in 1992 a lube tech thought he knew all of the wix oil filter numbers for every car. the owner of the shop usually picked out the particular parts for each car as services were to be done.
so this time the owner didn't get teh parts for a simple oil change on a 1991 v6 pathfinder.
Well the pathfinder left, 3 hours later we get a phone call from a very upset customer, who unfortunately the owner of the pathfinder. his engine seized and there was a lot of smoke billowing out of it.
So we sent a tow truck to get the car, the owner told the tow truck driver to bring it directly to nissan and give us the tow bill, and we didn't have a huge say in it. the dealer diagnosed it as having no oil in it. We the lube tech swore he put oil in, and he did. a check of the oil filter number yielded that the size was teh same, but p/n was for a 4-runner. OOPS!
when the guy got on the freeway the pressure pushed past the o-ring and he just started bleeding out oil. We had to pay the dealer for a new engine, and they turned the screws onto us, and they made a lot of money that day. 4 weeks for a new motor to arrive, via slow boat, then new everything they could think of and after $7400, PLUS having to pay for the guys suv rental car, which was $80/day back then, yeah.. glad I wasn't the owner that day!
The lube tech didn't get fired, or even yelled at, just told him to be more careful next time. How'd this happen? the guy was the owner's brother's friend, they all grew up in the same neighborhood back in the day.
the insurance company didn't pay 100% because they said it was neglegance on the shops part and they only paid for the engine block itself, not all the other accessories and labor.
oops!