Dealer underfilled the car with wrong weight oil…

[Hockeyman70s]

Hi there, brought a friends 2016 Subaru Outback 3.6r to the dealer for an oil change on Friday. A couple miles down the road , in a snow storm, the eyesight and oil light flickered on. I pulled over and turned the car off. Upon restarting, all lights went off.
On our way back from skiing 2 days and a couple hundred miles later the oil light came back on. Pulled right in to an autozone and found the oil to be 2 quarts low and upon reviewing the receipt- they filled it with 0-20 instead of 5-30.
Wondering if/ how much damage this may have caused. Calling the dealer tomorrow and I’m sure they’ll just want to change it for free. The car only has 17,000 miles on it and has been dealership maintained since new, he’s planning to keep it for ever.
He’s always had the piece of mind because he’s so anal with maintenance but now feels like even if it’s running decently still, what happens when the motor pops in 30k miles. Think I should push for a warranty of something?

 

[Owen Lucas]

Document everything. Phone calls, get it in email. Alert Subaru corporate.

When a warranty claim comes through blaming you for lubrication and wear issues, you have evidence.

 

[michaelluscher]

That's disappointing, but not exactly surprising these days

I'd push for some Subaru Gold Plus for this gaffe, after a confirmed take two on the oil change, maybe with you present and watching?

 

[wpod]

You didn't check the oil ?

 

[supton]

The web says the 3.6L holds 6.9 quarts? if so, I have a hard time believing that being low did damage. Furthermore, unless if this went to a track and got driven hard, I'm dubious that 0W20 did damage. Document, but I doubt the dealer will do much.

Just my opinion but you have other problems, not related to oil, if it's shutting down. Bad battery? is it the original battery?

 

[JayhawkRoy]

For a 2016, I would find an independent mechanic whose featured oil is 5W30 and let them do the oil changes. I ran into a similar issue with my Hyundai Santa Fe 3.3L engine which required 5W30. The dealer was putting 5W20 into everything. On the other hand, the 5K miles I ran in winter with the 5W20 didn't cause a oil light to come on, either.

 

[Hockeyman70s]

Document everything. Phone calls, get it in email. Alert Subaru corporate.

When a warranty claim comes through blaming you for lubrication and wear issues, you have evidence.

The car is out of warranty so not sure if ill get any warranty claims without them adding some sort of warranty because of this screw up.

 

[HemiBenny]

"Quick" lane oil change service strikes again. They always get it done quickly, but not necessarily correctly.
Bring it to the dealers' attention and have it all documented. With that said, I'm sure that it'll be alright if it wasn't driven a lot and you corrected the level until it can be performed as it should have been to begin with.

 

[Hockeyman70s]

You didn't check the oil ?

Left the dealership in a snow storm, when 3 dash lights flicked on. Turned the ar off at the stop light i was sitting at and back on and all disappeared. it did not turn back on until 2 days later when i immediately pulled over and checked.

 

[Hockeyman70s]

The web says the 3.6L holds 6.9 quarts? if so, I have a hard time believing that being low did damage. Furthermore, unless if this went to a track and got driven hard, I'm dubious that 0W20 did damage. Document, but I doubt the dealer will do much.

Just my opinion but you have other problems, not related to oil, if it's shutting down. Bad battery? is it the original battery?

No mechanical symptoms, I turned the car off and back on when the lights came on thinking that they mahy have tripped something during the mechanical work. They all turned off upon restarting

 

[Hockeyman70s]

"Quick" lane oil change service strikes again. They always get it done quickly, but not necessarily correctly.
Bring it to the dealers' attention and have it all documented. With that said, I'm sure that it'll be alright if it wasn't driven a lot and you corrected the level until it can be performed as it should have been to begin with.

Yeah, pretty bummed about it. It probably went 400 miles tops at the 2 quarts low before the level was corrected.

 

[Hockeyman70s]

That's disappointing, but not exactly surprising these days

I'd push for some Subaru Gold Plus for this gaffe, after a confirmed take two on the oil change, maybe with you present and watching?

Looks like the gold warranty would only cover a year as this is a 2016. Its just got super low miles.

 

[IndyIan]

I'm pretty sure there is a "low oil level" light and a seperate "low oil pressure" light in that Outback.
2 quarts low shouldn't give a "low oil pressure" light unless they are pulling some high g corners, but it probably would set off a low oil level light. So I think there's no harm done.

 

[dogememe]

So they put the four cylinder oil and oil amount? Not the first time I’ve heard this from owners of the relatively rare six cylinder Subaru owners.

At the very least they owe you an oil change. Beyond that, tough to say.

 

[eljefino]

It's good someone's going under it for another oil change. If they weren't, I'd advise to check the drain plug in case they filled it right but it's been leaking out since.

 

[Vitamin Yoda]

Running the engine on 0W-20 instead of 5W-30 won't do any damage. Underfilling though, might.

For your piece of mind, I would drain the oil in a clean container, and send a sample to a reputable lab for analysis. I would also cut the filter open, press the oil out of the media, and then look for any metallic debris. If there is no debris in the oil filter and nothing stands out in the analysis, then you're in the clear.

 

[jeepman3071]

I wouldn't lose any sleep over it as long as it is documented in the dealer service records. Was the oil light for the oil level being low or low oil pressure? There is a big difference, and one can result in a lot more engine damage than the other.

 

[AZjeff]

It's your friend's car so why are you taking care of making things right? Taking a friend's car in for an oil change sure, but how would you have any say in what happens now? Should be between owner and dealer. Low probability of any harm done in any event.

 

[Chris142]

Is 0w-20 on the recommended oils list in the owners manual?

It appears that tre car was driven in a snow storm and other cooler temps. I doubt that the oil type had any effect on wear. Running low will.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Hi there, brought a friends 2016 Subaru Outback 3.6r to the dealer for an oil change on Friday. A couple miles down the road , in a snow storm, the eyesight and oil light flickered on. I pulled over and turned the car off. Upon restarting, all lights went off.
On our way back from skiing 2 days and a couple hundred miles later the oil light came back on. Pulled right in to an autozone and found the oil to be 2 quarts low and upon reviewing the receipt- they filled it with 0-20 instead of 5-30.
Wondering if/ how much damage this may have caused. Calling the dealer tomorrow and I’m sure they’ll just want to change it for free. The car only has 17,000 miles on it and has been dealership maintained since new, he’s planning to keep it for ever.
He’s always had the piece of mind because he’s so anal with maintenance but now feels like even if it’s running decently still, what happens when the motor pops in 30k miles. Think I should push for a warranty of something?

Never leave the Oil Change lot without checking the dipstick oil level under the hood. You drive outside their shop - find a place a park nearby (on their lot) - shut the engine off - then wait 15 minutes to check the oil level, on level ground.

If you can't wait the 15 minutes, do the oil change yourself. Most are easy to do.

Almost forgot! Don't pay the bill until you read it first (for correct viscosity).