I took my 2005 Crossfire late on Saturday to a dealership for an oil change. They got it done quick. After I left the oil indicator came on saying that I needed to add 2 quarts.

I looked at the receipt and those bozos had only put 5 quarts of oil when it needed 8.

I took it back and the service department was closed. The sales guy sent me to a quick lube that he said had 0W40 mobil 1. Evidently he didn't have the key to get into the service department and get 3 quarts of fregging oil for me.

He said he would reimburse me to have it topped off. Well of course they didn't have it or anything close to it. So I had to go back to the dealership.

Instead of calling a parts store to get the oil; he gave me a Dodge Charger to drive for the weekend. While the charger is nice; I'd rather have my car. They will top it off on Monday.

My question is how many miles of driving under those conditions would it take to damage the engine?

One would think a Chrysler dealership would know how many quarts of oil goes into that car. And also when I took it in; I explicitly told them it took 8 to 8.5 quarts.

Lessons learned:

1. Always have about 5 quarts of oil in the trunk because you never know if Walmart or anyone else will have it in stock. (I only had one quart in the trunk.)

2. Always read the receipt after a Crossfire oil change to make sure they put in 8 quarts. Evidently you can't even trust the dealership to do this.

3. Bring your own oil; put it in the front seat; and have a note saying this car needs 8 quarts. I usually do this because I can get the oil cheaper myself. But yesterday that wasn't the case.

I don't have the room where I live to do my own oil changes. So spare me the posts about that.

 

I'd say you are fine, the oil was probably just a bit warmer. What a bunch of Bozos they never checked the dip stick either I guess.

 

A mod should PIN this topic and re-name it: READ BEFORE YOU TAKE YOUR CAR TO A DEALER!!!!!

 

Its easy and much Cheaper to just change Your own oil. I bet the dealership didn't have a filter for it so they reused the one You had. ( yes they have done this before.)

My car is out of warranty and will never see a stealership again

 

I agree with onehundred80, with 5 quarts of oil in it already, I would not worry about any damage to the engine.

A percentage of bad technicians/mechanics can be found in dealerships or independents. It could have been worse, in 1992 a quick lube place failed to refill the oil in one of my cars. Since then I have always changed my own oil and filter. It takes less time, and you know what quality products you are putting in your car.

In 1998 I observed a technician at a car service chain starting to put the wrong transmission fluid into one of my cars. They were supposed to do a flush and fill with a machine. I came in after they had it all day to see what was going on. Fortunately, I was able to stop him in time. I'm now also doing the trans fluid and filter changes on my other cars as well.

 

I'm surprised they knew to use and/or used Mobile 1 (even though there's the decal under the hood). How much did the dealer charge you for the oil change (before the deduct)?

 

My advice, stay away from the stealerships unless they have a Crossfire tech. You are better off going to an MB dealership as they would at least know what the engine is and its requirements are (and you would probably get gouged the same price).

 

Great advice. Just completed my first experience at oil and filter change in the roadster. Jacking the whole front of the car up at the same time was the most difficult part. I used a 3 T and a 1 1/2 ton smaller jack to get the front tires about 6 " off the ground. Jack stands fit nicely under the front sway bar. Four screws and off comes the plastic splash pan, exposing the engine drain plug. I let the rgt side down slightly to ensure a more complete drain. Drained the oil, replaced the plug and the splash pan and let the car down. The oil filter housing was marked to be retightened to the same spot. I used a Harley filter wrench (same size) to unscrew the casing and removed the old filter. Re and re the four oil rings and the cartridge. I added 7 1/2 qts of 0-40 bringing oil level to full - to be checked next week. Glad I did not just dump in 8 1/2 qts...cause it would off been overfull. Good advice on stocking your own filter and oil. Lots of people have never heard of 0-40....and the filter is another story. Now to determine the slight oil puffs from the rgt rear of the engine.

 

I am heading to the dealership tomorrow for the 'annual' oil change. I am doing this with some trepidation in my heart - the site does have two xf's for sale on the lot, so hopefully one of the mechanics knows something..... I have an extended warranty so the dealership is the right place for me. I have asked for a mechanic who knows the xf. Probably each one will be an expert as of tomorrow morning. Last time resetting the FSS maintenance indicator was a challenge - and I would not leave the lot until it was accomplished. Finally one of the younger guys conquered it. Tomorrow I am taking the instructions with me, as mechanics said they could not find instructions in the manual. The younger guy went on-line to find instructions, while telling one of his co-workers that 'he was not an xf mechanic'. Yeah - that did great things for my confidence. I did find the instructions in the manual , but to make life easier for the mechanics ( and for me), I will have a copy in hand on check-in - for one of them to use.

Alicia

 

I don't care if a vehicle is under warranty or a maintenance agreement. I ALWAYS change my own oil/ filter and do all of my own maintenance when practical. Keep your receipts and a good maintenance log if there are issues with major warranty repairs later on. People don't realize that the "techs" doing alot of work on cars, especially lube are also the fellas that wash cars and sweep the lot. The experienced techs don't do that grunt work.