I took my vectra to a national fast fit chain for an oil change about 6 months ago. A few weeks ago I took it for another, this time at a small independent tyre place. They informed me that they were unable to do the work as the plug was just spinning and would not come out. I returned to the place which had done the previous oil change and to cut a long story short the area manager sent me a fax stating that he accepted the threads could have been damaged when they changed the oil but similarly the second garage could have done the damage when attempting to undo the plug. He offered to cover half the cost of having a helicoil fitted and invited me to bring the car in to one of his branches for this to be done.
I have since paid for the sump to be helicoiled at a cost of £100 from a 3rd garage as I did not trust any of the other two to work on my car.
It seems fairly obvious that this damage can only be caused by over tightening and therefore would be entirely the fault of the first garage- I'm really annoyed about this as through no fault of my own I have picked up a £100 bill. I have not yet replied to his offer as I am still considering my position. Can anyone suggest a best course of action? Thanks
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Just another thing about garage name removed. There 9.99 oil change is a joke!
I had my escort done there a while back, oil & filter for 9.99 and the idiot overfilled it causing oil to spill all over my engine bay.
I returned for my money back, which was supposed to be used to get it steam cleaned of course i didnt bother just did it myself with rags and detergents.
I have since discovered they didnt even change the filter!
So overall a pretty poor service wouldnt recommend it, i mean if they cant even do oil changes properly would you want to trust your brakes or tyres to them?
please refrain from mentioning garage names in a negative way DD.
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This is a good argument for finding a decent garage and sticking with them, even when you can save a tenner on the odd oil change.
Folks come to me year in year out, car after car. In that circumstance they would know it was my error and it would be sorted FOC without question.
I actually refuse to take on vehicles serviced at diffent places to avoid just the sort of issue you raise.
In your case I think garage one has made a very fair offer and I would accept it with thanks and forget the rest.
MM
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Thanks MM, I agree that going to the same place would avoid this problem and this is something I will be doing in future, however what I'm finding hard to accept is that the 2nd garage could have stripped the thread whilst trying to undo the plug. I guess I don't have much choice but to accept the offer unless anyone can suggest otherwise.
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Just a thought. If it was the first garage that stripped the sump thread wouldn't you have been getting the occasional oil drip ? Seems like a fair offer to me as it's impossible to prove.
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Well this is how bad it can get...
Second garage unscrews sump plug OK and drains oil. Replaces sump plug and strips the thread right at the last point by overtightening. Plug just spins round.
Guy thinks on his feet and pours the old oil back into your engine and reports he couldn't get the plug out.
You would never know would you. That is why it is far from certain garage one was at fault and given that they have taken a reasonable line.
Sorry if first post was a bit abrupt, didn't mean to be.
Just been supplied the wrong clutch for todays job for the third time in a row and failing to see the funny side of life!
MM
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