D.i.y. Oil Changes = Warranty Problems

[Luvbelly]

I was reading a thread on another forum and the poster was having some warranty issues with Nissan. With about 30,000 miles he was looking a potential motor problems. No big worries since Nissan has a 5/60 engine warranty. Well it turned out it wasn't so simple. The dealership he was dealing with wanted proof that the oil was changed at the required intervals. The guy did it himself in the driveway most of the time and who keeps those kind of receipts? Just wondering if any of you have experienced any issues like this with your GM vehicles? I don't think any manufacturer/dealer could deny a claim based solely on the lack of receipts, but clearly it could make things more difficult at a minimum. I think I will be keeping mine along with a log book of all maintenance in the future.

[Black02Silverado]

Keeping all your receipts and a log book always helps. It will always be the dealer against you issue on warranty claims. One other thing that you can do is take an oil sample and have it analyzed. It will always be a battle and all you can do as a D.I.Y. person is to keep all maintenance records of anything that you do to the vehicle as proof it was accomplished.

[Nytemare]

I was told by the service counter and the mechanics at my dealership, that if something goes wrong in there, they can tell if you have been changing your oil regularly as soon as the rocker cover comes off.

 

Obviously, if there's a lot of sludge...you haven't been.

 

Same with the oil pan.

 

I change my own oil. It doesn't affect my warranty...and I have an aftermarket one...which is even harder to deal with.

[minibike132]

I have never had GM ask us for records for any engine repair. But if I were changing my own at home I would start saving the reciepts and doing logs. We all know the money is tight at the general and trust me they are looking at all angles at saving money. When one of the penny pinchers that doesn't know squat about cars/trucks or customer satisfaction figures out they can get out of buying a few motors, you can bet they will require that documentation. Same goes for anything else in the maintenance schedule.

 

I wouldn't think that it is the dealer being difficult about the reciepts, it is probably Nissan's policy and if the dealer wants to get paid they have to give Nissan what they want. If the auditors at Nissan just figured out that they can save money that way and GM follows their usuall buisness curve they will be asking for reciepts in 3 years .

[Z45]

Either that particular person is a sob and ticked off the dealer service people or they are just plain scum who want to give their customers a hard time. I bet this customer did something to give them cause to make his life miserable. I have seen it happen, customer comes in with a chip on his shoulder and starts giving them a hard time and the dealer staff push back.

 

Dealers are rated on a lot of things and one of them being how much they cost the company in warranty claims. Less is better as far as the company is concerned. So by making it hard for customers they earn brownie points from the oem. Lots of dealers play that game and it seems the import brands are better at it than most.

[Matt_]

If an engine has been neglected... there WILL be evidence.

 

The guy having issues may just be caught in a lie and is trying to cry his way out of it. On the other hand, of the engine is clean with no other signs of neglect other than a part failing, he should have no issue once he goes up the chain of command to get it warrantied. If the oil pan and top end is full of sludge.... he doesn't have a leg to stand on and needs to man up to his mistakes.

 

I do all my own maintenance... and most of my own repairs because id rather do the work than having a "tech" at a dealer touch my truck. If i ever have internal engine issues within warranty and they try to give me a problem with not having my receipts, they'd better be ready for a shit storm because I'll go right into their shop and take pictures of the internals of my engine and go straight up to management.... i don't stand for that type of BS.

[gmtech4]

Either that particular person is a sob and ticked off the dealer service people or they are just plain scum who want to give their customers a hard time. I bet this customer did something to give them cause to make his life miserable. I have seen it happen, customer comes in with a chip on his shoulder and starts giving them a hard time and the dealer staff push back.

 

Dealers are rated on a lot of things and one of them being how much they cost the company in warranty claims. Less is better as far as the company is concerned. So by making it hard for customers they earn brownie points from the oem. Lots of dealers play that game and it seems the import brands are better at it than most.

 

 

Mike,sparks tried to tell us how it works ,

 

the dealer can submit any claim they want but after an audit or 2 and get the claim denied and have to stroke a cheque ,the dealers then tend to toe the line and follow policy ,at the dealer the techs are hounded to do the proper paper work and spec checks etc on the R O,the bigger the store and shear volume of claims puts dealers under a microscope,in northern BC we got a pallet full of upper control arms delivered all the time ,the general keeps adding requirements to satisfy claims and lowers the cash in our jeans .

customers that are a pain can be told to take their business else where but a few calls to the district svc mgr can be bad for svc mgrs job lol,

 

I had a 2.2 out of a cavalier in '95 and it needed bearings or an engine ,it stayed apart for a year ,I had the oil filter under my bench and every couple of months the svc mgr came back and asked if I still had it lol,customer paid half and goverment paid half cause she had a crippled child ,

 

I hope I added some more info cause dealers don;t like strokin cheques !!

