Will changing my own oil void the warranty?

[jimbom]

I'd like to note a key point here: Nissan didn't order a new engine on the spot, and for that matter Nissan didn't replace your engine; the dealership did those things, and then they got Nissan to cover the costs under warranty.

Not that it matters, but that's not at all how it happened. When I returned for them to confirm the oil use for themselves, it was coordinated to happen when a Nissan rep would be present and it was he who authorized the engine order which took about a week get in. It was explained that the rep sped up the process.

My problem was from the start as well, but not quite as aggressive at first. No oil pressure issues and I had never checked the oil until the valves started making a ticking noise just before the first change. I just thought it might have been short filled at the factory. Before the second oil change the ticking and need for a quart was happening every thousand miles or so. That's when I first involved the dealership.

BTW, this wasn't even the dealership where I bought the Nissan. I did buy my Ram and this Jeep from the same dealership local chain with mixed feelings about each one's service dept. I literally had more push back at the Ram service dept. trying to get a battery replaced under warranty. Zero push back getting the steering box replaced at Jeep.

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[jimbom]

You've never been asked because there was no evidence of improper maintenance. Engines can fail for tons of reasons. Guarantee you an overheat caused by gelled oil they're going to want to see receipts. A cracked block or head with cleanish oil in the pan? There's no reason to ask for oil change receipts.

All sounds reasonable. I suppose if one shows up for warranty issues around 60k miles with what looks like a "run into the ground" Jeep, they're likely to ask a question or two . All this is a far stretch from the OP's concerns about doing his own oil changes.

 

[stampedingTurtles]

Not that it matters, but that's not at all how it happened. When I returned for them to confirm the oil use for themselves, it was coordinated to happen when a Nissan rep would be present and it was he who authorized the engine order which took about a week get in. It was explained that the rep sped up the process.

So it sounds you had made the dealership aware of the problem, they started an oil consumption test to confirm the problem (when they checked the dipstick and topped it off), and had arranged for a Nissan rep to be on hand when you brought the vehicle back in, to observe the results of the oil test and authorize the work (and as you said, having the rep on hand to authorize it was probably just quicker than whatever back-and-forth between the dealership and the rep normally happens).

Again, the point here being that the dealership is the key; they do the diagnosis, look at the documentation, and do the actual work. If the dealership techs had suspected that the cause of your problem was that you had never changed the oil, they could have asked you for proof of your oil changes. It sounds like, at least in this particular case, the dealership took steps to make the process easy for you.

For what it is worth, what you described sounds essentially like what the process was SUPPOSED to be with my Subaru, it is essentially the process Subaru told me should happen and the process that some other people reported at other dealerships (as a side note, this was a major problem with that 2.5 engine in ~2013 Subaru cars, and resulted in a class action lawsuit). In my case, however, the dealership made the whole process much harder in a variety of ways and probably for a variety of reasons; for example when they 'messed' up oil consumption tests, each of them could have been an honest mistake (they 'lost the paperwork', one time when I brought it in a tech mistakenly thought it was just an oil change and drained the oil before checking the level, etc). The place went through multiple service managers during the time I was working with them, and seemed to have a lot of turnover in people working the service department.

 

[Trickster]

I'd like to note a key point here: Nissan didn't order a new engine on the spot, and for that matter Nissan didn't replace your engine; the dealership did those things, and then they got Nissan to cover the costs under warranty.

Not sure how you would know that, because that is not how it works in most dealerships regardless of manufacturer.
No way is a dealer going to be on the hook for an engine replacement
when the mothership declines the claim.
The first step in the service department is to open a file, contact the warranty department at head office, THEN it is determined if it is going to be covered.
This is where the documentation of defined service and maintenance
is looked at, as well as the mechanics evaluation of the cause of failure.
Ask me how I know.

 

[stampedingTurtles]

Not sure how you would know that, because that is not how it works in most dealerships regardless of manufacturer.
No way is a dealer going to be on the hook for an engine replacement
when the mothership declines the claim.
The first step in the service department is to open a file, contact the warranty department at head office, THEN it is determined if it is going to be covered.
This is where the documentation of defined service and maintenance
is looked at, as well as the mechanics evaluation of the cause of failure.
Ask me how I know.

It seems like you misunderstood what I said; I did not say that the dealership replaces the engine without checking in with the warranty department to see if it will be covered first.

