Mitsubishi Warning

[Rruuff Day]

Well. Here's another dealer fiasco that my neighbour friend out here east of Red Deer had last week. Bit of story first. Last year he bought his wife a new hybrid Mitsubishi SUV from the dealership in Red Deer. She doesn't drive a lot but a couple weeks ago she took it into the dealer for it's third oil change (they use the dealer exclusively for service). Last week she left for Vancouver to visit relatives and the vehicle died just outside of Kelowna. It was towed into the Mitsubishi dealer in Kelowna where they quickly diagnosed the problem.
The oil drain plug was gone with the obvious result of a cooked engine. $9,000.00 later she was back on the road.
When my friend took his story to the Mitsubishi dealer in Red Deer, they refused any responsibility claiming how they couldn't be sure someone didn't vandalize the vehicle. Keep in mind they live on a farm out in the country. He contacted Mitsubishi Canada and they also informed him he was SOL. So at the end of the day, this dealership obviously doesn't look towards the future as this story will no doubt get passed around in this world of social media. Accepting responsibility would be minuscule to the negative advertising Mitsubishi will receive from this. I was really surprised though when Mitsubishi Canada blew him off. Not good for business in my opinion. Feel free to pass this around and save someone else from this company.

 

[gone]

No one likes to admit mistakes and it never fails to amaze me when businesses ignore PR. Another story that supports my habit of doing all my own oil/filter changes.

Years ago my brother went to a "quick oil-change business" then drove home. Fortunately it was a short trip. Upon arrival he noticed oil pooling under the car and found the drain plug missing. He immediately notified the people who did his oil change and they towed the vehicle to their business. They brought in a mechanic who checked over the engine but luckily it was OK.

Aside from that, these quick lube businesses are notorious for not draining the oil properly, in their rush to move the vehicle out and get paid.

And back to the original story, I'll certainly warn people looking to buy a Mitsubishi, with the manufacturer favouring its dealer rather than a customer who only has that dealer do servicing on the vehicle.

 

[Black 03 Z06]

I can tell you from prior experience that Mitsubishi is just a horrible company to deal with. A large part of the problem is their very poor dealership network. Get turned down by every other automobile company for a dealership and Mitsi is there waiting for you. The parent company is just about impossible to contact, your neighbour should count that alone as an accomplishment.

What a shame. 9 Grand is not chump change.

 

[Black 03 Z06]

Eric, think more about this. If the dealer accepted no responsibility for what happened and blamed "vandalism" I wonder what their insurance company would say about that?

 

[Rruuff Day]

I think he is investigating that route but if I were the insurance adjuster,I would have to do a study on how many vandals carry around a 14mm wrench and crawl under cars to loosen a drain plug, but I guess it could happen.

 

[YFCvii]

There is really no crime spree I know of with people taking oil pan drain plugs ... thieves take the car and not just the drain plug.
"Smell Test" perhaps has fault leaning toward a minimum wage Oil renew employee at the Dealership.
So the Dealership took the Covid19 BC vandalism of Alberta Plate Vehicles excuse ... geez

Thank God I have a GM as two days ago I got a message on my phone from onstar that my
Engine Light is on ... looking down ... sure enough it was On. So took it in and a day later ...
it was a wire that somehow had some of the sheathing rubbed off. Thankfully a simple issue/resolve ...
got a courtesy vehicle while being remedied as well. Kudos GM.

 

[Jeffer2013]

small claims sue the dealer and Mitch-is-a-bitch-eeeee Canada

easy leash as any judge who is awake will know thieves don’t carry mm wrenches in their back pocket

especially when they take it to the dealer for service

sue for 9 g and loss of depreciation as they will be selling the vehicle

i am in for 10% legal fees

 

[gone]

For a Court action, yes the Alberta limit in Provincial Court Civil (aka "Small Claims Court") is $50,000 so a $9,000 claim can be made at that Court level. Proving the depreciation is more difficult since an "expert" is usually required to testify about vehicle values and unless it's a higher-end value vehicle, it's usually not worth it. Filing fees are $250 and then there's the service fee on the dealership. I'm not convinced the manufacturer should be sued...unless the vehicle had a design flaw where the oil drain plugs fall out which is unlikely. The clerks at the Courthouse are usually helpful when it comes to advice for people who do this on their own or there are references available to walk people through the process.

