This past weekend, a friend and I were heading down from the DC region to VIR to attend a Skip Barber Race school. I had just changed the oil on the S2000 at Fairfax Honda (Northern VA) the Friday of departure. About 30 miles outside of Richmond, I heard a popping noise and saw some smoke in the rearview mirror. Knowing this wouldn't be good news, I pulled the car immediately over and shut down (within 20-30sec.). After a closer inspection, I noticed that all my oil had completely drained out and my oil drain bolt was missing. The tech at the dealer had failed to torque the drain plug down and now we were stranded in the middle of nowhere at 1AM.

After a couple hours of looking for the drain plug on this highway, we gave up and ended up bumming a ride from a cop to the nearest hotel, and slept for a couple hours. On saturday, we got up at 6am and tried to get the car towed to the dealer and get a new drain plug AND try to make it down to VIR. But, it took too long, so we just headed back to DC. I took pictures of this incident located below. The dealership down in Fredericksburg completed ANOTHER oil change and the tech told me he did the best he could to clean up the oil from bottom of my car.


http://www.pbase.com/han_ahsue/2003_06_20_vir_attempt

Fast foward to Thursday. I made an appointment to speak with the service manager at the dealer and brought in all my receipts at his request. Skip Barber charged us 50% of the normal fee since we were a "no show" at the event. While looking over the car for any signs of damage, the tech notified the service manager to examine the bottom of my car. Apparantly there were NO signs of oil leakage or spraying anywhere and therefore concluded that I had fabricated my story to get some money from him. He also mentioned that my car HAD to have seized up and there was no way that could not have happened. I told him I watched at least 2-3 quarts of oil spill out from underneath my car when I initially pulled over, but he wasn't convinced. So now I'm stuck with bills from the towing company, hotel, new oil change, Skip Barber no show fee.

He will be getting back to me in 48 hours.

 

Depending on the total, you might have a case in small claims court, esp. if you have a passenger that witnessed the incident.

 

ok. you've done a decent job of presenting the situation, and got real lucky that you stopped immediately.

here's my thoughts...

you need to get the fredericksburg dealer's tech to speak with fairfax, as you stated that he had to clean the oil from the underside of the car. this may be your best "evidence" as to what happened. the picture of the s with the oil slick coming from beneath it very good too.

i'm not sure why fairfax would say that you fabricated the story. kind of far-fetched, in my opinion. you've got photos, perhaps a police witness, a tow truck bill and a bunch of other evidence. all of this happened on THE DAY OF THE OIL CHANGE. it is so painfully evident that the dealer messed, up that i can't imagine what the problem is.

what i am wondering about is the remedy. sure you want to get reimbursed for the hotel, towing, missed driving event, etc. etc, but what about your engine and any potential long-term effects of driving (even a short time) with virtually ZERO oil.

i'd be looking for an extended warranty, full cash reimbursment and an apology. if they jerk you around, then you're going to have to get tough with them. look on the back of your service ticket. it probably has a section about arbitration or legal actions.

you've got a great "case", i just hope that the dealer steps up to the plate.

btw-when my wife ran over a blown-out truck tire in my S, she took it to fairfax honda and they put it up on a lift and did a thorough inspection. no charge. i thought that was pretty decent of them.

 

The fact that your photos show a trail of oil that drained out of your pan should be enough to convince the dealer that your story is true. Add to that the fact that the Fredericksburg dealership tech TOLD YOU HE CLEANED your car's underbody, and it sounds like you have a case.

Sounds like the Fairfax Honda dealership is trying to put the blame on you to save their tech's hide.

I'd talk to a lawyer to see what your rights are...

 

What about the cop, did you get his name and badge number. Maybe he can corroborate the story.

 

OT but where is the skip barber school and were you going to use your S2000 on the track or just the formula cars?

I'd like to take a class.

 

Ace- The manager was reluctant to call the dealer, but he left a message to him this afternoon. (awaiting call back) I specifically told him (service guy at Pohanka) to write on my NEW oil change ticket that my car had been flatbedded to the dealer and my oil drain plug was missing. I need to follow up with the name of the tech who told me he wiped everything clean underneath. I already have an extended warranty and in my letter that summarized the whole incident, I listed at the end "Payment for Fairfax Honda's Negligence" a cash amount. The manager accused me of trying to get money out of him and refused to listen to anything I said. The pictures he said "could have been me removing my oil drain plug" and prooved "nothing." My next step will be to get a lawyer and gather all my witnesses-tow truck driver, policeman, and honda tech's in Fredericksburg.

rai- I had signed up for the SB 2-Day School with the formula cars. The S2000 was going to look pretty on the side.

 

**testing** attempting to post response

 

i will try to write up a decent response later this evening. in the mean time, please look at the back of your service ticket and find out what kind of arbitration and/or court right you may have agreed-to by signing the service ticket.

i can now understand why fairfax reacted in such an extreme manner, though. you basically presented them with a demand letter that included a cash payment for your "pain and suffering." that was not the ideal way to start this process out. it shouldn't change anything in the long run, but man, i would not have done it that way.

later

 

Ace-

I just PMed you, I'll send you the letter I wrote.