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EZ Lube killed the GF's car!!

chado

chado

Experienced Member
Joined
25 April 2007
Messages
893
Location
So Cal
I got a call on Friday night from my GF upset that her car had shut down on her near the 57/60 merge on the freeway. She had just taken the car to get an oil change earlier in the day at an EZ-Lube up the street from her work. While on the freeway the car seized up, making a loud banging noise and then proceeded to bellow smoke.
I drove to meet her and the tow truck driver who had pulled the 96 Honda Civic off the freeway and when he hoisted the car I couldn't believe it. The engine had seized and thrown a rod right threw the oil pan!!
We had the tow truck driver take it to her mechanic who is ironically almost next door to the EZ-LUBE :rolleyes: and left it over the weekend. Yesterday he was able to examine the car thoroughly and after pulling the new oil filter noticed that there was no oil in it!!!
They didn't replace the oil after draining it.. WTF! Im frustrated because I can't get up there to go in person with her and deal with the manager. I've asked her to have the mechanic walk over there with her and initiate the process which I'm sure will escalate to regional or corporate level.
I know EZ-Lube just had to pay out 5million in fines for crooked business practices and had to install cameras in all of their shops.
With multiple mechanics as witnesses this seems like a pretty open and shut case.. I'm hoping they'll even have video evidence that new oil was not put in, but I wouldn't think you'd need much more than a clean oil filter!

Any advice or experiences.. I know I'm probably not thinking of everything that should be done to ensure a quick resolution...

Thanks!


I'll try and post some pics up of the destruction later...
 
wow..........I heard rumors of stuff like this happening and remember somebody posting a warning on some thread to never take the NSX to a place like this becuase of this exact type of thing. Good luck to your GF in getting this resolved with EZ Lube. BTW - what kind of car was it?
 
Don't deal with the manager, deal with their insurance people. Demand a crate motor installed by honda.
 
My brother works for a major national company that insures auto shops and deals with these kinds of cases all the time. He and I have gone around and around regarding what is "fair" compensation in this exact situation. His answer is that they are only required to bring you back to where you were at the time of the loss. In other words, she had a "used" motor, so they only owe you a "used" replacement. My argument is that the history of such a replacement motor is completely unknown. He may have said they would buy a rebuilt motor, I can't recall 100%. What I can say for sure is the insurance company WILL NOT want to buy you a brand new motor. Whether or not you will be able to muscle one out of them is another story. I say fight to the death when it comes to dealing with insurance companies - they will try to screw you. Become enough of a thorn in their side and you should get close to what you deserve. Good Luck!
 
They scam people constantly. I avoid those places like the plague. A friend and a relative have both had improper oil changes done. The friend's oil filter fell off on the highway 30 minutes after the oil change and if he hadn't had an oil pressure gauge, his engine would have been toast. The relative contacted me after having some issues immediately after the oil change and so I told him to check the oil first after the car cools down. It was over filled by at least 1-2 quarts, suggesting they didn't let it drain out all the way or at all before adding oil. He took the car to the dealer because he couldn't get the drain bolt out. The dealer couldn't either and he ended up needing a new oil pan the threads were so trashed $$$.

My estimate is that 25-40% of the jobs they do they don't actually do. I have caught them not draining the transmission fluid or flushing transmission fluid several times on friend's cars. I'll simply mark the drain bolts and low and behold a socket didn't even touch them.
 
I feel the same as you guys, changed my own oil since I was 16 (except the NSX is done by Ramon).

One word: Women!

99% don't know the first thing about their vehicles and I can't really say I blame them because they're taken advantage of quite a bit.

I think the cash value for replacing the used engine is adequate compensation and fortunately the mechanic who went with her a few minutes ago already gave an estimate of what it would cost for a rebuild or replace with another used engine.
After reading through the experience of others that have dealt with this before its disheartening...
She is suppose to receive a call from district/corporate for EZ-Lube this afternoon.

Best case senario is she recieves a check for around 2k, recycles the car and Piercey hooks up a smokin deal at Planet Acura.. :wink: :tongue: :biggrin:

TBC....
 
EZ lube/Jiffy lube is a joke

The people who work there are idiots and have no idea what there doing.

