I made the trip to my family's farm in east Texas over the weekend for a getaway. My sister-in-law asked me to take her car somewhere to get the oil changed, as it was coming due shortly and she was running short on time. I was happy to accommodate. She drives a 2017 Mustang 2.3, a purchase she made soon after she took my '17 Mustang 3.7 for a joy ride.
I considered taking it to the local Kwik Kar, but wanted a Motorcraft filter used, so elected to take it to the local Ford dealership's "Express Lube". What a mistake. If I'd had a crystal ball, I would have just bought a set of ramps and a filter wrench and changed her oil right there in the yard (there are no driveways or garages at the farm).
During the write-up process, I requested an upgrade to Mobil 1, and confirmed that they use Motorcraft filters.
Firstly, they're playing fast and loose with the word "Express", but since they rotated the tires as well, I didn't get too up-in-arms about how long I spent waiting.
They pulled the car around, I paid, and was on my way. I drove straight to the local coin-op car wash, as my sister-in-law isn't great with keeping it clean, and since I love doing it, I took this opportunity to remove the layer of bugs that were hardened to the front bumper.
I worked on it for a while, between washing, drying, dusting and vacuuming. I decided when that was all done, I'd check the dealership's work. I pulled the dipstick after 30+ minutes of sitting on level pavement, and it read right at the bottom of the hash marks. I took a 2nd and 3rd reading. Same.
I called the dealership and told them I was returning for a top-up. They said they'd be waiting.
I parked the car on a level section of pavement outside the shop, raised the hood, pulled the dipstick, wiped it clean, and laid it across the engine to wait for the oil to make its trip back to the pan. A couple of minutes passed before the service writer, and the technician walked over to investigate my claim. The repeatedly jammed the dipstick back into the engine, wiping, and repeating about 10 times, seemingly hoping for a different answer. They finally acknowledged that it appeared to be lower than it should be, and the technician stated "I put in 6 quarts of Mobil 1 5W-20 like the work order said". I asked him to repeat himself. He said it again.
I then told the service writer that I wanted the oil changed again, and pointed to the text on the oil fill cap.
We went back into the office, where they began pecking on the computer in search of the correct oil specifications for the car. The computer confirmed 5W-30....which begs the question about why the work order says 5W-20.
The service writer then looked up at me and said "5W-20 won't hurt it any, but we'll do whatever you'd like us to do". I insisted they change it.
They didn't have the car 10 minutes before it was pulled back around, allegedly ready to go. I asked for a new receipt staying that 5W-30 was used. The service writer scribbled on the original receipt that the oil was replaced with 5W-30, and away I went. After that short amount of time, I knew there was no way they had changed the filter, and had serious doubts that they changed the oil vs. just topping it up.
I'm now at the point where I trust no-one, so I stopped at Wal-Mart on the way home and picked up a quart of Mobil 1 15W-50. I checked the oil in the Wal-Mart parking lot, which read about 1/3 of the way up the hash marks. I added 15W-50 until it reached the pinhole above the hashmarks.
I'd say this is a perfect example of why I'm so grateful that I'm afforded the luxury of doing this stuff at home for my own cars, and why this Ford dealership won't be seeing any more business from my family.
I considered taking it to the local Kwik Kar, but wanted a Motorcraft filter used, so elected to take it to the local Ford dealership's "Express Lube". What a mistake. If I'd had a crystal ball, I would have just bought a set of ramps and a filter wrench and changed her oil right there in the yard (there are no driveways or garages at the farm).
During the write-up process, I requested an upgrade to Mobil 1, and confirmed that they use Motorcraft filters.
Firstly, they're playing fast and loose with the word "Express", but since they rotated the tires as well, I didn't get too up-in-arms about how long I spent waiting.
They pulled the car around, I paid, and was on my way. I drove straight to the local coin-op car wash, as my sister-in-law isn't great with keeping it clean, and since I love doing it, I took this opportunity to remove the layer of bugs that were hardened to the front bumper.
I worked on it for a while, between washing, drying, dusting and vacuuming. I decided when that was all done, I'd check the dealership's work. I pulled the dipstick after 30+ minutes of sitting on level pavement, and it read right at the bottom of the hash marks. I took a 2nd and 3rd reading. Same.
I called the dealership and told them I was returning for a top-up. They said they'd be waiting.
I parked the car on a level section of pavement outside the shop, raised the hood, pulled the dipstick, wiped it clean, and laid it across the engine to wait for the oil to make its trip back to the pan. A couple of minutes passed before the service writer, and the technician walked over to investigate my claim. The repeatedly jammed the dipstick back into the engine, wiping, and repeating about 10 times, seemingly hoping for a different answer. They finally acknowledged that it appeared to be lower than it should be, and the technician stated "I put in 6 quarts of Mobil 1 5W-20 like the work order said". I asked him to repeat himself. He said it again.
I then told the service writer that I wanted the oil changed again, and pointed to the text on the oil fill cap.
We went back into the office, where they began pecking on the computer in search of the correct oil specifications for the car. The computer confirmed 5W-30....which begs the question about why the work order says 5W-20.
The service writer then looked up at me and said "5W-20 won't hurt it any, but we'll do whatever you'd like us to do". I insisted they change it.
They didn't have the car 10 minutes before it was pulled back around, allegedly ready to go. I asked for a new receipt staying that 5W-30 was used. The service writer scribbled on the original receipt that the oil was replaced with 5W-30, and away I went. After that short amount of time, I knew there was no way they had changed the filter, and had serious doubts that they changed the oil vs. just topping it up.
I'm now at the point where I trust no-one, so I stopped at Wal-Mart on the way home and picked up a quart of Mobil 1 15W-50. I checked the oil in the Wal-Mart parking lot, which read about 1/3 of the way up the hash marks. I added 15W-50 until it reached the pinhole above the hashmarks.
I'd say this is a perfect example of why I'm so grateful that I'm afforded the luxury of doing this stuff at home for my own cars, and why this Ford dealership won't be seeing any more business from my family.
