Looking for some Advice...

[Rdizz]

Well I will just jump right into it. Now I do drive a Gladiator, however My wife has a 2023 Jeep Wrangler and today she went and got her "Jeep Wave" oil change (2nd oil change of the vehicles life). Upon leaving everything seemed ok, until I got a phone call that her wrangler just broke down on her and my 2 year old kid in the middle of a major road after hearing an extremely loud "knocking & Ticking" sound. Just to be clear I have worked on cars my whole life an ex Manager of Goodyear, Merchants/NTB. So I instantly knew the issue.... Oil change and knocking eh? I showed up pulled the stick it is BONE DRY I mean nothing on there at all. Slid under the Jeep and wouldnt you know it NO OIL DRAIN PLUG AT ALL. Assuming they screwed it on there loose and it vibrated its way out. Now the issue is in my mind the motor on this brand new vehicle is ruined, I don't care what they will tell me which is sure will be "the engine is fine" which we all know is BS especially since I traced the road back and saw the spill which looks to be a little over a 1/4 mile she drove with 0 oil before the oil pressure sensor kicked in at a stop sign and shut her down.

Now the advice is how do I handle the dealer, you see I feel like I shouldn't accept anything other than a new vehicle as I know and everyone knows that years and countless miles have been lost on this motor today. Basically Am I actually going to have to get a lawyer? Are there any dealership people out there that can help with a bit of advice on how to handle this situation? I don't want to barge in there and be a complete jerk, But I do want what is right here and not to spend over 60k on a brand new Jeep only to have its life cut short.

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[Scott0700]

I wouldn’t accept anything short of a complete long block and a loaner for the entire time they have it.
Every vehicle I’ve ever bought that included x number of oil changes, I’ve told them no thanks.

 

[Rdizz]

I wouldn’t accept anything short of a complete long block and a loaner for the entire time they have it.
Every vehicle I’ve ever bought that included x number of oil changes, I’ve told them no thanks.

I dont even think i would be willing to accept an engine replacement. That would destroy the vehicles value and it would also be listed on the carfax and the mileage will not be correct, not to mention the tear down and destruction of the millions of electrical components that will break because of this. But what I will and will not accept is a different story. I am just worried how we will get to that point before I have to hire an attorney.

Man this is a really Crappy situation, to pour salt in the wounds it just got nice weather wise around here and I bought her that Top lift pro... Havent even had the chance to use it

 

[Charles 236]

I would look for a new engine from the dealership in this case, especially if it is a 2.0 four cylinder. Swapping out a complete engine is not really a big deal, I have swapped countless engines. What I would NOT want is a "repair" for an engine operated without oil. When I say repair I mean going into the engine and replacing bearings, pistons and rings, etc. This is because while most dealerships have several good or even better techs (I'm referring to line techs, not the Express Lane lube techs), the dealership is not really set up for properly rebuilding an engine. If your Wrangler has a 2.0, the new engine will come complete with turbo, intercooler, sensors, injectors, etc., at least the last four or five 2.0s that I installed did.

What I would recommend is to give the dealership a chance to do the right thing. They serviced your Jeep so they know that it is on them. Once the "L" word is mentioned, it may slow things down instead of speeding them up. As for a new Wrangler, I don't think they will do that, but I don't know your dealer.

 

[swtrailboss]

If your dealing with a corporate owned dealership I can promise you one thing is that you won’t get a “new” car out of this situation. I worked for one as technician for 25 years and they would without question put an equal or lesser mileage used engine or a long block. NOW that the world of car fax has come into play with vehicle values I would certainly ask for some type of depreciation comp for this event but I think they will say “ yeah ok anyway here is equivalent to your loss now replaced” and then will use that to their advantage wheN you trade it in. So they will usually always win! Your situation definitely sucks!

 

[Sweetums]

Well I will just jump right into it. Now I do drive a Gladiator, however My wife has a 2023 Jeep Wrangler and today she went and got her "Jeep Wave" oil change (2nd oil change of the vehicles life). Upon leaving everything seemed ok, until I got a phone call that her wrangler just broke down on her and my 2 year old kid in the middle of a major road after hearing an extremely loud "knocking & Ticking" sound. Just to be clear I have worked on cars my whole life an ex Manager of Goodyear, Merchants/NTB. So I instantly knew the issue.... Oil change and knocking eh? I showed up pulled the stick it is BONE DRY I mean nothing on there at all. Slid under the Jeep and wouldnt you know it NO OIL DRAIN PLUG AT ALL. Assuming they screwed it on there loose and it vibrated its way out. Now the issue is in my mind the motor on this brand new vehicle is ruined, I don't care what they will tell me which is sure will be "the engine is fine" which we all know is BS especially since I traced the road back and saw the spill which looks to be a little over a 1/4 mile she drove with 0 oil before the oil pressure sensor kicked in at a stop sign and shut her down.

