Does this look like 1 day old oil or have I been ripped off?

[andy sipowicz]

Further to my short post in another thread I was wondering what other forum members think my best course of action is in this type of situation or if you think I'm being paranoid and there is some other explanation.

I recently took my Aurion in for it's 45K service. It was my last service for the car under warranty and I plan on doing my own oil changes from now on. I called the dealership and asked them if it was ok to bring my own oil and they said sure plenty of people do that. So I left the car with them for the day along with 2 x 5L bottles of Mobil 1.

I picked the car up and was given back one bottle with about 0.6L gone from it so including the other bottle that's 5.6L they have used. I figure that's fine they just underfilled it slightly. I got up the next morning after having the car parked on a flat surface to find the oil level on the dipstick close to a cm above the full mark. I also noticed the oil looked darker than I was expecting on the dipstick. I called the dealership for an explanation and he mentioned maybe they just didn't let the sump drain long enough and to bring the car back in. Now I'm not game to let them touch the car again.

So the next day I decided that something was up. The colour was wrong, they didn't use enough of my oil and the dipstick was over full. I purchased a new genuine Toyota filter and their filter removal tool to do the oil change myself.

I changed the oil myself and I am now convince neither the oil or the filter had been changed by the dealership. What I think has happened is that one of my bottles of oil has disappeared and then the second bottle has been used to top up and over fill my car then the remains of that bottle returned to me.

The oil that came out of the car was very dark. It looks like oil that has been in the car for 6 months not 1 day. The total volume I got out of the car was very close to 6.8L. The filter housing had been over torqued beyong belief. I destroyed the filter removal tool getting the housing off and nearly dislocated my shoulder. That filter had been on for months and the filter paper inside looked quite old. I wont mention the name of the dealer but feel free to PM me. BTW this was the same dealership that told me it was ok to use diesel injector cleaner in my Aurion. I've attached some pictures of the drained oil and a small jar of the original Mobil 1 for comparison.

Edited July 24, 2010 by andy sipowicz

[dwee.]

That's just absolutely shocking mate!!

What's more unbelievable is that they thought they could get away with it.. :(

Edited July 24, 2010 by dwee.

[Steve]

ask for your money back, show the evidence

then report to toyota

[CONROD]

:o Mate I would be taking those samples together with the new oil sample and I would be asking to speak to the service manager and the dealer principle both at the same time with customers in the service department listening on as you sit all the evidence together with the removal tool in which you want a full refund on by the way,and ask the question;;How on earth can this be the new oil when this here is a sample of the new oil and this **** here is what came out of it.But on another note I personally would of took the car back and pulled the dipstick out and shown them prior to dropping the oil as really now its only your word against them.What I do is when our car is ready to go from being serviced I pop the bonnet and visually check that the oil on the dipstick is almost transparent,but pursue the matter,remain calm and polite,take a witness,do it in front of waiting customers,DONT SWEAR,and demand a full refund on all oil supplied or 2 x 5 litre containers of Genuine toyota 10w30 VVTI oil, best of luck mate keep us all posted.If they become smart****s,let them,then in a nice calm voice tell them (I am going public with this)then say no more but remain in the waiting room have a cuppa and start to talk to the other waiting customers and show & tell them your situation;;;;;;;;;;; Edited July 24, 2010 by CONROD

[m_grumble]

Andy,

Don't know if this is any assistance to you, but below is a couple of drops of Mobil 1 taken off the dipstick.

Vehicle was serviced 2 weeks, 1000km ago.

As you can see the colour isn't any where near the colour or yours.

Definately think you have a case to be heard there. Don't settle for anything less than what you want.

Steve

[xoom]

mate that is absolutely shocking ...... it doesnt surprise me though ..... mate in all honest name and shame this dealership so others dont make the same mistake ..... much like i would suggest that no one deals with lander toyota ..... those guys are shockers to the extreme ..... as stated i would go in and cause a massive issue for them and then get onto toyota ..... the big thing here is if something actually went wrong with ur car u'd have to deal with the headache of it all and all because some apprentice got a little lazy..... just shocking ..... tell us the dealership for all to know.

[andy sipowicz]

Thanks for all the replys. Glad to know it's not just me who thinks this is shocking. The dealer didn't seem that surprised just suggested bringing it back in to get it changed again. I would have gone straight back in the next day but the problem is the dealership is only open during the week and I need my car to get to work. I took a day off especially for the service and couldn't afford to take another day off. We had a tripped plan for the weekend and no way was I leaving that **** in my car so I had no choice but to drop the oil myself.

