 4000 miles in the last 6 mths and not checked the oil level?


is that correct?

glentoran99

pappa_golf wrote: »

so you have done 4000 miles in the last 6 mths and not checked the oil level?


is that correct?

Ive driven my car for 14 years and never checked the oil level

pappa_golf

glentoran99 wrote: »

Ive driven my car for 14 years and never checked the oil level

chauffer does it?

bazzyb

warehouse wrote: »

Since the service in March the bonnet hasn't been opened.

Wow. The oil hasn't been checked in that long? Or any other fluids for that matter? Not even so much has topping up the screen wash etc?

glentoran99

pappa_golf wrote: »

chauffer does it?

I just let the computer deal with it, Switch it on and says "oil ok" im good to go

bigjl

I can't see how you can blame the garage for this.

Approx 4months and 4000 miles have gone by which would make me think of they had not put it back on correctly then the issue would have been immediate.

A lesson here regarding simple weekly or monthly checks.

You can't prove they did anything wrong.

Never checking the oil is a risky thing to do imho

You can get the oil cleaned up easily enough, however because it's a diesel there will likely be some staining.

If the car has a sound deadening mat on it that may need to be changed as it will never be cleanable and I would be concerned about the fire risk.

Not going to be fun cleaning the engine bay either, you could try covering it in degreaser and getting a local car wash to give it a clean.

The vehicle undertray may also need cleaned up, some have sound deadening on them some don't

Hopefully you haven't damaged the engine.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Surprised no tell tale engine smells or serious oil leaks from the engine bay to suggest something wasn't right.
You obviously don't check levels normally, that won't happen again, but did you check it when you opened the bonnet and discovered this mess.

interstellaflyer

glentoran99 wrote: »

I just let the computer deal with it, Switch it on and says "oil ok" im good to go

My car does all that too, doesn't mean I don't physically check it.

EssexExile

The oil filler cap used to blow off on my Anglia all the time. You'd hear a bang as it hit the underside of the bonnet then you'd pullover, run back , pick up the filler cap & put it back on.

gilbert_and_sullivan

EssexExile wrote: »

The oil filler cap used to blow off on my Anglia all the time. You'd hear a bang as it hit the underside of the bonnet then you'd pullover, run back , pick up the filler cap & put it back on.

Thats why the engine bays of our grand old cars didn't rust like the rest of the shell, you didn't fix oil leaks in those days it was an early version of autowaxoyling.