Long story short, I gave my year old Kia Optima to AC for its first service last week, I have a 4 year service plan with them. All good so far. Today I parked it outside my house after a short trip and notice that there was oil pouring from the engine onto the street. I followed the resultant oil slick on foot and about half an a mile later I found the beginning of it and low and behold I found a nice shiney sump plug on the road. Back to the car and sure enough, no plug! So, they now have the car back and i am expecting a call from them tomorrow. He car has done 17 miles since the service. I’ve got a courtesy at at the moment, which is a bloody van so not ideal.
As it stands, I will be asking for a full, independent report as to the state of the engine, a deep clean of the underside and in particular the brakes and some admission of liability from AC just in case of future engine related issues.
Is there any other reasonable requests I should make of them?
I accept full responsibility for this event because I became an Arnold Clark customer!!

For half a mile with oil pouring out I reckon I’d just be pissed off (but obviously not surprised, as you say, Arnold Clark innit) but not concerned. The car likely has an oil level sensor, if that warning hasn’t triggered then I really wouldn’t be concerned

Yeah, no dash lights and still pouring out once I’d come to rest so I’m hopeful no long term damage…but still, it’s a pisser!

That. But make them pay for someone to check the engine anyway.

Somebody’s getting a roasting for sure!

My mechanic fried reiterates at every opportunity his appentiship mantra that was drilled into him: never EVER go under the car to fit the sump plug unless you have the correct wrench to tighten it – and dont come back from under til that task is complete and you’ve checked.

He employs lots of guys now: give’s them this message. But he still gets to collect cars from the roadside with no sump plug!

I suspect your’s is fine given you’ve spotted it.

But then it’s Arnold Clark – I’d be worried about what else they’ve missed.

If only there was some way of changing the oil without removing the sump plug?

At least I am in no doubt that the engine will definitely have had an oil change!😁

Refund and top the oil back up for free.

Quite how they managed to screw the plug back in, but only just enough for it to drop out again is odd, they must have just turned it by barely a thread?? That’s pretty special lol

At least they didnt do what they did to mates car – 9ltrs of oil instead of 4.5Ltr
Self ignited as it was a deisel and the crank slap created enough fog to run without adding fuel Then it sat the redline while evryone bailed then something major internal failed and it stopped
Think both the mechanic and the apprentice added oil independantly of each other

I’m not sure how much detail I can give as going through legal procedings at the moment, so I won’t give any details the can identify anyone, but AC managed to mess up a job in a way that the throttle stuck on (at 100%) and the front brakes were loose to the point where full braking trying to slow the car caused them to fail. Would have been a truly horrible accident as 140mph was achieved before the driver realised to knock out of gear/dip clutch.

Less than 5 year old car was still a write off and they’re insisting the service 15 miles earlier had no effect

And that’s why I do all my own work on my car. I don’t trust anyone in a garage! Likewise a bike shop.

Perchy to the forum, he’s a proper fan of Arnold.

It’s like halfords.

But with higher staff turnover and worse morals

I too succumbed to the allure of the cheapest prices around when we bought the Volvo.
It had the slightest radiator leak from a dent in the bottom. Arnold Shark agreed to replace the radiator as part of the purchase, and so a week after I bought it, dropped it off with them in Stirling.

When I collected it the low coolant light was on. I asked them to check and top up.
One cup of coffee later I was given the keys again.
As I pulled out the coolant light came on.
Back in for another brew and wait, the mechanics were now going home…
Service manager was nowhere to be seen, and so I and one of the sales chaps had to explain the the apprentice mechanic that air was in the system – and a good squishy squish of pipes while running would purge the air and allow more coolant could be added.

Utter tools.

I said 20 years ago when I bought a Peugeot from them ‘never again’.
I’m back at ‘never again’.

You won’t have an oil level light but will have an oil pressure light. If it didn’t go off while you were driving then the chances are the leak rate of oil was not high enough to drain the oil before you completed your journey.

Not necessarily Arnold clark. Exactly the same thing happened to a mate of mine with his shiny new Audi TT after a service. Got it home and parked up on his newly laid block paved drive. Woke up in the morning to a big oil slick running all the way down his drive. Sump plug not tightened up properly. Audi took the car away to sort it out and paid for a professional clean of his drive.

Evans Halshaw are just as bad.

I wouldn’t trust them to service a skateboard.

Probably. Absolute shower of excrement.

Funnily enough, my previous, and probably ill advised AC purchase was a Peugeot 508 with another 4 year service plan. Absolutely no problems what so ever with that. Go figure!

