New Jersey Lincoln dealer oil change gone awry?

mchan68 · February 17, 2008

Keith, look what I came across on Yahoo! Answers. Do you know this dealer? Read the details below:

Quote:

How did Holman Lincoln Mercury Dealer in Turnersville, NJ break my engine doing a routine oil change?

I took my 1994 Lincoln Mark VIII to the Holman Lincoln Mercury Dealer at 3541 Route 42 in Turnersville, NJ 08012 on Saturday Feb 16, 2008 to have an oil change done. I also wanted them to run a diagnostic on the Power Steering to tell me if I had a problem with it.

2 Hours later Ms, Jakacki called me and told me that after doing the oil change my car is making some awful noise and that it is not drivable. I asked her what happened. She said that she did not know. I said "fix it". She was silent. I said "let me be clear about this...I am not paying for you to fix it. You broke it now fix it." She said "We didn't break it. We are going to do an investigation and try to determine what is broken" I said "what is the investigation for? You have told me before investigating that you did not break it..am I supposed to believe that after the fox investigates the hen house you are going to tell me anything different?"

There is some noise in my engine now. I am without transportation.

2 hours ago - 1 week left to answer.

Additional Details

2 hours ago

Ok, so I drove it into the shop. I even started it up for the service Manager to let her hear the power steering. It was running fine. The oil change was not even due for another 400 miles. Now the car is undrivable.

Who pays to fix this problem?

1 hour ago

They diagnosed the power steering and told me that I needed a pump. I had set that appointment up for the following Saturday. In the mean time they proceeded with the oil change and afterwards it became "undrivable". The car was inspected in December of 2007 and had an oil change done with no problems. The car was running tip top. The power steering pump was all that was wrong with it. The cold weather affects it and I wanted to have it looked at.

The oil change was $35 dollars...same as Jiffy lube or anyone else...so what is the difference.

I took it to a dealer because I saw the big Lincoln sign out front and figured that they would be someone that I could trust to work on my Lincoln. I am in New Jersey and normally have it worked on in Virginia.

Obviously I was wrong about Holman being someone that I could trust.

BTW The car was not due for another oil change for one month or 400 miles. I decided to get it done early because I have always taken good care of my car.

Keith Browning · February 17, 2008

Mike I have heard of the Holman name but that is about it. I don't even know where Turnersville is. But this is another shining example of the Internet allowing complete idiots speak out. What I mean is that there are way too many facts about the car itself for anyone involved to be making any kind of accusation or denial.

Jim Warman · February 17, 2008

Not defending the dealer, Mike, but this is a little too open ended for anything constructive.

Obviously, the guy is upset... upset enough to post the name of the dealer....

And, shit happens (boy, does it happen - more on that in a bit). We are human... that's our first mistake. It is easy to have a lapse of consciousness, judgement or just plain not double check ourselves.

The first instinct of the dealer is to deny involvemnet... bad move since this closes too many doors too soon... This dealer should have determined the reason for this new concern BEFORE contacting the customer. If they are guilty... then admit it, fix it and move on.

At the same time, there are numerous instances where I see cars that are running "prefect" are cars I wouldn't let my wife drive up town.

for the more later.... in one week, not so long ago... thanks to my over-supply of geniuses.... I had a 7.3 towed in missing the oil pan drain plug (I was forced to work outside in -40 to get this puppy back on the road... thank God for the "Murphy switch" action of the high pressure oil system).. A few days earlier, a Taurus had been towed in. On this particular day, on the advice of an apprentice, we hired a tow truck to bring this car into the shop because "there is nowhere to push" (you can hear me start to sizzle just thinking of it, right?). We'd done a heater core and coolant flush on it about two weeks previous. Turn the car over.... hmmmm - not much compression there. Degas bottle is empty and, when I remove the cap I get a face full of "death smell". Drain some coolant off the bottom of the rad.... and it's good to a whopping minus 20.

I find out later that the customer played a large role in the demise of this engine.. but it is, never-the-less, our baby.

Holmans customer hasn't mentioned any involvement with anyone higher on the food chain than an SA... It sounds like the SA is a young lady with little experience.... I'll bet she's scared shitless... Be interesting to see how that one plays out....

We all fuck up... if we have knowledge and common sense, we can recover gracefully.

"You're still young, that's your fault,

There's so much you have to know." - Cat Stevens (Islam Yussuf)

Mercifully, Saturday AM dawned with me having one less Einstein in my stable.... even though I had to work till 6 o'clock to make up for the "loss".

LARRY BRUDZYNSKI · February 19, 2008

Quote:

thank God for the "Murphy switch"

Jim /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbup.gif I'm glad I'm not the only one that has seen the Murphy systems. I just wish that the oe's would start using them. They have been around since 1939, almost as long as you /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smirk.gif just kidding. It would be nice to see something more like the Murphy switch on some of these vehicles. Force the customers to hold the button down until oil pressure builds and is able to fire the engine.

Check it out
http://www.fwmurphy.com/products/magnetic_switches_Tattletale/standard.htm

As for the other dealer and the Lincoln, I think that there is more than what has been said. The other dealer deserves the right to respond as to what happened to the car. Anybody out there remember sending the older used cars to auction and putting Motor honey,STP, and any other thick goo in the oil just to quite down the rod knocks? Who knows what was done to the car before or during the service visit, it's a he said/she said. But the other dealer needs to respond to the complaint with his/their side of the story.

Brad Clayton · February 19, 2008

All of our diesel engines at the ski resort have these to keep dumb ass lift operators from destroying the powerplants if something is a miss at initial start up.