I let the dealer know I would be changing the oil myself and bring him in the samples. He said he'd be very interested in seeing them. Not really sure what that means. They did the previous service on the car too so they can't blame another delaership for over torqueing the filter housing unless they didn't change the filter at the previous service too. <_<

I plan on writing up a letter with photos for toyota aust regardless of the outcome from the dealership.

I also have another more minor issue with this dealer and my front brakes that they are following up with toyota aust for me. They claim the discs need machining but they were machined by another dealer 10 000kms ago and the pads really aren't that worn to be causing damage. When I explained the discs had just been machined recently the service manager implied that by the look of it he didn't think they had been done by the other dealer. Not sure who is lying here all I know is that I paid for discs to be machine 12 months/10 000kms ago and now I'm being told they need to be done again. Guess I'll need to service the brakes myself too.

I'm not sure about the forum rules and naming dealerships with liability etc.

[m_grumble]

Mate, after hearing which dealer it was you were referring to, I can't say I'm suprised. That whole dealership sounds doomed from the numerous stories I've heard.

I looket at a ZR6 they had in their lot, ex sales manager's and had our then current Pajero valuated as a trade in.

They offered me $4k for a Pajero I ended up selling privately for $18k

Steve

[SuperDave]

I wont mention the name of the dealer but feel free to PM me. BTW this was the same dealership that told me it was ok to use diesel injector cleaner in my Aurion. I've attached some pictures of the drained oil and a small jar of the original Mobil 1 for comparison.

Name and shame. If they don't like it then they should try doing the work they charged for.

[Speedz]

name & shame +1...

totally pathetic service...

(that also reminds me to do my oil change soon for both rides...)

[andy sipowicz]

name & shame +1...

totally pathetic service...

(that also reminds me to do my oil change soon for both rides...)

I'm still giving them the benefit of the doubt for some reason and would like to first give them the opportunity for an honest explanation and resolve the issue. I will never take my car there again however.

The thing is I've spoken to the Customer Service Manager a few times and even the mechanic who was working on the car that day and both were very nice and helpfull. The mechanic took the time to put the left over oil in a plastic bag and left it in the car for me. Small thing I know but I was half expecting not to get the remainder of the oil back. The mechanic even got me a few extra spares (wiper blades, AC cleaner, AC filter) I was after and put them on my service so I was only charge at trade price for them. This was around 6pm after spares had closed so he could have easily told me to pi$$ off.

I guess in short I'm more than happy with their customer service (including the mechanic) but just not at all happy with the actual work or lack of work done. The two almost seem complete opposites. I'll let you all know the outcome after I speak to them this week and take my samples in.

Edited July 25, 2010 by andy sipowicz

[johnnieboi]

This doesnt sound good at all. Makes me think should i trust my dealer with my services in future.. my last service, 30k i gave them HPR5 oil to use.. im hoping they did use it on my car and not just empty it and give me back a bottle with 600ml in it. hrmmmmm <_<

do a good job, you'll always have a job i say.

[andy sipowicz]

So the big meeting with the dealer took place today. I took in all my samples etc. to the Customer Service Manager. The official line from their mechanic is that he changed the oil and filter as per the normal service then filled the car with their standard oil. After refilling he realised I had my own oil so drained only the sump (not the filter) and refilled with Mobil 1.

The problem with this story is that the volumes still don't match as the oil filter holds 0.4 L and they used 5.7L of my oil (pressuming they didn't just tax the first bottle) so 6.1L in total. But the car was over full and we drained close to 6.5L out of the car. Plus the colour was not 2 day old oil. Plus the filter looked old.

I'm still not sure what was done but admitting you did something dodgey is enough for me to not believe anything else. Also I left the oil on the front passenger's side floor in clear view so you would see the oil when driving the car in and it was written on the work order.

They have also admitted their mistake regarding the fuel injector cleaner. There were a number of other small issues that show a general lack of care but I can't really be bothered listing them.

They agreed to refund what I paid for the service and the cost of my oil. They also agreed to replace the oil housing removal tool and a cabin filter that wasn't cleaned or inspected as was claimed on the service.

The Customer Service Manager was more than helpful and very interested in trying to get our trust back but since it was going to be my last service with Toyota anyway it's a moot point.

I'm glad to know my instincts were correct. :)

[CONROD]

So the big meeting with the dealer took place today. I took in all my samples etc. to the Customer Service Manager. The official line from their mechanic is that he changed the oil and filter as per the normal service then filled the car with their standard oil. After refilling he realised I had my own oil so drained only the sump (not the filter) and refilled with Mobil 1.