Hopefully someone took photos of the undercarriage of the vehicle, to show (for example) that it didn't scrape or impact something which tore off the drain plug. I say this w/o knowing the set up of the vehicle and if the drain plug is "exposed" and potentially there for impact. But since vandalism is alleged by the dealer, I suspect there was no evidence of impact. If no photos then you'd have to call the tech at the Kelowna dealership who looked at the vehicle as a witness to talk about his/her observations, unless the owner made those same observations and can testify about that.

If it was "clean" and it looks like the drain plug was simply removed, then the vehicle owner would have to establish the oil was last changed by the dealership (easily done), how many miles since then, where the vehicle was when not in use (ie. in an area prone to vandalism problems?), there was no known vandalism activity happening where the vehicle was (ask the RCMP?), that there was no evidence of oil loss on the ground under the vehicle before the trip to BC or when leaving Vancouver...and perhaps (?) an auto mechanic to testify about how long a loosely installed oil drain plug might take to fall out then correlate that to the mileage on the vehicle and where it was since the oil change by the dealership or after leaving Vancouver, to better establish it's likely a loose plug as opposed to vandalism.

The burden of proof is on the claimant to establish "on a balance of probabilities" (not "beyond a reasonable doubt" which is the criminal standard) that the drain plug more than likely fell out due to improper installation as opposed to vandalism. So for $9,000 it may be worthwhile to start the action. Plus as mentioned by SN-III, your chances of success are vastly improved if you find out the tech who did the oil change wasn't very experienced. The dealer should be able to ID the tech and tell you how long he/she had been working for them and what his/her background was before hiring (ie. there might be a CV on his/her employment file at the dealership).

The main thing is whether the owner wants to go through the hassle of a claim. Most times the other side counts on people simply walking away and doing nothing about it. Even just serving the Civil Claim might attract an offer from the dealership so a trial may not be necessary. Hope this helps out.

 

[Black 03 Z06]

Typical wrench carried by vandals. Who needs a 14 mmm wrench when this one takes all plugs out. The only unknown is how their pants stay up with this in their pocket?

 

[Rruuff Day]

Our thieves out here carry that in their backpack... along with their jack-all sticking out the top...No lie...have seen this on a vagrants back in Red Deer. A jack-all is very handy for spreading door frames open past the latch..Yeah yeah... How do I know that? Was robbed twice in my previous acreage just outside Red Deer. One booted the door until the frame split... the other jacked the frame open. Told the cop I wished I'd been home.

 

[gone]

Our thieves out here carry that in their backpack... along with their jack-all sticking out the top...No lie...have seen this on a vagrants back in Red Deer. A jack-all is very handy for spreading door frames open past the latch..Yeah yeah... How do I know that? Was robbed twice in my previous acreage just outside Red Deer. One booted the door until the frame split... the other jacked the frame open. Told the cop I wished I'd been home.

Shhhhhhhhhh...you're taking away from the ability of your neighbour to successfully sue the Mitsubishi dealership...

 

[tyho]

Sure ... I can see a vandal crawling underneath the car with a wrench and taking off the oil drain plug. Must be a special vandal since most just scratch the paint, break a window or burn the car after stealing parts.
I remember hearing several years ago Mitsubishi pulled their car sales out of Canada. I guess I heard wrong, but with that kind of service, the writing is on the wall.

 

[EJChevy]

If she managed to drive so far, I'd say the drain plug was installed, but not tightened properly. A car would barely make it around the block if the drain plug was never installed. Our Canadian Tire around the corner didn't install a drain plug once. It barely left the parking lot before the engine seized.

Not being tightened, it could have worked its way loose from the bumpy roads/vibrations and eventually fallen out.

Best of luck to your friend dealing with that dealership.

 

[LE BARON]

If she managed to drive so far, I'd say the drain plug was installed, but not tightened properly. A car would barely make it around the block if the drain plug was never installed. Our Canadian Tire around the corner didn't install a drain plug once. It barely left the parking lot before the engine seized.

Not being tightened, it could have worked its way loose from the bumpy roads/vibrations and eventually fallen out.

Best of luck to your friend dealing with that dealership.

