On Thursday, June 6 we dropped our 1999 Toyota Avalon off at Stokes Brown Toyota (on US 278 one mile or so from Sun City’s main gate) for a routine oil change. We bought the Avalon brand new in 1999 and we’ve changed the oil every 3,000 miles or 3 months. We’ve never had a problem with the engine and it’s never leaked oil.
On Friday, June 7 we picked up the car from SB, drove it home, and parked it in the garage, where it stayed until Thursday, June 12 when Jenny drove it for the first time since the oil change.
When she returned home she found oil all over the garage floor, down the driveway, and down Redtail Drive.We checked the oil level. It was OK, so we drove it back to SB. They kept it for about an hour, said that they checked it all out, and “everything is OK”. We drove it home and parked it in the garage.
On Friday, June 13 Jenny drove it again. When she came back she saw TWO oil tracks and more oil on the garage floor.
We checked the oil level. It was low. We called SB and they towed it in. We told them to keep it until they figured out what was wrong.
On Monday, June 16, not having heard from SB, we called them. They told us that it needed crankcase seals, timing belt, cam seals, and valve cover gaskets—estimated “ballpark” cost $1,265 plus tax. When we asked them how this could happen so suddenly, with no prior problems, after a routine oil change, they cited the age of the car and mileage (approx. 113,000 miles) and said that it was “a coincidence”. Coincidence?
Here’s where the success story comes in. On Tuesday, June 17 my buddy suggested: “why don’t you put a message on the message board and see if anyone knows a good auto mechanic who you can take it to for second opinion”. I did, and within a few minutes, a reply came back to contact Thornton Butler, Butler Service Center, Highway 17, Hardeeville. I did, and made arrangements for his tow truck to meet me at SB the following morning. (I decided that it would be best for me to remove the original post after I received the information that I needed.)
On Wednesday morning, June 18 I got the keys from SB and called for the tow truck Before Butler’s man loaded the car on the truck, he checked the oil level. It was OK. “That’s odd”, I thought, “it was low when they towed it from our house to SB last Friday”.
After examining the car Mr. Butler’s first question to me was: “Did SB do anything to the car after it was towed back to their shop on Friday”. “I don’t know”, I said, “but when your man checked the oil this morning, it was OK; but, it was low when they towed it on Friday.”
Mr. Butler told me that oil is not leaking from the crankcase, cam, or valve covers. We don’t need the repairs (“ballpark” cost $1265 + tax) that SB said that we needed.
Mr. Butler speculates that maybe the new oil filter was either improperly installed or defective and that SB may have found this and corrected it the second time that they had it after the oil change. It appears that they did add oil. (On Monday, after hearing the "bad news" we got some prices from SB for getting a new car.)
Mr. Butler changed the oil filter and kept the car overnight to make certain that it didn’t leak oil again. We picked it up on Thursday, June 19. Guess what? No leaks.
We may never know what happened at SB, but we DO know this: if they figured out the problem and corrected it, they didn’t tell us. They didn’t tell us that we didn’t need the repairs that they said would cost “ballpark” $1,265. Did they know and didn’t tell? Or did they just not know? Either way, it isn’t good.
Why is this a “success” story? Because Ross Glatzer answered my post on the message board and told me about Thornton Butler, a good mechanic. Neighbor looking out for neighbor.
Thanks, Bucky, for the suggestion. Thanks, Ross, for telling me about Thornton Butler. And, thanks to Bucky, Ross, AND the message board for a good end to this story.
Mr. Butler speculates that maybe the new oil filter was either improperly installed or defective and that SB found it and corrected it the second time that they had it after the oil change.
Mr. Butler changed the oil filter and kept the car overnight to make certain that it didn’t leak oil again. We picked it up on Thursday, June 19. Guess what? No leaks.
We may never know what happened at SB, but we DO know this: if they figured out the problem and corrected it, they didn’t tell us. They didn’t tell us that we didn’t need the repairs that they said would cost “ballpark” $1,265. Did they know and didn’t tell? Or did they just not know? Either way, it isn’t good.
Why is this a “success” story? Because Ross Glatzer answered my post on the message board and told me about Thornton Butler, a good mechanic. Neighbor looking out for neighbor.
Thanks, Bucky, for the suggestion. Thanks, Ross, for telling me about Thornton Butler. And, thanks to Bucky, Ross, AND the message board for a good end to this story.
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