Scary Situation

Yesterday I took my 2020 TRD Off Road to the dealership to get the oil changed. Normally I do it myself, but I was out already and didn't have time. Traditionally this dealership is awesome and I actually used to work for them when I was in college. They bring my car around the building, park it and let me know it's ready. I got out, crank it up and alarms start going off on the dash "low oil pressure, pull over and turn vehicle off". I pop the hood, check the lipstick and......BONE DRY!!! They forgot to put oil in it. I know mistakes happen and I walked in and told the service advisor. He was genuinely concerned and he had his head technician go out, full check it, put oil in it and profusely apologized. I drove it all day and no issues seemed to pop up. I know some residual oil was still in there, but I say ALL that long story to ask this. In reality how much damage could have been done in that slow 200 ft drive around the building to park it? Do I need to be overly concerned long term with the life of this legendary engine or do I need to chill and not worry?

 

There is no way to know how much damage was done without taking the engine apart, but there is a chance of serious bearing damage. You need to document this accident, you need to talk to the service manager and ask for extended engine warranty for issues that could be directly attributed to no oil. Typically in oil starvation circumstances crankshaft bearings go first, there is chance for rod bearing damage, there is a chance of cylinder scoring.

If there are no signs of immediate trouble, the Next step is to do oil analysis once oil is at 1000 miles, if bearing metals significantly elevated (i.e., high copper) then your engine was damaged. If not, you are likely all clear. However, don't count on this engine getting 1 mil miles.

Good luck.

 

How did those lights and warnings not appear immediately if it didn't have oil ? I would have thought those would have appeared as soon as it was started when they drove it out of the shop,it obviously didn't have any oil pressure, or did they fill it and forget to put the filter on and it all pumped out ? I would definitely be concerned, the dealership should give you a warranty on the engine

 

Engine probably saw bearing damage. Negotiate an extended engine mechanicals warranty with the dealer. If the dealer is unwilling to budge, sell it or trade it in before the OEM powertrain warranty expires. You mentioned elsewhere you bought an extended warranty? How long does it cover engine mechanicals?

Don't bother contacting Toyota corporate as this is a dealer screwup, and needs to be resolved between you and the dealer.

 

Between here and Tacoma World I see on average about one report of this every year for the past 14 years. Often the owner had driven a mile or two down the road before the oil pressure light came on. Counterintuitive but that's the real-world information.

 

At my dealership (and I would think all dealerships) have someone bring the vehicle up from the service area back to the area you receive it after service. Did they think those lights and alarms were normal?

 

Man. That’s so fucked up. A reminder to all to never give dealerships a chance.

I would document it and also call Toyota. They must give you extended warranty on the engine.

No matter how hard and profusely they apologize. It makes nothing better.

Did they drive it back there to put the oi!?

 

A much simpler way would be to take apart the oil filter and examine the pleats for metal fragments.

 

Toyota corporate will tell you to work it out with the dealer. It's no different than if your vehicle fell off the lift or clipped a wall. In fact, if the wrong dept at Toyota corporate gets wind of this, they can flag your vehicle in the system to deny OEM warranty coverage due to incorrect service action by the dealer.

And that's not even the worst thing that could happen when you get an oil change at a shop. If the vehicle injures or kills someone while in the shop's custody, the vehicle owner (i.e. you) can get sued: https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/ca...gets-sued-after-worker-dies-during-oil-change

 

Absolutely incredible, but totally expected incompetence from dealers.

If anybody is going to do incompetent work on my car, it’s going to be me. Case in point, I also started the engine once on a dry oil pan.

I’m very glad the oil pressure alarm goes off immediately and is shrill enough to leave no doubt about what was happening. In my case, I shut er down within a second of hearing the alarms, because I realized my mistake immediately. It’s been about 20k miles since my blunder, with no ill effects.

Here’s what I don’t understand however…why did they not pick up on the mistake after starting it, and during the time it took to drive it out of the bay and park it??? There’s zero chance the alarm was silent during the 1 or 2 minutes it took to reposition the car.

