Oil exchange

Bernice Burke

New Member
Jurisdiction
Idaho
I got an oil change at the end of January April 26 going down the highway the oil plug fell out which in turn froze my engine how to I go about suing Walmart and apparently this same Walmart is famous for not tighting stuff down
 
I got an oil change at the end of January April 26 going down the highway the oil plug fell out which in turn froze my engine how to I go about suing Walmart and apparently this same Walmart is famous for not tighting stuff down
after 3 months there's no way you can show that Walmart caused the failure.
 
Agreed. The incident is too far removed from the date of service to reasonably connect them. After that long you should have been able to detect a loose bolt pretty easily during regular inspections.
 
Agreed. The incident is too far removed from the date of service to reasonably connect them. After that long you should have been able to detect a loose bolt pretty easily during regular inspections.
The oil pan plug isn't something that is inspected on a daily or even weekly basis. I don't fault the OP for not knowing if it was loose. I just believe that the OP won't be able to show that the failure occurred because the oil change shop did something wrong.
 
I don't fault the OP for not knowing if it was loose.

you should have been able to detect a loose bolt pretty easily during regular inspections.

going down the highway the oil plug fell out

The OP admitted to the oil plug "falling out" while driving the vehicle on a highway.

If the oil plug fell out, it wasn't just lose, it was missing.

To know the plug was missing, one would have to know the oil went missing, too.

I see no liability against anyone today, months after the oil plug and the oil went AWOL.
 
The OP admitted to the oil plug "falling out" while driving the vehicle on a highway.

If the oil plug fell out, it wasn't just lose, it was missing.
It was loose prior be being missing ;)

To know the plug was missing, one would have to know the oil went missing, too.
It would be a nearly simultaneous event. The loss of oil out of the drain plug hole while one is driving on the highway would lead pretty quickly to catastrophic engine damage. Yes, if the OP had immediately recognized the issue and turned the engine off at the first sign of a loss of oil pressure, the engine might have been saved, but one would have to have immediate understanding of the problem and lightning-quick reflexes (not to mention lady luck in the passenger seat and a dozen rabbit's feet in the glovebox) in order to prevent damage. Even if the engine could be saved, it would likely need some repairs.

I see no liability against anyone today, months after the oil plug and the oil went AWOL.
I agree, except the alleged negligent act that purportedly led to the loss of the plug and oil occurred months ago...we're only about a month past the actual loss of the plug and oil.
 
It was loose prior be being missing

That might be true, but OP failed to mention anything about that.

OP only admitted to knowing the plug went AWOL.

I don't know of any way to legally prove Walmart did anything, but charge for an oil change.

I know a manager of a Walmart vehicle service center.
He attends the same house of worship I do.
He has told me and others NEVER to allow anyone at any Walmart to service a motor vehicle.

oil change at the end of January

April 26 going down the highway the oil plug fell out

OP admits to an ALLEGED oil change late January, and says oil plug DISAPPEARED late April.

Sadly I see no legal remedy available to OP today.

Walmart might offer some act of kindness if the right person in power was approached.
 
After that long you should have been able to detect a loose bolt pretty easily during regular inspections.

BWAHAHAHAHAH!!! The notion that normal people slide under their cars on any sort of regular basis to inspect the tightness of their oil pan bolts is beyond absurd.


While I tend to agree that the passage of time between the "oil change at the end of January" and the bolt falling out on April 26 will make this a more difficult case than if it happened, e.g., in February, I don't think it's fatal to the case.

Hopefully the OP will come back and tell us what's happened over the last month.
 
That might be true, but OP failed to mention anything about that.
It's the nature of things. It has to be loose in order to fall out. If it were tight, it wouldn't fall out.

OP only admitted to knowing the plug went AWOL.
But I do see your point, from a semantical point of view (yes, it's a made up word). Oh, hey, it's a real word after all!

I don't know of any way to legally prove Walmart did anything, but charge for an oil change.
Agreed.

I know a manager of a Walmart vehicle service center.
He attends the same house of worship I do.
He has told me and others NEVER to allow anyone at any Walmart to service a motor vehicle.
I'm a believer!



OP admits to an ALLEGED oil change late January, and says oil plug DISAPPEARED late April.
This is true.

Sadly I see no legal remedy available to OP today.

Walmart might offer some act of kindness if the right person in power was approached.
Yep Yep
 
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What is absurd is not immediately doing so before driving away. Same with lug nuts after a tire change.
I've been getting oil changes for well over 30 years and, unless I did it myself, never even considered crawling under the car to verify that the plug was tightened. I'm willing to be that 99%+ of the non-mechanic population is the same as me.
 
I've been getting oil changes for well over 30 years and, unless I did it myself, never even considered crawling under the car to verify that the plug was tightened. I'm willing to be that 99%+ of the non-mechanic population is the same as me.

I used to be that way. Until about the time I drove out of the oil change place and saw all my oil coming out the bottom of the car about a mile down the road.

Now I make them let me watch the guy in the pit tighten it.


ETA: What's funny about the above is that grammatical error I made was because I was about to type, "Until about 5 or 6 years ago..." and stopped when I realized it was almost 15 years ago.
 
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I've been getting oil changes for well over 30 years and, unless I did it myself, never even considered crawling under the car to verify that the plug was tightened. I'm willing to be that 99%+ of the non-mechanic population is the same as me.

Ditto that, and no judge in the country would rule that, "despite the fact that the mechanic screwed up, I find in favor of the mechanic because the plaintiff didn't crawl under the vehicle regularly to ensure that the oil pan bolt was actually tightened."
 
I've been getting oil changes for well over 30 years and, unless I did it myself, never even considered crawling under the car to verify that the plug was tightened. I'm willing to be that 99%+ of the non-mechanic population is the same as me.

Well I guess it is the mechanic in me that doesn't trust the work of others.
 
I used to be that way. Until about the time I drove out of the oil change place and saw all my oil coming out the bottom of the car about a mile down the road.

Now I make them let me watch the guy in the pit tighten it.


ETA: What's funny about the above is that grammatical error I made was because I was about to type, "Until about 5 or 6 years ago..." and stopped when I realized it was almost 15 years ago.
Time flies when you're gettin' old.
 
Well I guess it is the mechanic in me that doesn't trust the work of others.
Fair enough.
I've never had a reason to not trust the folks doing my oil changes.
But...I don't go to Walmart for that either ;)
 
If the oil pan drain plug was loose over several months there would be a major puddle of oil under where the car was parked each day. Too bad OP didn't notice it.
 
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