Anyway, will be asking for an independent report at their expense, refund on the cost of service, real risk of contamination of brake pads so I will have them replaced too thanks very much! And…an air freshener so I can negotiate down if necessary!😁 wish me luck!!

and some admission of liability from AC

I mean this genuinely, but good luck with that. When I got done over by them, they did everything they could to shift the blame onto me, they even went as far as calling me a liar.
I think my favourite part of the debacle was when I realised it was a culture thing, the parts manager came onto the showroom floor F’ing and jeffing because that dickhead customer was on the phone again and he was coming in to see them with yet another problem. I realised they treat everyone like shit, not just me.

What is being done about the oil all over the road? Sounds like sufficient to cause a cyclist or motorbike to crash and a risk of an environmental hazard by getting into surface drains or water courses.

I won’t give any details the can identify anyone, but AC

What?

140mph was achieved before the driver realised to knock out of gear/dip clutch.

What?

For balance, I’ve bought my last five cars fRom AC motorstore and all been perfect. Not done servicing there due to distance from home but the cars have been faultless.

140mph was achieved before the driver realised to knock out of gear/dip clutch.

What?

I’d imagine blind panic was the major contributor.

I’d imagine blind panic was the major contributor.

Seems a bit at odds with the username though.

real risk of contamination of brake pads

How ?

If your trying for brake pads – you best try for exhaust rubbers and wishbone mounts and all the other rubber under the car that *could* be contaminated with oil.

at best you’ll get a steam clean of the underside of your car

AC set the tone with me when they recommended an aircon gas change as it “would have got bacteria in it”

The service manage actually looked offended when I laughed at him.

@thew… I contacted the roads authority myself and a treatment truck did attend.
@trail rat.. really? You dont think that risk exists, oil being pumped from a pressurised system onto wet roads at speeds up to 40mph? Also, brake pads, as you may be aware, are an essential element for reducing your vehicles speed, especially if you were going fast, like 140mph fast😉, so that’s the reason I will argue for that. As for the rubbers and bushings, thanks for the advice, I will go for that too!🤣

your sump is not pressurised.

If it is – we might have a reason for your sump plug going MIA.

unless you were pulling some sick G its not getting to your brake pads

by all means try it. I’m pretty sure it will be laughed out the building.

exupmonkey

Member

Funnily enough, my previous, and probably ill advised AC purchase was a Peugeot 508 with another 4 year service plan. Absolutely no problems what so ever with that. Go figure!

I’ve also caught Arnold Clark not doing the service work they said they did…..

@trailrat…I will bow to your clearly superior knowledge on the subject. So what remedy would you be happy with if you were in my position then, top up with oil and a handshake or would you demand some other, less laugh inducing remedy?

@thew… I contacted the roads authority myself and a treatment truck did attend.

Nice one, wouldn’t have occurred to most people I reckon. Suppose your username should have given me a clue it’s a problem you may have encountered personally… 👍

top up with oil and a handshake or would you demand some other, less laugh inducing remedy

tbh I think I’d just go for that, it’s all you’re realistically likely to get anyway. If the brake pads are contaminated by oil, you’d know it already

as i said – a steam clean of the underside of the car.

fresh oil

Some kind of goodwill gesture for their **** up/your inconvenience.

But chasing for new brake pads etc benefits no one.

@thhew…haha, the Exup, been a few years since I wrestled with that beast! Its ZZR1400monkey now, a far more civilised machine. Well, maybe I am harbouring unrealistic expectations then, but I shall be asking the questions anyeay and see what happens. Thanks all for your input, its always good to get a wider perspective. 😊

I don’t think this sort of thing is just AC, it’s more a main dealer thing. I got my last van from a local independent dealer, one of the few left as AC have taken almost everything around here.
They’re shite, I can’t really se AC being much different.

I’d think the brakes have every chance of getting contaminated. The turbulence on the underside of a vehicle at speed means the oil doesn’t flow out in a nice predictable way like it does in a garage.
I’m just thinking back to some of the shitty leaky vehicles I’ve had in the past. They leak oil onto the drive at rest, but the underside of the car will likely be well covered in an oily mess. It blows around.

Oliverracings post brings back memories of doing the same thing as a spotty yoof. Albeit driving a dumper 🙂 Blind panic was indeed involved…

As it stands, I will be asking for a full, independent report as to the state of the engine

Given that the purpose of the oil is, basically, to lubricate the bearings are you expecting them to completely tear your engine down to check them for damage?

You say you did a short trip home after the service, but you also say that the cars done 17 miles since the service…. Is this the short trip?

Get them to see why the sump plug came out (they may have tried to fit one from another car or the sump threads may be damaged), fill up with oil and learn from your mistake of going to AC in the first place!

I can remember being stunned when a friend told me his car didn’t have a drain plug. But I can see now that there are benefits.

Fifth Gear did a thing where they drive a car with no oil…

Arnold Clark managed to do similar to my car but at the other side of the engine. They left the filler cap undone. The car developed a weird uneven idle, when I lifted the bonnet to have a look I spotted it straight away.

It’s the second time they made an arse of a simple service job. I’ve not been near them since.