Always check to cover your a$$.

[racingron]

Had my oil changed at the dealership about a 1000 miles decided to check the oil in all my vehicles and to my surprise (just kidding) the oil in my 1LE was at least 3-4 quarts low. Now its at the dealership, I asked the service advisor what his game plan was and he said to top it off? I gave him a look and then he said they would drain it? I told him that it will take more than that to figure out whats going on. H ad to leave before I lost it. Will update tomorrow.

[Dirtdog]

Which dealer in AZ? and its take about 20minutes to change ur own oil and is a lot cheaper... just sayin

[RobertRS]

Originally Posted by Comrando

Are you saying you had it changed 1000 miles ago and hadn't checked it since?

I make a habit of checking mine the next morning even if I do it myself.

Why did you leave it at the dealer? Couldn't they change it as you waited?

I think he's saying that his car just has 1000 miles on it and already used 3-4 quarts of oil... But I hear you, as I've checked ours at least 4 or five times since new so as to get a feel for whether it uses any or not. Always check it in the same place in the garage for consistent readings. I'm thinking his dealer has it to maybe determine whether it has an issue with respect to excessive oil consumption. What's not clear is whether it was topped off when purchased new and already used this much.

[firestone_ss]

answer is they failed to fill it when you had it serviced. The lube guy put 5 qts of generic oil in it, you cant lose what you never had. Just ask for them to make it right by you and move on, if they balk find a new place to go. I still don't understand the dealership thing anyways the techs aren't changing oil the lube guys are now that's scary.

[racingron]

To answer all those replies, Is that my Camaro has 5000 miles on it and I was getting those free oil changes from the dealer. I should have checked behind them sooner haha my fault. I do believe that the dealer only put 5 qts. in instead of 8. Then I drove it for a 1000 miles after.

[ba2ss]

Originally Posted by Dirtdog

Which dealer in AZ? and its take about 20minutes to change ur own oil and is a lot cheaper... just sayin

this, I don't trust any one changing my oil

[CamaroCracka]

Originally Posted by Comrando

Well it shouldn't have starved for oil. The reason it holds eight is mainly for cooling. So if you didn't drive it really hard you should be fine.

Originally Posted by firestone_ss

answer is they failed to fill it when you had it serviced. The lube guy put 5 qts of generic oil in it, you cant lose what you never had. Just ask for them to make it right by you and move on, if they balk find a new place to go. I still don't understand the dealership thing anyways the techs aren't changing oil the lube guys are now that's scary.

I don't get the love affair with the dealer either. Some of them higher two crappy techs to do the work of one good one so you pay top dollar for the same scrub you find at a tire place. I wish I could find an honest shop around her because I'm up to my ears in chit to do, but no such luck.

[EMB135Driver]

Check it before you start it to leave the dealership.....hasn't failed me yet.

[2014camaro]

Same exact thing just happened to me, got oil changed three weeks ago and today ir gave me low oil level. I put 4 quarts in it and also put the car on a lift and its leaking from my filter

[Chevy_cowboy]

Originally Posted by racingron

To answer all those replies, Is that my Camaro has 5000 miles on it and I was getting those free oil changes from the dealer. I should have checked behind them sooner haha my fault. I do believe that the dealer only put 5 qts. in instead of 8. Then I drove it for a 1000 miles after.

Turns out those "free" oil changes aren't such a great deal eh?

This is why I very seldom let anyone else work on my stuff... I end up having to double check every thing they did which typically takes as long as just doing the job myself. Just makes more sense to do it myself.

Unless you went road racing or drove it really hard during that 1000 miles, chances are you didn't do any harm to it

[IOMss11]

If I take my oil to get changed I buy it myself and watch them drain and change filters, and put the (8) quarts if Mobil 1 oil it's supposed to run in, so no second guessing. Never mess around with that stuff

[Evergreen6]

Originally Posted by 2014camaro

Same exact thing just happened to me, got oil changed three weeks ago and today ir gave me low oil level. I put 4 quarts in it and also put the car on a lift and its leaking from my filter

In the OP's case, I would think that "3-4 quarts low" would have set off a light.

I think "3-4 quarts low" is an estimation, since the dipstick really only shows about 1-1.5 quarts of fluid level from the tip of the stick to the top of the hash marks. Unless it's different for you big-engine guys, but I thought most dipsticks are pretty standard.


This is one more reason I do as much of my own maintenance work as I can.

-The oil gets filled to the proper level and the correct weight and type of oil is used, EVERY TIME.

-The drain plug NEVER gets overtightened or cross-threaded.

-The filter housing or cartridge casing NEVER gets torqued on too tight.

-The tire pressure is always checked and corrected, and never over-filled.

-The washer fluid reservoir always gets filled up with washer fluid, and not tap water.

-Wheel lug nuts are uniformly hand-torqued to spec and are never over-tightened

-All other fluids get checked, never just a "meh, looks good, I'm sure everything else is fine" -type inspection.

-There's never a tech or lot attendant having a bad day moving the car around or working under the hood.


Is all this worth maybe an hour of my time, in my own garage, with good music playing, wrenching on a hot car? Abso-friggin-lutely.

[Ragnar]

OP, stories like this are way to common. I change my own fluids, maintenance is very easy on our cars!

[Trob85]

Changing your oil is the easiest thing to do I would always do it even if it is free. Plus you can pick the oil you use, I'm not certain, but I would guess they just use their cheapest oil which you don't want anyways.