I’d try to get an extended warranty out of it.

 

No, they left the vehicle where it was and got a bunch Toyota oil and put it in. The kid that drove it from back had his ear buds in and either didn't see, hear or was plain clueless. I asked how it wasn't noticed and he just shook his head. I spoke to the service manager this morning and it is documented with everything that happened and I'm also going to test the oil when it has about 1000 miles of life on it. That way I can go to them with documentation of any damage. I hate it because I am (was) planning to hold on to it forever and I'm sure as heck not getting g anything coming off the lines now. Not with the issues and quality (not to mention price) of those hybrid turbo 4 bangers.

 

Also,they normally have the lowest rung employee bring the cars out. They are either too excited or too distracted to be worried about lights on the dash.

OP- Some damage has had to happen as a result of no oil driving. Have it documented with the dealership and ask if they will give you extended engine warranty. Everything else on the 4runner is replaceable. But you do not want to deal engine swap 5 years later.

 

The kid that drove it back had his ear buds in and maybe (I'm hoping) there enough residual oil left that it initially didn't register until I started it. I immediately turned it off and checked. Time will tell and so will the oil testing kit i ordered online today.

 

No, they left it where it sat and brought oil over. The head tech did a full inspection of it, the drain plug and filter. He drove it (once oil was in it) and made sure he didn't see any issues. Short of opening it up and looking inside, he took his time checking it. The service advisor just shook his head when I asked how the alarms could have been missed. He looked genuinely embarrassed.

 

Said employee may not even have a driver's license, since legally none is required to putt around on private property: https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/wh...lership-employee-was-killed-during-oil-change

 

This is why I don’t let anyone wrench on my vehicles.
That has to had done some damage to the engine. Whether it fails in 5K miles or 100K miles is the unknown.

 

I'm sorry to hear of this. It's so frustrating that something this simple was missed.

I wonder how many times this happens where they catch it after start up but before it makes it to the customer and the customer never knows.

 

I'm with you. I had a moment where time didn't allow and needed it done, so I chose the quick route and now it may cost me in the end.

 

The oil change people are just off the street people that barely understand how vehicles work.

 

So I imagine you've realized waiting 'til you could do it yourself was the better option...sorry this happened.

 

That's a really good question. The odd part, while I was in line, I was thinking "it's a Monday morning on a holiday week. I wonder if the guys working on my car are tired, hung over or in 'phone it in mode'". Maybe I should have listened to that inner voice. I just wonder if there are any remaining 2024 TRD Off Road or Pros out there still. May need to do some digging.....and maybe a Road trip.

 

Nothing happened if it was just pulled around. The parts have oil on them, and are lubricated until the oil gets warm enough to dissipate. No damage done in that short time. You caught it before any damage. Live life and move on.

 

That was my initial thought, but I get in my head and start to wonder. I'll still be cautious but I appreciate the optimistic perspective.

 

Not that it would have helped with this situation, but, in 2019 my Tacoma was in for a warranty issue, when I picked it up it felt like it was pulling to the left. When I got home I pulled the video from the dash cam, when the tech took it for a drive he floored it going down an alley with potholes and speed bumps. When I showed it to the dealer, all they offered me was a front end alignment. I still show people that video when they mention that dealer, it has cost them a lot of business.

 

You know, I didn't think to check my dash cam. Thanks for the reminder.

 

If it records the interior sound like mine does, you should at least be able to tell when the alarms went off.

 

I'm surprised it started after running without oil. I'd assume the bearings are cooked. Who knows how long it'll go before showing symptoms. Luckily 1GRs are cheap

 

Bad news when an authorized Toyota dealership can't even do a simple oil/filter change right. I realize the dealer doesn't put their genuine tech's on oil changes, tire rotations, etc. Because the oil change people are on the bottom rung of the service employees, I would think it would be part of the service manager's job to keep an eye on their work.

 

Please post the video if it has information that would benefit the greater good.

Or, maybe don’t post it, if you can use it to convince the dealer to do something about whatever it is you see in the video.

 

Bingo! It points to a total lack of supervision.