quote:
Originally posted by TomJones76:
quote:
Originally posted by Trouthead:
Has anyone ever had a warranty claim, where the dealership/company claimed the engine failure was do to the wrong oil?? Has anyone ever had the dealership/company do a oil analysis to determine if the oil met any standard???? Just curious as many people have large worries about warrantey protection being refused because of oil not meeting some standard.
Short of oil analysis how would the dealership know.
Yes, we had a lady who ran 5W30 in a van calling for 5W20.
The 5W30 and the fact that she ran over the suggested OCI were both cited when her claim was denied.
They don't need a UOA to prove your oil was wrong.
It's YOUR job to have receipts proving that your oil was the right oil, at the right time for the right mileage.
Respectfully, that's not entirely correct. It certainly helps if the customer has kept receipts, but the failure to do so is not, by itself, a legitimate basis for a warranty claim denial.
The
LAW in this area is very clear (Moss-Magnuson Warranty Act). If push comes to shove, and the parties end up in court, the manufacturer must bear the INITIAL burden of proving that the customer's act (or failure to act) is the
cause of the failure. Only
after the mfr has proven this causal link is the customer required to prove anything. If the mfr can't meet this burden, the customer will WIN without having been required to prove anything at all, let alone show receipts (through either a "summary judgment" before trial, or a "directed verdict" after the first half of a trial).
The mfr is not allowed to deny a claim as a "penalty" for not changing oil on time, or for using the wrong oil. They'd probably have to have an engineer testify as to the link between the lack of oil changes, and the specific failure. And the engineer would probably be looking for an oil analysis to back up his testimony. Even the mere presence of sludge might not be enough. Now, if the engineer can point to a blocked oil passage in a neglected engine (for which there are no O/C receipts), and that passage served the bearing that failed, the mfr is on strong ground.
If your dealership/manufacturer can't prove a comparable set of facts, you're waaaay out there on a limb if that lady hires herself a lawyer.