Jiffy Lube Horror Stories...

[Mpire]

Ok, so I go to get my oil changed in the miata...

I figure, what the hell... I will take it to jiffy lube...

So while I was waiting the guy managed to put the key in the ignition half way and break it in half...

So I got a ride home and got another key and go the car started...

Then I go to Vegas for 2 weeks a day later....

I get back this weekend, and I am driving the car to work...

And I hear some ticking from the cams....

And then I see the oil guage bounce a bit... never seen that before...

Off the side of the road I go... Oil is all over the bottom of the car...

I waited 2 hours for the tow truck on the side of the interstate...

And now I am waiting for a verdict from the mazda dealership....

I only drove the car three days since the oil change, and there goes the oil...

So, either the plug is stripped out...

The filter is not on right...

Or the worst case, they put too much oil in and I blew the rear main seal....

Good grief.. I hate idiots....

Lets hope there is no engine damage. Didnt see any check engine lights or oil idiot lights or anything...

How long can an engine run without oil? It didnt sieze up or anything, but it cant be good for it....

I wonder what the worst case scenario is?

[freq019]

hopefully the worst case is for jiffy lube and not you, but I would consider the worst case being a new engine. I hope you've got a friend who's a lawyer, because I'm sure you could blame jiffy lube but it might get expensive. Good luck.

[Mpire]

I come from a family of laywers....

I am concerned with time to get the car running right. Not with the expense at this point. If I cant get it back into service soon, I wont be able to do the tranny swap on the coupe...

[Mpire]

They tell me that there was NO oil in the engine...

[Randy Forbes]

They tell me that there was NO oil in the engine...

If you think about it; what is your first failure?

It's going to be overheating; and since aluminum expands at a higher rate than steel, your first failure would be a piston sticking in the bore.

As tragic as this sounds, there may be very little damage to the internals of the engine.

The fact that you were aware of the (falling) oil pressure by monitoring the gauge likely saved your engine. I'd say you are the hero (but yes, they were/are idiots)

[Mpire]

I heard ticking. Sounded kinda like an M3 after an oil pump nut came off. So after a few seconds of hearing that, I saw the oil pressure guage bounce towards low pressure.... Killed the engine immediately.

Then I cranked it up, and drove it off the road onto the grass beside the road. And thats where it sat for 2 hours in the hot florida sun with me cooking inside...

But hey, if its done engine damage, I guess I can get a new engine. I wont be paying for it.

[Juker008]

I heard ticking. Sounded kinda like an M3 after an oil pump nut came off.



U will never let it die, will u :rolleyes: .

Do u run synthetic in the Miata? I wouldn't worry about it much, u weren't at high RPMs and u caught it early.




Juker008

[Mpire]

I was on the interstate at 80...

[RCK]

Well if you were lucky enough to be running with some PROLONG. Then you could have easily driven to vegas without any oil at all :D

http://www.thanedirect.co.uk/images/lifestyle/prolong/prolong200x200.gif

[Mpire]

The verdict was that the oil filter was not on properly...

So I had oil pressure when I cranked the car...

And the oil pump quickly pumped all the oil out of the car as I was driving....

Right out the hole where the oil filter is supposed to be...

Bummer

[tigermon]

Mpire, sorry to stray from the topic but man!, we have a lot in common. We both have M coupes, I've owned a Miata, we've both have had bad experiences at jiffy lube(they didn't tighten the drain plug on a car I took there.), I'm starting Law school next month and my brother is already an attorney, Traffic Pro....

[TeamM3]

blown rear main seal from overfill is extremely unlikely

I don't use Jiffy Lube specifically, but identical quick lube place with my company cars, never had any issue whatsoever :dunno: frankly people have driven out of the dealership without oil, people make mistakes :eek:

[Juker008]

The verdict was that the oil filter was not on properly...

So I had oil pressure when I cranked the car...

And the oil pump quickly pumped all the oil out of the car as I was driving....

Right out the hole where the oil filter is supposed to be...

Bummer


What the oil filter was not put on properly, or there was no oil filter at all?





Juker008

[Mpire]

Both, depends on what time interval...

Basically....it popped off....

[Mpire]

Ok, so the jiffy lube rep told me today that they would pay for the towing of the car. They did not offer to pay for the rest of the $200 bill. AND the engine is still making a lound noise, repeadly on every rotation. Its rather unsettling.

So this guy was trying to leave so fast. Said that the car was fine and that there was nothing that he could do. So I gotta sue them now. This is silly.