My point was that it is the dealer who is doing the work, the dealer who is collecting the information, the dealer who is communicating with the warranty department, etc. The dealer can do a lot to make the process smoother for the customer, and they can do a lot to make the process harder for the customer. The information they provide to the manufacturer can play a major role in whether or not a warranty claim is approved and denied; and I know from personal experience that sometimes the dealer will tell you that a warranty claim is denied without ever having opened a case with the manufacturer about it.

A lot of people have bad experiences with a dealership, but they see it as a bad experience with the manufacturer. And of course, it does go the other way as well, because there are some manufacturers that have very high standards for their dealerships, and have a reputation for dealerships providing good service.

 

[NachoRuby]

How long ago was that?
I find it strange that no records of maintenance were required.
Not saying it didn’t happen but that seems to be a pretty lax method of warranty replacement. Unless that engine was a known POS that they knew was prone to failure.

I had a similar experience about 2 years ago on a jeep. But that engine was a POS (tiger shark 2.4). Come to think of it, I had similar on a Subaru STI too though. Piston ring failure, cylinder 4 (common STI problem though).

 

[Trickster]

It seems like you misunderstood what I said; I did not say that the dealership replaces the engine without checking in with the warranty department to see if it will be covered first.

My point was that it is the dealer who is doing the work, the dealer who is collecting the information, the dealer who is communicating with the warranty department, etc. The dealer can do a lot to make the process smoother for the customer, and they can do a lot to make the process harder for the customer. The information they provide to the manufacturer can play a major role in whether or not a warranty claim is approved and denied; and I know from personal experience that sometimes the dealer will tell you that a warranty claim is denied without ever having opened a case with the manufacturer about it.

A lot of people have bad experiences with a dealership, but they see it as a bad experience with the manufacturer. And of course, it does go the other way as well, because there are some manufacturers that have very high standards for their dealerships, and have a reputation for dealerships providing good service.

Damn right I misunderstood. Seems to be happening more as I get older. My wife can verify this. Ask her how she knows.
Thanks for the clarification.

 

[hjdca]

I've had bad experiences with dealerships in the past, and would rather not use them for my 3 free oil changes. Does this raise any issues with the warranty?

I have also done all my maint. by myself. I believe the best bet is to use the Jeep Maint. app that FCA makes available for all owners. It logs both the Dealer and owner maint. and when you bring the truck in for service, the tech sees all the maint that has been done by the dealer and owner. On this app, you can log the type of oil and the fact you are using the Mopar oil filter. It is free to sign up, all you need is a VIN number. Here is a screen shot of all my maint. records, and you can see that a couple say dealer, and most say owner. The dealer puts those entries in himself, you only have control over your own entries. You can see the address link in the browser, so, that should get you there, so you can sign up.

 

[Matts4313]

Yes. In fact, multiple times.

Ive never had a dealer ask me for reciepts on oil changes ever. I was curious because of this conversation, so I just asked a few people in our office. Out of the 5 of us, none of us have never known anyone ever thats been asked to prove oilchanges.

Im sure it happens. I am not doubting you. But I dont think its common as long as you dont pull up with the worst oil thats ever been seen.

 

[stampedingTurtles]

Ive never had a dealer ask me for reciepts on oil changes ever. I was curious because of this conversation, so I just asked a few people in our office. Out of the 5 of us, none of us have never known anyone ever thats been asked to prove oilchanges.

Im sure it happens. I am not doubting you. But I dont think its common as long as you dont pull up with the worst oil thats ever been seen.

Serious question, and perhaps I'm just misunderstanding something about what you are saying here, but have that many people in your office had an engine-related warranty claim where there would have been any reason for the dealer to ask for proof that they had done oil changes?

Just to be clear, that is the sort of situation we are talking about here; some sort of engine failure where not changing your oil (or using an inappropriate oil) could have been a factor (and thus it wouldn't be covered under warranty). Not something like your TPMS sensor went out or your fuel pump died.

 

[Matts4313]

Serious question, and perhaps I'm just misunderstanding something about what you are saying here, but have that many people in your office had an engine-related warranty claim where there would have been any reason for the dealer to ask for proof that they had done oil changes?

Just to be clear, that is the sort of situation we are talking about here; some sort of engine failure where not changing your oil (or using an inappropriate oil) could have been a factor (and thus it wouldn't be covered under warranty). Not something like your TPMS sensor went out or your fuel pump died.

I cant speak for anyone else here, and I am not going to be the wierdo to ask again, but it was made clear we were talking about engine issues. For me personally, I have only known 1 person to have a major engine issue - and he wasnt asked for records.