The problem with this story is that the volumes still don't match as the oil filter holds 0.4 L and they used 5.7L of my oil (pressuming they didn't just tax the first bottle) so 6.1L in total. But the car was over full and we drained close to 6.5L out of the car. Plus the colour was not 2 day old oil. Plus the filter looked old.

I'm still not sure what was done but admitting you did something dodgey is enough for me to not believe anything else. Also I left the oil on the front passenger's side floor in clear view so you would see the oil when driving the car in and it was written on the work order.

They have also admitted their mistake regarding the fuel injector cleaner. There were a number of other small issues that show a general lack of care but I can't really be bothered listing them.

They agreed to refund what I paid for the service and the cost of my oil. They also agreed to replace the oil housing removal tool and a cabin filter that wasn't cleaned or inspected as was claimed on the service.

The Customer Service Manager was more than helpful and very interested in trying to get our trust back but since it was going to be my last service with Toyota anyway it's a moot point.

I'm glad to know my instincts were correct. :)

Thats great news mate that you were not left out of pocket for their inability to do what they were paid to do,afterall it costs no more to do the job required correctly.So mate I know you dont want to name them but to put our minds at rest can you at least let us know what state and also what town or at least what area you had it in at;;;It leaves a sour note in your mouth and what they dont think about is the fact that you are going to tell your mates and they are going to tell someone and on and on it goes. Its just pure incompetence and being totally slack, but anyway good to hear

[Adamsy]

So the big meeting with the dealer took place today. I took in all my samples etc. to the Customer Service Manager. The official line from their mechanic is that he changed the oil and filter as per the normal service then filled the car with their standard oil. After refilling he realised I had my own oil so drained only the sump (not the filter) and refilled with Mobil 1.

The problem with this story is that the volumes still don't match as the oil filter holds 0.4 L and they used 5.7L of my oil (pressuming they didn't just tax the first bottle) so 6.1L in total. But the car was over full and we drained close to 6.5L out of the car. Plus the colour was not 2 day old oil. Plus the filter looked old.

I'm still not sure what was done but admitting you did something dodgey is enough for me to not believe anything else. Also I left the oil on the front passenger's side floor in clear view so you would see the oil when driving the car in and it was written on the work order.

They have also admitted their mistake regarding the fuel injector cleaner. There were a number of other small issues that show a general lack of care but I can't really be bothered listing them.

They agreed to refund what I paid for the service and the cost of my oil. They also agreed to replace the oil housing removal tool and a cabin filter that wasn't cleaned or inspected as was claimed on the service.

The Customer Service Manager was more than helpful and very interested in trying to get our trust back but since it was going to be my last service with Toyota anyway it's a moot point.

I'm glad to know my instincts were correct. :)

Thats great news mate that you were not left out of pocket for their inability to do what they were paid to do,afterall it costs no more to do the job required correctly.So mate I know you dont want to name them but to put our minds at rest can you at least let us know what state and also what town or at least what area you had it in at;;;It leaves a sour note in your mouth and what they dont think about is the fact that you are going to tell your mates and they are going to tell someone and on and on it goes. Its just pure incompetence and being totally slack, but anyway good to hear

Mate that is fantastic that you have had this problem sorted out, i hope they was honst that they made a mistake and fixed it and didnt try and dodge the question. Also hope you asked them what would of happened if you had put the diesel cleaning in your car and who's problem that would of been lol.

[Keisari]

Good to hear :) I don't buy that line though. My car has 240,000 km (so the engine is rather dirty now) and I change the oil every 10,000 km with a filter change every second change. By the time I change it, the oil is black. However, the colour of the new oil is indistinguishable whether I change the filter or not. I don't know about yours, but the capacity of my oil filter is about 200 ml (judging from the amount it drops after doing an oil + filter change and starting up for the first time), which is less than 5% of the sump capacity. Therefore, it would be reasonable to expect a 5% difference in colour (like I said, indistinguishable).

If that line were true, I would expect the old oil in your oil filter to account for more like 50% of the capacity, which is absurd. They're lying.

Sounds to me like they charged you a glorified parking fee. I personally wouldn't go back there even if they offered me labour-free services for the life of the car.

[Silver-Aurion]

So the big meeting with the dealer took place today. I took in all my samples etc. to the Customer Service Manager. The official line from their mechanic is that he changed the oil and filter as per the normal service then filled the car with their standard oil. After refilling he realised I had my own oil so drained only the sump (not the filter) and refilled with Mobil 1.