Maybe I should call channel 6 and get them to do a story on it.

[///M-Bark]

Ok, so the jiffy lube rep told me today that they would pay for the towing of the car. They did not offer to pay for the rest of the $200 bill. AND the engine is still making a lound noise, repeadly on every rotation. Its rather unsettling.

So this guy was trying to leave so fast. Said that the car was fine and that there was nothing that he could do. So I gotta sue them now. This is silly.

Maybe I should call channel 6 and get them to do a story on it.

Get your insurance company involved. I remember a story about someone who had a similar situation (IIRC, drain plug was not tightened, fell out, all oil drained out and the engine seized). Their insurance company had an investigator who was able to prove that it was the oil change place's fault, so the oil change people ended up paying for a new engine.

[Juker008]

I'm with Shawn on this one. Also make a police report. File for a small claims court date, that may get them to bend.






Juker008

[Paul&SuesZ3]

I strongly agree!!!!! You need to get a attorney involved with this situation. I agree that we all make mistakes but we all have to be held accountable!!!!

Jiffy lube is a pretty big franchise, you need you go to the top, not the local folks!

I believe that you will win the war on this !

[Mpire]

I strongly agree!!!!! You need to get a attorney involved with this situation. I agree that we all make mistakes but we all have to be held accountable!!!!

Jiffy lube is a pretty big franchise, you need you go to the top, not the local folks!

I believe that you will win the war on this !

The Jiffy Lubes in Orlando are owned by a local franchise called Orlando Lube Centers....

I was going to just sue them in small claims court, but its no longer in my hands...

My mother called the Jiffy Lube office and they told her that they werent paying for anything... Not a good thing to do with her. She is going to have thier heads on a platter now...

Currently she is working on the paper work to sue Orlando Lube Centers, Jiffy Lube proper, and is also naming the distric manager and store manager in the suit. It seems like way too much trouble, but she has the paperwork for this stuff from an old suit, so she is just changing the names/addresses... Its amazing how easy it is to sue people. She says its costs here fourteen dollars. Yeah, thats all it costs...

Tech says that he needs to open u the engine and find out what is causing the noise....

Jiffy lube wont pay for anything. They say its not thier problem, but offered to pay for my towing... Said that they would not pay for the $196 that I have already paid hte dealership.

The rep was very slimly little guy, who tried to run away. I caught him at the dealership looking at the car, he said he would not be able to see it today. I just didnt want me to be there. This is amazing. Like if he says that he is not doing anything, then I am just going to give up and say OK, bummer.

Instead, I have to sue people. This is way overblown now. They just need to say they are sorry, and they will pay for the repairs. Amazing they are trying to get out of it...

[terrapen73]

Mpire, is the rep the customer service person from their main office or just a manager from the store or a district manager? I ask because I spent 3 years as a manager for a Jiffy Lube. Granted we were owned by a different franchise than the one you went to, but they are all under similar set ups due to the franchise rules.

This is how things work at Jiffy Lube when there is a problem. The problem is determined and fixed at the store if possible. If the customer has left already then it is kind of up to the customer whether the car goes back to the shop (preferred) or to another place of the customers choosing. The store manager writes up a claim sheet which the customer usually signs, and then it goes to customer service. They should contact you and should be your point of contact until the issue is resolved.

I can't understand why they are giving you the runaround on this. If this had been at my old store you would already have a check by now and a determination of what else needed to be done. Good news is that you should have no problem in small claims court getting them to foot the bill. When you leave a quick oil change place and your filter blows off due to double gasket or not being tight enough the shop is totally at fault. Sounds to me like that shop just isn't doing the double checks at the end of the procedure to be sure everything is tight and not leaking.

Good luck and if you have any questions for me or I can help any way shoot me a PM.

[Mpire]

Thanks Terrapen73.

Basically, I just wanted them to pay the bill of 196.73 or something like that. I showed htem the bill, then I Faxed it to them. They guy is a district manager I guess. Basically he said that the service hour of $74 dollars is not thier problem because they didnt authorize it. But I didnt know what the problem was until the tech checked out the car. He said that the oil filter was not on properly. So basically 1 hour of labor, a new key because the broke mine, a towing, and then an oil and filter change... Doesnt seem like alot to dispute...

But they are disputing it, good grief. I even offered to pay the 21 bucks for the oil change. What a sleeze ball. I am told by my attorney that I an not to contact Jiffy Lube in any way and to have them call her. Gotta love Mom.