Dealer missed a few bolts after an oil change....

zakarybeach

Senior Member
First Name
Zakary
Joined
Feb 6, 2019
Threads
7
Messages
53
Reaction score
35
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
Vehicle(s)
2018 Civic Si - Sedan
Country flag
Gotta love when you go to your dealership for the Civic Update and an oil change, and the techs forget to reattach the under shield properly. Drive a few hundred miles out of town and bottomed out twice on things I shouldn't have. Looked and my metal shield was hanging and all out of place with the plastic one under the bumper and a few bolts missing. I had to fix it twice and finally when the dealership opened they told me to bring it in, 15 minutes it was all put back in place and now i have.....another free oil change!!!!!! :thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown:

ugh..

</rant>
Sponsored

 

69L46Vert

Senior Member
First Name
Rick
Joined
Oct 14, 2018
Threads
4
Messages
76
Reaction score
118
Location
Maine
Vehicle(s)
2018 SI Coupe, 2003 Civic DX, 1977 CJ5, 1969 Corvette, 1954 GMC 100, 2018 Toyota 4Runner, 1965 Volkswagen Beetle
Country flag
Makes ya wonder. If they can't get that right, then are they good at anything?.............wtf???
 

fjrman

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2017
Threads
13
Messages
335
Reaction score
151
Location
Tennessee
Vehicle(s)
2016 Civic 4 door LX with CVT
Country flag
The skilled technicians don't change your oil. There are a different group of folks who do oil and rotate tires. They are often located out front where you check in for service.

At my local dealer the oil crew is all women. They've never changed my oil but I assume they'd do it well.

I would check the oil level and the undercover before leaving the dealer. Verify they did it right as much as possible. You can just say you need their assistance in checking the oil level -- the right procedure so you can do it properly at home, etc.

With the hood opened you can look down and see the two metal screws in the front edge of the undercover. You can compare the two and see if they have equal length threads poking through the cover. You can't see the plastic quarter turn fasteners but you can kneel down and see if the cover appears level and not drooping anywhere.
 

Hondaman_MI

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2018
Threads
53
Messages
550
Reaction score
350
Location
USA
Vehicle(s)
17' Civic EX-T
Country flag
My dealer did the same thing. You have to double check all the work dealers perform. It’s like going to a hospital. There’s a chance they’ll screw up, and you’ll be worse off than when you went in.
 


Rickmeister 48

Senior Member
First Name
Overlord
Joined
Jan 30, 2017
Threads
195
Messages
2,196
Reaction score
1,123
Location
Newark De
Vehicle(s)
2018 civic ex-t
Vehicle Showcase
1
Country flag
This seems to be pretty common, but what's even worse is when you have to take it back a THIRD time because they still didn't do it right. Totally my fault for thinking they would do it right on the second try, but noticed after I got home that although the shield was straightened out and put on correctly, that they still left a bolt off and the one they did put on was the wrong one.
 

Rickmeister 48

Senior Member
First Name
Overlord
Joined
Jan 30, 2017
Threads
195
Messages
2,196
Reaction score
1,123
Location
Newark De
Vehicle(s)
2018 civic ex-t
Vehicle Showcase
1
Country flag
bringing your car to a dealership for an oil change is no different then bringing it to a Jizzy Lube,

the dealership hiring standards are no higher then Jizzy Lube for a "Lube Technician"

your not getting a licensed mechanic changing your oil, your getting a college kid with little to no experience to do the job,

after they gain some experience doing oil changes, they move on and be an apprentice mechanic,

a "Lube Technician" is the entry level position to becoming a mechanic

I worked at a Jizzy Lube for 3 years, at the beginning of my career back in the 90's....i would never bring my car there....good lord the stories i could tell !!
I hear and totally agree with You, but really for ANYONE smart enough to fill out an application, how hard is it to put a few screws back properly? Lol
 

joshhjackson2112

Senior Member
First Name
Josh
Joined
Jul 3, 2018
Threads
12
Messages
713
Reaction score
463
Location
Raleigh, North Carolina
Vehicle(s)
18' SI
Country flag
DIY... Seriously, not being a jerk, but I just don’t trust others with the task. :fear:
This.
My dealership gave me free synthetic oil changes for life. I have not taken it once to have my free oil change. Would rather pay the 60 bucks for my own oil and filter. I burn up my oil pretty quick so I change mine every 3k miles. Dealership wont let you come in as often as I need mine changed. I dont trust them to touch my car anyways. Long live DIY!
 

integra15

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2017
Threads
53
Messages
594
Reaction score
265
Location
Ann Arbor
Vehicle(s)
2017 Civic SI
Country flag
Demand they fix that. The dealer did the same thing on mine. If for some reason the shield had got caught on something and torn off, you would be out $200 as they only sell that shield as a whole set.
 
Last edited:

Hondaman_MI

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2018
Threads
53
Messages
550
Reaction score
350
Location
USA
Vehicle(s)
17' Civic EX-T
Country flag
It makes you wonder how capable they are of torquing your drain plug properly
There’s been 2-3 threads on this forum, where the dealer didn’t tighten the drain plug enough. Engine ran with little to no oil, and from what I recall one person had to put up a fight for the dealer to replace the entire engine.
 


frontlinegeek

Senior Member
First Name
Jason
Joined
Feb 25, 2018
Threads
6
Messages
765
Reaction score
313
Location
New Brunswick, Canada
Vehicle(s)
2020 CRV Touring, 2017 Civic EX Sedan Honda Sensing
Country flag
Demand they fix that. The dealer did the same thing on mine. If for some reason the shield had got caught on something and torn off, you would be out $200 as they only sell that shield as a whole set.
I am pretty sure this almost happened to me.

This winter, at the end of the winter, the car was making a scraping noise on a badly rutted road. I thought it was just the really low clearance combined with a small piece of the many plastic. Nope! I get back home and look and the two back corners of the aluminum cover are bent down. I get the car jacked up on one side to get a closer look and to my delight, the cover wasn't in the back catch points in the plastic, aft of the engine bay. I took it off and hammered it out to mostly flat and put it back on.

Where it was the slide tabs, there is no guarantee it was from them not putting it back on properly. It could possibly have been from the awesome pile of snow we had this winter where I live. But considering my first oil change resulted in oil being spilled down the side of the engine and the lube dude never bothered to clean it but leave it for me to smell and see on my garage floor the next day...

So I have made ramp adapters for my existing steel ramps and will start doing the changes myself. I want to run Mobil 1 in it anyways so that I know for sure what is going in it. They did the first two changes but I will do the rest (Provided it is not freeze your nads off cold outside in the winter. I do the oil in our CRV anyways so what is another car added to the mix.
 

CobraCommand

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2017
Threads
19
Messages
503
Reaction score
528
Location
NS, Canada
Vehicle(s)
2019 Canadian Civic LX Hatchback, formerly 2017 Canadian Civic LX Sedan
Country flag
I did a stint at a Walmart TLE changing oil, we used to see all kinds of wild things come in from people who had oil changes at their dealers, cross threaded drain bolt, missing trim pieces, plastic left on oil filters, you name it. It doesn't really matter where you go, it just depends on the manager and how involved they are. We actually were pretty decent (for a walmart anyways I'm not going to say we were the best at anything) because our manager actually cared.

Also, if you're in Canada please don't go to Canadian Tire for any service on your car. Just don't.
 


 


Top