[jhm]

You do not need any proof you changed the oil yourself. I have been thru this before. Nowhere does anything say you need reciepts or logs, they would be useless since you could buy the oil and use it for anything. You could also write up a log the day before you brought it in.

[rodram]

Requiring proof of regular service is not a new thing! You own a piece of fine machinery worth thousands of dollars and you expect the manufacturer to honor a warranty.... the least you can do is maintain a service log and provide receipts (either for oil for a DIY lube job, or receipts from a quicklube or mechanic).... Hell, any receipts can be faked, but providing them is a small effort towards the dealer and manufacturer having confidence that you really did do the expected maintenance....

[minibike132]

You do not need any proof you changed the oil yourself. I have been thru this before. Nowhere does anything say you need reciepts or logs, they would be useless since you could buy the oil and use it for anything. You could also write up a log the day before you brought it in.

Any random owners manual:

Maintenance Requirements

Maintenance intervals, checks, inspections and recommended fluids and lubricants as prescribed in this manual are necessary to keep this vehicle in good working condition. Any damage caused by failure to follow scheduled maintenance may not be covered by the vehicle warranty.

[jhm]

You do not need any proof you changed the oil yourself. I have been thru this before. Nowhere does anything say you need reciepts or logs, they would be useless since you could buy the oil and use it for anything. You could also write up a log the day before you brought it in.

Any random owners manual:

Maintenance Requirements

Maintenance intervals, checks, inspections and recommended fluids and lubricants as prescribed in this manual are necessary to keep this vehicle in good working condition. Any damage caused by failure to follow scheduled maintenance may not be covered by the vehicle warranty.

 

I did not say scheduled maintenance did not need to be followed, I said you DO NOT need to keep reciepts or make a log. I keep a log just for my own reference. As I said, I had a rear main seal go on a GM product in 86-87 timeframe. I did my own oil changes. The dealer tried to get out of doing the warranty work because he did not do the oil changes. I told him "show me where that is a requirement of warranty coverage" he shut right up and wrote up the work order.

[REV353]

I haven't worked for an auto dealership, only Motorcycle,ATV and snowmobiles. When you bring your item in, the tech takes it apart, determines what the problem is, and usually has an idea why it happened. They submit the warranty to the OEM, Waite for the approval to go ahead with he repairs, and put the bad parts on a shelf in case the OEM wants it back. "IF" the tech is doubtful he/she will call the OEM and talk to there tech line, explain and get an approval or denial or be asked to submit the parts first. I have never seen or heard of someone asking for paper work, they may ask you at the service counter, how often you change and what you use.

[dlstewart01]

I was reading a thread on another forum and the poster was having some warranty issues with Nissan. With about 30,000 miles he was looking a potential motor problems. No big worries since Nissan has a 5/60 engine warranty. Well it turned out it wasn't so simple. The dealership he was dealing with wanted proof that the oil was changed at the required intervals. The guy did it himself in the driveway most of the time and who keeps those kind of receipts? Just wondering if any of you have experienced any issues like this with your GM vehicles? I don't think any manufacturer/dealer could deny a claim based solely on the lack of receipts, but clearly it could make things more difficult at a minimum. I think I will be keeping mine along with a log book of all maintenance in the future.

 

Nissan is much more strict than GM, but any dealer can ask for service records when they believe you neglected your required maintance. And they are in their rights to do this if they suppect abuse. It matters not who does the service, just that it was done. Dont service your vehicle and you could have your warrenty voided. And you will loose in any court battles as well. It has been well docmented.

 

This is from the Nissan manual...

 

MAINTENANCE AND RECORDS

As a condition of this warranty, you are responsible for properly using, maintaining and caring for your vehicle as outlined in your OWNER'S MANUAL and your NISSAN SERVICE & MAINTENANCE GUIDE, and mainaining copies of all maintenance records & receipts for review by Nissan. Failure to do so is likely to result in the denial of warranty coverage.

 

Evidence of the performance of the required maintenance should be kept and presented as proof of such maintenance in connection with related warranty repairs. To assis you in maintaining appropriate records, the mainenance log located in your NISSAN SERVICE & MAINTENANCE GUIDE can be used along with supporting repair invoices, receipts and other such records.

 

http://www.lemonlaw.com/wordpress/will-an-...urers-warranty/

 

This is an extreme case, but just tell the dealer hes going to warranty this and see what happens......

 

http://jalopnik.com/5415431/what-happens-w...for-60000-miles