They gotta be really thick if they did not even install the plug!
Should have noticed all the oil on the floor. Hmm! Maybe they didn't even bother to put the oil in. LOL

 

[tyho]

Some dealers just have bad mechanics. I bought Kia Sportage 7 years ago. The dealer had to fix a minor scuff on the car that required removal of the driver's side rear wheel. When I picked the car up I noticed a vibration, especially on higher speeds. I took it back to the dealer and they couldn't find anything wrong. The vibration got worse so on my way back to the dealer I saw a lady behind me frantically waving her hands and pointing at my car. I got out at a red light and saw the rear wheel was almost off. The idiot who worked on my car didn't tighten the lugs. Needless to say, when I got to the dealer, after hand tightening the lugs, I was rather unpleasant. Mistakes are made but some are just ridiculous.

 

[Rruuff Day]

They gotta be really thick if they did not even install the plug!
Should have noticed all the oil on the floor. Hmm! Maybe they didn't even bother to put the oil in. LOL

Lol... the plug had to have been installed somewhat. It's 20 km from the dealer to his home. It was definitely in but not tightened from the dealer

 

[JCWP]

Well. Here's another dealer fiasco that my neighbour friend out here east of Red Deer had last week. Bit of story first. Last year he bought his wife a new hybrid Mitsubishi SUV from the dealership in Red Deer. She doesn't drive a lot but a couple weeks ago she took it into the dealer for it's third oil change (they use the dealer exclusively for service). Last week she left for Vancouver to visit relatives and the vehicle died just outside of Kelowna. It was towed into the Mitsubishi dealer in Kelowna where they quickly diagnosed the problem.
The oil drain plug was gone with the obvious result of a cooked engine. $9,000.00 later she was back on the road.
When my friend took his story to the Mitsubishi dealer in Red Deer, they refused any responsibility claiming how they couldn't be sure someone didn't vandalize the vehicle. Keep in mind they live on a farm out in the country. He contacted Mitsubishi Canada and they also informed him he was SOL. So at the end of the day, this dealership obviously doesn't look towards the future as this story will no doubt get passed around in this world of social media. Accepting responsibility would be minuscule to the negative advertising Mitsubishi will receive from this. I was really surprised though when Mitsubishi Canada blew him off. Not good for business in my opinion. Feel free to pass this around and save someone else from this company.

I bought a new Outlander Sport in 2011. Only drove it in the fall/winter - vette rest of the time. Long story short - 3 years later - not a lot of mileage - my down shift paddle not working. Take it in: $400 to replace the motor/switch - past the 3 year warranty for this item. They would not give me a break; so, I did not fix - can still down shift using the main shifter. I really like the new Outlander - much better vehicle than mine in so many ways; but, GD way am I going to buy another Mitsubishi product. Their service is great and very inexpensive - but, no new vehicle.

 

[Morby]

We have a Volvo XC60 with 210K km on her and about to give it to my daughter. Two weeks ago, my wife took it to a local quick lube place in Spruce Grove. She called from the dealership asking if the car was making noise prior to then.... apparently, it was making noise after the oil change. I asked what kind of noise and she said, " pinging and ticking"... (insert obvious remarks here). After a bunch of checking, they put the appropriate amount of oil in the engine, but after a tow job to Volvo, the Volvo mechanic found chewed up plastic pieces on the topside of the engine......(WTF?) Volvo determined that the oil technicians jammed the oil fill hose into the filler, knocking the plastic strainer into the valve train. After startup, they heard a noise (turns out the pinging and ticking was this plastic getting hammered around in the engine).... luckily, Volvo makes this strainer out of a material that will break down and not do damage..... I've always been an OEM supporter, but now my wife is as well!

 

[nascar03]

Oil light..? Oil gauge..? Warning light..?
Do cars shut-off if the oil pressure drops enough?
My power washer has a feature where if the oil(pressure or volume?) is low the machine stops and will not start.

graham

 

[Cariboocreek]

Oil light..? Oil gauge..? Warning light..?
Do cars shut-off if the oil pressure drops enough?
My power washer has a feature where if the oil(pressure or volume?) is low the machine stops and will not start.

graham

So does my lawn mower....my generator. But they are all Honda.