The problem with this story is that the volumes still don't match as the oil filter holds 0.4 L and they used 5.7L of my oil (pressuming they didn't just tax the first bottle) so 6.1L in total. But the car was over full and we drained close to 6.5L out of the car. Plus the colour was not 2 day old oil. Plus the filter looked old.

I'm still not sure what was done but admitting you did something dodgey is enough for me to not believe anything else. Also I left the oil on the front passenger's side floor in clear view so you would see the oil when driving the car in and it was written on the work order.

They have also admitted their mistake regarding the fuel injector cleaner. There were a number of other small issues that show a general lack of care but I can't really be bothered listing them.

They agreed to refund what I paid for the service and the cost of my oil. They also agreed to replace the oil housing removal tool and a cabin filter that wasn't cleaned or inspected as was claimed on the service.

The Customer Service Manager was more than helpful and very interested in trying to get our trust back but since it was going to be my last service with Toyota anyway it's a moot point.

I'm glad to know my instincts were correct. :)

Thats great news mate that you were not left out of pocket for their inability to do what they were paid to do,afterall it costs no more to do the job required correctly.So mate I know you dont want to name them but to put our minds at rest can you at least let us know what state and also what town or at least what area you had it in at;;;It leaves a sour note in your mouth and what they dont think about is the fact that you are going to tell your mates and they are going to tell someone and on and on it goes. Its just pure incompetence and being totally slack, but anyway good to hear

+1.

At least tell us what state/town/city ?

[andy sipowicz]

Thanks for the replies.

I don't believe the story either but I guess there is only so much you can do. I let the manager know I didn't believe it and got a refund so I guess I'm satisifed with the outcome and relieved I went to the effort to do the oil change myself.

Not wanting to play devil's advocate too much but after complaining the level of customer service I recieved from the Customer Service Manager was very good and he did seem genuinely concerned about what had happened.

BTW I live in Castle Hill NSW ;)

[DreadAngel]

Having worked in the industry as an apprentice, I can tell you it's not uncommon for these things to happen, nor is the aftermath solution. DIY ladies and gents or pay someone who knows what they're doing and you can actually watch them ;)

[good day]

had very bad experiences with Lander Toyota... will never buy/sell or service car at Lander Toyota

[Buff Hamster]

LOL i had this same problem with Chadstone Toyota (NAME AND SHAME).

It was for the 60K service that they were to replace my cabin filter and oil but after checking it myself the oil was black honey and the filter was blacker than black. The battery that died on me only lasted 1 day after buying the Aurion. When back and raged that made everyone look over and made probably made the service person wet himself. He replaced my battery with another USED battery and that had acid corrosion on the + terminal of the battery. Toyota may have good cars but their service is complete SH**.

I will name and shame another service centre now that is worse than chadstone. NUNAWADING TOYOTA. After 2 services for my bros RAV4 V6, i'm totally ****** with them. 1st time they "lost" the car claiming that it wasn't in their system that day. I probably made the receptionist cry after found the car and left. 2nd time they did the oil properly after staring at the techy with my scary eyes but they still didn't replace the cabin filter as it said in the service book.

I will now only bring my Aurion to Toyota for majors services but will only ask them to do a few things. Will buy the filters in USA and replace them myself.

SHAME ON YOU TOYOTA :angry:

[m_grumble]

The thing I liked with Sydney City Toyota is that all the service bays have a web cam overhead so you can either sit in the waiting room and view the service happening or view it online in real time

[toy3500]

The thing I liked with Sydney City Toyota is that all the service bays have a web cam overhead so you can either sit in the waiting room and view the service happening or view it online in real time

hi all im new to the forum

personally i don't think toyota is at fault but the mechanics and service advisors themself...there are a minority thats riun for everyone who want to do their job properly...i'm a mechanic myself and always do things by the book.

[Spillzee]

The thing I liked with Sydney City Toyota is that all the service bays have a web cam overhead so you can either sit in the waiting room and view the service happening or view it online in real time

hi all im new to the forum

personally i don't think toyota is at fault but the mechanics and service advisors themself...there are a minority thats riun for everyone who want to do their job properly...i'm a mechanic myself and always do things by the book.

Your correct.Sometimes this happens depending on the mechanic. Most times the service advisor has no idea. Only reads the comments on the job card. Things only get looked into when there is a complaint. Fact is evidence is too strong to ignore. No workshop needs this as bad news travels fast. People will get their but kicked.But having said that it depends on the tolerance of the dealership. Past indescretions of the mechanic in question etc. Its a shame to bag one dealership for the faults of one mechanic. But if you make noise in the correct areas things will be addressed. Dont think Toyota dont have people looking at this forum Its a good thing. Just my bit