Now the advice is how do I handle the dealer, you see I feel like I shouldn't accept anything other than a new vehicle as I know and everyone knows that years and countless miles have been lost on this motor today. Basically Am I actually going to have to get a lawyer? Are there any dealership people out there that can help with a bit of advice on how to handle this situation? I don't want to barge in there and be a complete jerk, But I do want what is right here and not to spend over 60k on a brand new Jeep only to have its life cut short.

First: Video and photograph EVERYTHING! Next is to call the dealer and tell them what happened - do not tow it back to them. Get it towed to another, unaffiliated dealer; tell them what happened but don't say who did the oil change. Get an estimate for the repairs (new engine).

Call the dealership who did the oil change back and see what they say, they may offer a new engine, but ask what they plan to do and if they will use the warranty. Warranty will not cover this, no matter what they say and to try to warranty it would be fraud.

Also find out how this will affect your factory warranty.

Last resort: Do you have a loan on the car? If so you likely have insurance coverage, call them and file a claim.

Be sure to demand compensation for diminished value.

EDIT: Another option: Propose they take it in on trade at the pre-seized engine value for a new replacement. Be sure they give you a generous figure on it, it's their problem after that.

 

[ZeeJay]

An OEM crate engine, I don’t care what mileage it has. That’s what it should get. Plus rental to cover the vehicle being down. Their tech screwed the pooch and catastrophic failure is the progressive damage from that mistake. If you have a receipt stating work was done, made it two blocks and engine let go they don’t have much to stand one, 2+2=4. I hope you documented everything with pictures of location and of oil track. I know most wouldn’t think of that. As a dealer tech I document and note as much as I can. Too many times fingers point back and forth for who’s at fault. I’m not an automotive tech I live in whole other world, but dealers are dealers. Nobody wants to be a technician anymore so most places just hire shit because shit is all that’s out there. There’s a lot of clowns that claim to be “mechanics”.

 

[Rdizz]

What a shitty situation. The Jeep is at the dealer where it was serviced. They delivered a loaner car to the site and picked up the Jeep in question.

This really sounds like I am up a creek. Dammed if I do, Dammed if I don't. Feel like I now have a 60k Vehicle that has lost a tremendous amount of value, and or Engine life no matter what I do. I hate to even bring up the Term "lawyer", But I almost feel like that may be my only path. I am giving them them the opportunity to make this right, but I just don't really know how they can. What I do know is more than likely they will just offer an extended warranty..... What good is that really, an extended warranty on an engine heading for failure, a Vehicle I can no longer trust on any sort of road trip.

This is a very large "corporate" dealer.

 

[Rdizz]

An OEM crate engine, I don’t care what mileage it has. That’s what it should get. Plus rental to cover the vehicle being down. Their tech screwed the pooch and catastrophic failure is the progressive damage from that mistake. If you have a receipt stating work was done, made it two blocks and engine let go they don’t have much to stand one, 2+2=4. I hope you documented everything with pictures of location and of oil track. I know most wouldn’t think of that. As a dealer tech I document and note as much as I can. Too many times fingers point back and forth for who’s at fault. I’m not an automotive tech I live in whole other world, but dealers are dealers. Nobody wants to be a technician anymore so most places just hire shit because shit is all that’s out there. There’s a lot of clowns that claim to be “mechanics”.

I took videos of the oil track, id say it dumped over maybe 100ish ft. Then the Jeep drove for another 400-500+ feet before it knocked all over the place and shut down with no oil on the street before it. I also took pictures of the plug and stick.

But what they should do is not what they will do.

The Jeep is the 2.0t and this was its 2nd oil change since it was purchased new. What a damn shame.

The question is saying What I will accept doesn't make it happen, was hoping there would be some GM on here that could maybe say ya been there this is what you need to do.

really sounds like I am going to be in the fight of my life here unless they do the right thing.

 

[swtrailboss]

An OEM crate engine, I don’t care what mileage it has. That’s what it should get. Plus rental to cover the vehicle being down. Their tech screwed the pooch and catastrophic failure is the progressive damage from that mistake. If you have a receipt stating work was done, made it two blocks and engine let go they don’t have much to stand one, 2+2=4. I hope you documented everything with pictures of location and of oil track. I know most wouldn’t think of that. As a dealer tech I document and note as much as I can. Too many times fingers point back and forth for who’s at fault. I’m not an automotive tech I live in whole other world, but dealers are dealers. Nobody wants to be a technician anymore so most places just hire shit because shit is all that’s out there. There’s a lot of clowns that claim to be “mechanics”.

LOL…., my motto as a tech has always been “ cover your ass in ink!!!!!”

 

[Sweetums]

What a shitty situation. The Jeep is at the dealer where it was serviced. They delivered a loaner car to the site and picked up the Jeep in question.

