No oil after service questionable?

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  • DUTR
    DUTR Posts: 12,958 Forumite
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    dilby wrote: »
    Hi all -

    My car was serviced 9 months ago (including an oil change) and now my car's engine oil is completely empty. I can't see any clear signs of a mechanical fault and the car is only 2 years old, so providing no fault is changed can I assume that the mechanics didn't actually change the oil as advertised? I'm no car expert but that seems like a lot of oil to go through in 9 months for quite a new car (I also work from home so don't do a lot of miles).

    Thanks!

    It's not completely empty as the engine would soon pack up, the warning comes on when the car has used around a litre, a top up within 9 months is not unusual, always keep a litre of oil after a service to top up when necessary.
  • unholyangel
    unholyangel Posts: 16,863 Forumite
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    AdrianC wrote: »
    The 1970s called, they'd like their rule-of-thumb back.

    10k miles or 12mo has been pretty much the shortest interval you're going to have seen on anything built since the 90s. except for unusually fragile stuff. Manufacturer recommended intervals can go longer - 18k/24mo is not unknown.

    12months on my last car (well 2nd last, just got another new one) would've ran it bone dry.

    As for the 1970s, I don't know....did people take better care of their cars back then than they do now? I also service regularly, inspect tyres, top up windscreen/coolant regularly, get things dealt with as soon as they crop up....did they do that in the 1970s too?
    You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means - Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    unholyangel wrote: »
    12months on my last car (well 2nd last, just got another new one) would've ran it bone dry.
    Top-ups may well be required more frequently. Oil and filter change... nope.
    As for the 1970s, I don't know....did people take better care of their cars back then than they do now? I also service regularly, inspect tyres, top up windscreen/coolant regularly, get things dealt with as soon as they crop up....did they do that in the 1970s too?
    Increased reliability has brought complacency.
  • twhitehousescat
    twhitehousescat Posts: 5,368 Forumite
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    dilby wrote: »
    Yes. But like I assume many others I relied on the dashboard telling me when more oil is needed; light came on today and here I am. If anyone else wants to unhelpfully point that out, don't worry I'm aware how incompetent I am.

    us there a light that actually records oil level , or is it an oil PRESSURE warning light , the sort that goes out when you start the engine

    and comes on when there is no oil pressure
  • mchale
    mchale Posts: 1,886 Forumite
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    dilby wrote: »
    I relied on the dashboard telling me when more oil is needed; light came on today and here I am.

    That's when the damage will be done.
    ANURADHA KOIRALA ??? go on throw it in google.
  • fred246
    fred246 Posts: 3,620 Forumite
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    It's always worth taking a photo of the dipstick before a service so you can compare it with the same photo afterwards. If you find they haven't changed it you can contact trading standards. Will the mechanic get sacked and the garage fined? Of course not. They will tell you to go back to the garage and ask them to change the oil. It's one of the reasons garage servicing standards are so bad. The ONLY way to know that a car has been serviced properly is to DO IT YOURSELF.
  • Mercdriver
    Mercdriver Posts: 3,898 Forumite
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    fred246 wrote: »
    It's always worth taking a photo of the dipstick before a service so you can compare it with the same photo afterwards. If you find they haven't changed it you can contact trading standards. Will the mechanic get sacked and the garage fined? Of course not. They will tell you to go back to the garage and ask them to change the oil. It's one of the reasons garage servicing standards are so bad. The ONLY way to know that a car has been serviced properly is to DO IT YOURSELF.

    Ah the Freds.

    So you are suggesting to someone who has admitted they don't check their oil, and acknowledge they lack mechanic skills just go ahead and do their own oil and filter changes. I've asked before and you never seem to answer. Will you pay for repair/replacement of engine if it all goes wrong?
  • mcpitman
    mcpitman Posts: 1,267 Forumite
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    fred246 wrote: »
    It's always worth taking a photo of the dipstick before a service so you can compare it with the same photo afterwards. If you find they haven't changed it you can contact trading standards. Will the mechanic get sacked and the garage fined? Of course not. They will tell you to go back to the garage and ask them to change the oil. It's one of the reasons garage servicing standards are so bad. The ONLY way to know that a car has been serviced properly is to DO IT YOURSELF.

    Wow is that a chip on your shoulder or a whole potato field?

    "A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing".
    Life isn't about the number of breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away. Like choking....
  • Goudy
    Goudy Posts: 1,492 Forumite
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    There can be different warning lights for "oil".

    The obvious one is the low oil pressure light.
    You'll find one on every model and it's as it says, there's not enough oil in the engine to create enough pressure to feed all the areas that need oil in the engine with enough of the stuff.

    You should see this light up when the ignition is switched on as a check that the light is working, but you don't want to see this while the engine is running. The light should go out as soon as the engine is running.

    It's a last resort warning, you really need to stop running the engine and top up immediately as the damage can be catastrophic for the engine, not only does it lubricate the parts in the engine, but engine oil accounts for around 20% or more of a modern engine's cooling.

    Some manufacturers use an "oil change light" to warn the vehicle requires a service.
    The on board computer works date, time and trips traveled and suggests it's time for a service.

    SWMBO's Suzuki Vitara has just popped up one of these "Oil Change" warnings, it's oil is bang on the level and clean enough to lick, but it's "worked out" it requires a change.
    My knock about Dacia just has a service count down, this counts mileage down from 12,000 miles, but the harder it works (lot's of stop start trips) - the quicker it counts down.

    Manufacturers say they use these systems to extend the service intervals, yet write in the owners hand book the model requires a service at X miles OR X months, whichever comes first.

    I tend to look at these on board service warnings as an environmental poly.
    It's not really environmentally friendly servicing a vehicle, it's so they can all say, look at our models, they'll do millions of miles between services, when in fact they won't and they don't want them to.
    AdrianC wrote: »
    Increased reliability has brought complacency.

    I think the above quote is spot on, we've become so used to modern vehicles being so reliable we forget they still need regular checks that on board computers and sensors just can't quite do sufficiently, if at all.
    Get on with the regular checks and you'll never have to write a similar post again!
  • unholyangel
    unholyangel Posts: 16,863 Forumite
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    AdrianC wrote: »
    Top-ups may well be required more frequently. Oil and filter change... nope.


    Increased reliability has brought complacency.

    Quite a blanket statement to be making given you never asked my driving habits/mileage.
    You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means - Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride
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