I got an oil change a few weeks ago at a Toyota dealer (the apartment doesn't allow auto maintenance so DIY is out for this situation) on the Camry. A few days later, I noticed that it was making a very sporadic knocking/rattling noise when stopped in gear (like when waiting at a light), but idling in park/neutral was as smooth and quiet as normal. It also made an odd, low noise at low-mid-throttle on the highway. I wasn't able to determine where it was coming from and it was starting to drive me crazy, but I couldn't reproduce it. Thinking about and searching symptoms led me to think that motor mounts (increased vibration) or heat shield rattling might be to blame. I had an exhaust shop look it over on a lift and they couldn't find anything wrong, and made an appointment at a different mechanic for next week to diagnose it.
Come to find out... the dealer's "courtesy inspection" which involved removing the (perfectly clean) air filter didn't, in this case, include putting any filter back.
After realizing what was up (watching it idle in gear with the hood up, and seeing the filter housing vibrate), I immediately popped in a fresh filter and snapped the clips, and, presto - no vibration. It's running as expected with no CEL or anything.
I have a call out to the service manager at the dealer, so it'll be interesting to see if they offer to do anything to rectify the situation (I'm not really sure what's reasonable/fair). I'm suuuuuuper unhappy to have driven over a thousand miles without an air filter, but I'm not sure that there's anything I can do at this point other than do an oil change to get potentially-contaminated oil out. Obviously, any damage is already done - I'm seriously hoping this doesn't hurt what's been a great car/engine, which has had no appreciable oil consumption over 10k runs of M1 0w20. I'm kicking myself in case this thwarts the quest for 300k on this car (who can say?)
Any thoughts on discussing this with the dealer service manager or any additional things I should do as damage control? It was driven almost all highway on non-dusty roads (no gravel at all) so I hope that damage was minimal/nonexistent. I'll just be trying to make myself feel better by thinking about how snowblowers, boats, etc. don't tend to have air filters... but kicking myself nonetheless.
Come to find out... the dealer's "courtesy inspection" which involved removing the (perfectly clean) air filter didn't, in this case, include putting any filter back.
After realizing what was up (watching it idle in gear with the hood up, and seeing the filter housing vibrate), I immediately popped in a fresh filter and snapped the clips, and, presto - no vibration. It's running as expected with no CEL or anything.
I have a call out to the service manager at the dealer, so it'll be interesting to see if they offer to do anything to rectify the situation (I'm not really sure what's reasonable/fair). I'm suuuuuuper unhappy to have driven over a thousand miles without an air filter, but I'm not sure that there's anything I can do at this point other than do an oil change to get potentially-contaminated oil out. Obviously, any damage is already done - I'm seriously hoping this doesn't hurt what's been a great car/engine, which has had no appreciable oil consumption over 10k runs of M1 0w20. I'm kicking myself in case this thwarts the quest for 300k on this car (who can say?)
Any thoughts on discussing this with the dealer service manager or any additional things I should do as damage control? It was driven almost all highway on non-dusty roads (no gravel at all) so I hope that damage was minimal/nonexistent. I'll just be trying to make myself feel better by thinking about how snowblowers, boats, etc. don't tend to have air filters... but kicking myself nonetheless.