This really sounds like I am up a creek. Dammed if I do, Dammed if I don't. Feel like I now have a 60k Vehicle that has lost a tremendous amount of value, and or Engine life no matter what I do. I hate to even bring up the Term "lawyer", But I almost feel like that may be my only path. I am giving them them the opportunity to make this right, but I just don't really know how they can. What I do know is more than likely they will just offer an extended warranty..... What good is that really, an extended warranty on an engine heading for failure, a Vehicle I can no longer trust on any sort of road trip.

This is a very large "corporate" dealer.

Getting a lawyer will help make sure they do the right thing. Lawyers are there to represent your interests and they know how to.

 

[swtrailboss]

I took videos of the oil track, id say it dumped over maybe 100ish ft. Then the Jeep drove for another 400-500+ feet before it knocked all over the place and shut down with no oil on the street before it. I also took pictures of the plug and stick.

But what they should do is not what they will do.

The Jeep is the 2.0t and this was its 2nd oil change since it was purchased new. What a damn shame.

The question is saying What I will accept doesn't make it happen, was hoping there would be some GM on here that could maybe say ya been there this is what you need to do.

really sounds like I am going to be in the fight of my life here unless they do the right thing.

Yeah……. For that ! I think most GM’s would avoid this post simply due to their six figure incomes coming into play. Sure the answer would be great on a forum designed for your everyday guy who deals with these types of situations but unfortunately the final decision will come upon you and what this dealership offers. I certainly think I personally wouldn’t let the depreciation value let lye with the offer I know they will give. The engine replacement +……

 

[ShadowsPapa]

That would destroy the vehicles value and it would also be listed on the carfax and the mileage will not be correct

Bull
It will not diminish the value at all. Too much stock put into that carcrap bit on that sort of thing.
Accidents impact value.
Replacement major parts will not.

If I was buying used and found an engine with FEWER miles than the vehicle, I'd be happy. It would have the same warranty as the original, that's a fact, so you'd be out nothing.

All you are owed is an engine, nothing more - but maybe because they were stupid, you can get an "extended warranty" (which is really a service contract)

I don't know where people get this stuff about carfax and values and engine or transmission replacements and so on.
And frankly, you can tell the shop that you don't want it reported - it's not mandatory, and not all shops even report everything. Some shops don't report much of anything, and there are no rules stating things MUST be reported. There's no law or rule anywhere.

Go after them, yeah, but man this crap about engine replacements showing up in reports (if they do) killing a vehicle's value - why should it? It's not a catastrophic accident.

We had the transmission replaced in a 4xe - you think your Jeep is complex!
The transmission is not only the transmission, but a clutch setup as well as the main drive motor (electric) with a ton of lines and cables and whatever. They must pull the body off to replace the transmission. They have to shut down (properly with the correct sequence) the HV and 12v systems before anything else is done.
It came back flawless.

I have to ask - don't Jeeps have an oil pressure warning light?
I've never run one dry - but I have to think there's some sort of warning.......red light and a chime.
here it is........it shows red with low oil pressure.

''

Be ready for them to bring that up.
Possible that their attorneys may throw this up, so be ready - that's all I'm saying...........

 

[ZeeJay]

I took videos of the oil track, id say it dumped over maybe 100ish ft. Then the Jeep drove for another 400-500+ feet before it knocked all over the place and shut down with no oil on the street before it. I also took pictures of the plug and stick.

But what they should do is not what they will do.

The Jeep is the 2.0t and this was its 2nd oil change since it was purchased new. What a damn shame.

The question is saying What I will accept doesn't make it happen, was hoping there would be some GM on here that could maybe say ya been there this is what you need to do.

really sounds like I am going to be in the fight of my life here unless they do the right thing.

If it’s documented and have a receipt stating work was done, and distance driven you kinda have their ears pinned back now. They can’t claim the ole your engine was cratering already shit, that dog ain’t gonna hunt. The worst thing so far is likely surrendering it back to that same dealer, now they can potentially do whatever shady shit they want to, this is a worst case scenario. Call Jeep and get a ticket opened right away, that puts heat on them from the corporate side. Tell them what you got, email what you got. Main thing is stand your ground, the SM doesn’t want to own this, he knows already that he owns it but doesn’t mean he wants to. If he wiggles around ride his ass. Make him make sense to you why the engine let go right after oil change because there can be only one reason. If he drags his ass then let him and Jeep know you’ll contact an attorney. Hold your ground on a compete engine, if it ran long enough to tick and stop it’s done, and even by some miracle it is still alive I can guarantee there has been substantial progressive damage.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Feel like I now have a 60k Vehicle that has lost a tremendous amount of value,

No, forget that "lost value" stuff - very wrong. I really would love to know where that comes from.

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