I went there in the GTO and they spent like 5 min arguing who would drive it in. Then after it was in they put Different oil then what i wanted into the car. So they drained it out again and forgot to wash all the oil they spilt off of the headers. So it had to go back in for them to do that. Then they tried to sell me like 50 things that i didnt need.

Those types of places suck. I just take it to ramon :biggrin: :biggrin:


Sorry to hear about your GFs car. She should get an NSX!!! :tongue:
 
The Porsche dealer in Owings Mills, MD did the same thing to my 01 911, the engine seized about 4 miles from their dealership and after I called them, they insisted they put oil in the car and I had to sue them. I asked them if they were thinking I pulled over on the side of the road and drained the oil out, they said they have seen crazier things...

Get an attorney and demand a new engine.

Rob
 
Had J/Lube over torque the bolt in my Legend Coupe, which buckled the pan. This happened back in 1988, it was a common problem when people that didn't know the car worked on it. They paid all costs to have the pan replaced at the Acura dealer. It wasn't cheap back then. Good luck in getting satisfaction!
 
I bought a Olds Cutlass back in the day that had the exact same problem. The car was just a couple of years old when it happened and I got it for a song. Man the seats in that car were PLUSHY!!! The guy I bought it from fought with the garage for 6 months and they never fessed up.
 
Dude, that sucks. Make sure to gather supporting documentation - pictures of the clean filter, names/contact info for the mechanics as witnesses, previous service records for the car (showing that it was tip top prior), etc. I'm sure EZ Lube has had to deal with incidents like this in the past, so make sure you're prepared to do battle with them by having as much info as possible.

Good luck, and go easy on the girl. I'm sure most people (who haven't heard about EZ Lube practices) would expect the work to be done without needing to check. And most girls wouldn't know that something was wrong because it didn't feel right/made extra noise. She probably just jumped in her car, turned on the radio, and drove right off without another thought...

(lol, Laker fan.)
 
I had this happen to a Toyota Tercel I used to drive back in the day. My dear Mother decided to go get the oil changed for me "to be nice" while she was driving my car home after dropping me off at the airport. Of course they forgot to fill it back up again. They ended up replacing the motor with a rebuilt one after about 4 months of fighting. By that point I had already purchased another car so I could drive to work, etc.
 
They need to compensate you for a rebuilt engine, all labor, the tow, and the cost of a rental... Anything less than that and they are jerking you off.
 
i use to work at an instant oil change back in the days. i use to love learning on how to work on customers cars. they trusted a bunch of 19 year olds with their cars. if you do bring your car into one of those places, make sure you watch them so the work is done properly
 
A quick update....

EZ Lube issued and delivered a check yesterday to the GF's mechanic down the street for the cost of a replacement engine and labor cost for installation which came out to around $2500.
As soon as it clears they will issue her a check for that amount and are hopefully going to buy the car from her.
What is a 96 civic with a blown motor worth approx.??
 
chado said:
A quick update....

EZ Lube issued and delivered a check yesterday to the GF's mechanic down the street for the cost of a replacement engine and labor cost for installation which came out to around $2500.
As soon as it clears they will issue her a check for that amount and are hopefully going to buy the car from her.
What is a 96 civic with a blown motor worth approx.??
Click to expand...

Does it have a big ass wing? That makes a big difference as you might be able to sell it some mullet head who has plans to rebuild it.
 
steveny said:
Does it have a big ass wing? That makes a big difference as you might be able to sell it some mullet head who has plans to rebuild it.
Click to expand...

Haha. Yeah she gave me one of those looks and said "Basically my car is worth as much as your red cars' exhaust" :redface: .

It is what it is.. she actually got lucky EZ Lube f'd up because she would not have gotten even 2k for the car...
 
chado said:
A quick update....

EZ Lube issued and delivered a check yesterday to the GF's mechanic down the street for the cost of a replacement engine and labor cost for installation which came out to around $2500.
As soon as it clears they will issue her a check for that amount and are hopefully going to buy the car from her.
What is a 96 civic with a blown motor worth approx.??
Click to expand...


Just keep an eye out after you sell. In a year that car will be on the cover of some import tuner mag.
 
pvmike said:
I'm surprised they paid out that quickly. No getting around that dry oil filter I guess.
Click to expand...

I know.. the owner must have been a celtics fan! :eek:

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