# Car maintenance snafu (new oil pan) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 27, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-maintenance-snafu-new-oil-pan/594293 "2011-08-27T15:42:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-maintenance-snafu-new-oil-pan/594293/21 "2011-08-28T14:02:36Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > the oil drain plug is not a typical “wear item” like brakes, tie rods/ball joints, bushings, etc. by and large it can only be damaged by mishandling. Yup. And at only 4 years old and 80,000 the car is not ‘old’ at all. The shop screwed up. > [@](#): > > I was wondering about that. The oil pan and the plug are passive parts. They just sit there. So, aside from the aluminum washer mentioned above, how can the service manager claim that parts just wear out? He was lying. ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-maintenance-snafu-new-oil-pan/594293/22 "2011-08-28T14:07:49Z")
Of my cars, the 86 park avenue, 89 acclaim and 96 civic, and 02 tundra did not have crush washers. Both my newest cars, an 06 CR-V and a 09 Sedona do have crush washers, so it isn’t just honda that has them. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-maintenance-snafu-new-oil-pan/594293/23 "2011-08-28T16:52:26Z")
From **Joey P** > [@](#): > > The customer blames the shop and that’s how it should be. It’s the shop’s responsibility to make it right. From there the shop can blame the company they bought it from and they can blame the company they bought it from until it eventually gets back to someone who decides it’s cheap enough to eat the cost or it gets back to the manufacturer who will either scrap it or figure out why it failed. If the component that failed was outsourced they’ll take it up with the company they bought the component from. But the customer, having bought something that failed within 5 minutes is going to deal with the person they just gave their money to. > Are you suggesting that if I got a new alternator that failed within the first five minutes that I should attempt to figure out who the manufacturer is and try to get them to replace it? You didn’t read thru the whole thread. I said in my first post that this would be a no-brainer - our shop would make it good (implying “without hassle”), and probably furnish a rental car without charge. The shop is always responsible (or should be) for whatever parts they install. We sometimes have some serious losses here. Parts suppliers will usually reimburse us for replacement of bad parts, but rarely for the labor that is lost in removing the bad part and then reinstalling a replacement. Where this gets financially nasty is if the part is something like an engine, where the labor cost of all that nonsense can be in the thousands. The first duty of a good auto repair shop is not (although some Dopers may not believe this) to extract every dime possible from a customer, but to instead send away a happy customer that will return the next time - hopefully, at the same time, making enough profit to stay in business. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-maintenance-snafu-new-oil-pan/594293/24 "2011-08-28T18:16:36Z")
> [@bahia\_hombre](#): > > I’ve been through this with my Honda Accord. There is a 1/4" soft aluminum washer that goes with the plug for proper spacing; after x number of oil changes and plug-tightening at various shops it got smashed flat, leading to the thread-stripping. The washer is supposed to be replaced each time so now I keep extras in the car and give them a new one (if I don’t forget) each time to prevent it happening again. > > “goons on the end of those wrenches” (Marconi N. Cheese) Why would you take your car to a shop that does not stock a full 33.3% of the parts necessary to do a proper oil change? (The other 66.6% being the filter and oil). If I took my car to a shop and they did not change the washer it would be the only two visits I ever made there (my first and last) “We don’t have parts for you car or we don’t know the proper way to do the simplest service, but come on down.” and you go there. ::: scratches head, and wanders muttering::: ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-maintenance-snafu-new-oil-pan/594293/25 "2011-08-28T20:33:48Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > You didn’t read thru the whole thread. I said in my first post that this would be a no-brainer - our shop would make it good (implying “without hassle”), and probably furnish a rental car without charge. Sure I did. > [@Daylate](#): > > Brand new alternators, batteries, and so forth and so on are prone, far too many times, to failing after 5 minutes of use. And guess who the customer blames? So tell me, who would you suggest the customer blames? ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-maintenance-snafu-new-oil-pan/594293/26 "2011-08-28T21:04:41Z")
I guess I don’t understand what you are missing. Of course he blames the shop who sold him the part. It was ever thus, and is just a fact of life. And if the shop is run properly, they won’t try to get out of it. If I intimated in any way that the customer should try to get reimbursement from anyone but the shop it was careless writing on my part for which I apologize. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-maintenance-snafu-new-oil-pan/594293/27 "2011-08-28T21:21:59Z")
In my experience, cheap shops use air powered wrenches, and they probably use 3-4X the recomme3nded torque. Which is why so many oil pan threads get stripped-it happened to my dad once, on his Ford. You are supposed to turn the plud to hand tight, then 1/8 of a turn. Common sense, really. ---
**Author:** ![bahia\_hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@bahia\_hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bahia_hombre)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-maintenance-snafu-new-oil-pan/594293/28 "2011-08-29T00:19:58Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Why would you take your car to a shop that does not stock a full 33.3% of the parts necessary to do a proper oil change? (The other 66.6% being the filter and oil). > If I took my car to a shop and they did not change the washer it would be the only two visits I ever made there (my first and last) > “We don’t have parts for you car or we don’t know the proper way to do the simplest service, but come on down.” and you go there. > ::: scratches head, and wanders muttering::: I just didn’t know better, and I’d bet it’s the same for 3/4 of people. There are quick-lube places all over and most folks wouldn’t know to query them about whether they replace the oil drain plug washer…you’d think they’d be competent and responsible enough to do it on their own without being told, but no. Dealership service departments, maybe. We learn the hard way sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-maintenance-snafu-new-oil-pan/594293/29 "2011-08-29T00:54:45Z")
We LOVE quick lube places. Get a whole lot of major repair (up to new engine installation) from them. You’d be amzed at the number of minimum wage techs. out there that don’t really understand the concept of replacing an oil drain plug. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-maintenance-snafu-new-oil-pan/594293/30 "2011-08-31T22:07:54Z")
Update: The dealership apparently has oil pans in stock (perhaps indicating this has happened before?) - that’s why they were able to do the replacement reasonably quickly. My friend has decided to seek reimbursement. First step was to have a lawyer friend draft a stern letter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-maintenance-snafu-new-oil-pan/594293.md?page=1)