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DWYM: Make sure the oil change shop puts oil in your car

DWYM: Make sure the oil change shop puts oil in your car
Posted at 6:45 AM, Sep 30, 2021
and last updated 2021-09-30 11:10:44-04

Imagine bringing in your car off for an oil change and the mechanic forgets to put new oil in your car.

That's what one family is dealing with right now and warning others about.

We all bring our car in for oil changes, and 99 percent of the time everything is fine.

But one man says the shop forgot the oil.

And it's gone downhill from there.

Dan Connors says his daughter brought their Nissan into an oil change shop a few weeks ago - and she soon drove away.

“Dad it's broken down. We had it towed to our mechanic,” Connors said. “And they told us pure and simple, there is no oil in it."

The shop even admitted to it.

"Yeah they said it is 100% our fault,” Connors said. “We didn’t put oil in it, we will take care of it."

But the repair, he said, was botched.

"The entire concrete floor was covered in oil,” Connors said.

Other car owners report other horror stories: earlier this summer, Crystal Wheeler told me an oil change shop forgot to latch her hood and it flew open on the interstate.

"I'm like, I gotta get off this highway, and my daughter is screaming,” Wheeler said.

Luckily, it's rare for an oil change shop to damage your car, but it does happen.

That's why some people actually check their oil before they leave.

At the very least you may just want to walk around the car, and make sure nothing is missing, damaged, or visibly leaking.

And when you start it up, if anything doesn't look or sound right, bring it back immediately.

We contacted Connors’ oil shop, but they told us they paid for the engine rebuild, and fulfilled their side of the bargain.

Eventually, it cost him over a thousand dollars out of pocket to get everything right.

"We had to pay another $1,200 to get it fixed,” he said.

So check your car after oil changes - before you hit the gas.

Most major chains will repair damage they cause during an oil change.

But make sure you have lots of photos and receipts - so you don't waste your money.