I dont know about my co-workers.

 

[jimbom]

Serious question, and perhaps I'm just misunderstanding something about what you are saying here, but have that many people in your office had an engine-related warranty claim where there would have been any reason for the dealer to ask for proof that they had done oil changes?

Just to be clear, that is the sort of situation we are talking about here; some sort of engine failure where not changing your oil (or using an inappropriate oil) could have been a factor (and thus it wouldn't be covered under warranty). Not something like your TPMS sensor went out or your fuel pump died.

There's a long list of inspections, adjustments, lubricants "required" to be done periodically that go far beyond engine maintenance. IF Jeep or the dealerships wanted to get out of covering those items under warranty, wouldn't they require proof that those inspections, etc. were done?

My only "proof" of my maintenance is a spreadsheet I keep with miles and dates and that is mainly for my tracking purposes. I'm not organized enough to keep receipts. To hear some of you tell it, we better make a video of any maintenance we've performed, else they're not going to believe us.

BTW, nowhere does it say you have to use Mopar parts. There are some fluids with Mopar unique specs (i.e. electric steering fluid) but you can find non-Mopar replacements that clearly state that they meet those specs.

 

[jimbom]

There's a long list of inspections, adjustments, lubricants "required" to be done periodically that go far beyond engine maintenance.

... And I'll give another example where technically I could have been held culpable. Had an Infiniti with a defective brake caliper. I had given the brake pads a cursory look a few times, but did not discover that the inner brake pad was wearing much faster than the outer. Ultimately at ~30k miles, the inner pad wore down to the metal and chewed up the rotor, while the outer pad (the one with the "squeal" bar) had plenty of liner left. Had I periodically properly inspected both pads, I would have saved the dealer from replacing the rotor. There was some push back at first because brake pads clearly were not covered in the warranty, but I convinced them that the caliper had to be defective for such wear. In the end they replaced the caliper, pads and rotor under warranty.

The vehicle had never previously been to them for any maintenance and I was never even questioned if or what maintenance I had done elsewhere.

 

[stampedingTurtles]

There's a long list of inspections, adjustments, lubricants "required" to be done periodically that go far beyond engine maintenance. IF Jeep or the dealerships wanted to get out of covering those items under warranty, wouldn't they require proof that those inspections, etc. were done?

Again, I'll defer back to what has already been said several times; if the dealer has a reason to believe that failure to do that maintenance is the cause of failure of that part, but the main reason that oil changes are the big topic is because oil needs to be changed multiple times while the vehicle is still under warranty, and because failure to change the oil truly can cause problems.

Also, your statement about the dealership wanting to "get out of covering" items under warranty sort of points out a difference of viewpoint on this whole thing.

The whole idea here is that if you bring your vehicle in with a problem, there is a fundamental determination that needs to made: whether the problem is a defect that is covered under warranty, or if the problem is a result of something that makes it fall outside of the warranty.

Sometimes the answer to that question is immediately clear, and other times it is not.

BTW, nowhere does it say you have to use Mopar parts. There are some fluids with Mopar unique specs (i.e. electric steering fluid) but you can find non-Mopar replacements that clearly state that they meet those specs.

I didn't say that you need to use Mopar parts or fluids, but it is important that you use fluids that meet the specifications. Of course,

 

[jimbom]

Again, I'll defer back to what has already been said several times; if the dealer has a reason to believe that failure to do that maintenance is the cause of failure of that part, but the main reason that oil changes are the big topic is because oil needs to be changed multiple times while the vehicle is still under warranty, and because failure to change the oil truly can cause problems.

That's even arguable. Todays synthetics probably protect well enough in the span of the warranty period to prevent any problems in that period. I don't change my oil every 5,000 miles to make it to the end of the warranty, it's more for the next 100,000 miles that I typically own the vehicle.

I just explained a situation where additional damage absolutely WAS a failure of proper "required" maintenance by me and still I was not asked for any proof of that maintenance being done. Which goes back to my original observation -- based on my 45 years of owner maintenance on new cars -- that maintenance records have never been requested from me related to any warranty issues.

The whole point of which is to put the OPs (remember him?) concern about owner maintenance voiding the warranty at ease. That is all.

I didn't say that you need to use Mopar parts or fluids, but it is important that you use fluids that meet the specifications. Of course,

That point was not aimed at you. There are a few other posts advising the OP to buy Mopar as if that impacts the warranty.

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