Dipstick bone dry after oil change with 32k maintenance.

I took my 2020 4runner TOR for its 32k KM maintenance to stay within warranty. I got home and the next day noticed a huge puddle of oil at the bottom of the garage. Looked at the skid plate and it's fully drenched and dripping in oil. Luckily i did not drive the car for long after oil change, waiting for the dealer to come fix it.

Did not get a CEL or any other warning... and refuse to turn the car on..... dealership is sending people to fix it..

Should i get a new engine? new car or extended warranty?

Simply unacceptable.
 
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Your first mistake, taking it to the dealer. So many people here think “it was free so...” and end up with all these headaches.

Now a bunch of people here are going to show up and make moronic statements like “dealer should warranty you till one billion miles!” or “omg your engine is toast. I would demand a new Mercedes S550 and nothing less!”
 
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I took my 2020 4runner TOR for its 32k KM maintenance to stay within warranty. I got home and the next day noticed a huge puddle of oil at the bottom of the garage. Looked at the skid plate and it's fully drenched and dripping in oil. Luckily i did not drive the car for long after oil change, waiting for the dealer to come fix it.

Did not get a CEL or any other warning... and refuse to turn the car on..... dealership is sending people to fix it..

Should i get a new engine? new car or extended warranty?

Simply unacceptable.

Since a lot of the oil ended up on your garage floor, and you did not get a low oil pressure warning light, your engine will be OK; it had enough oil to make it home.

But what the dealer did is unacceptable. They use the lowest paid trainees to do the simple things like oil changes. A more senior tech should have checked the tightness on the oil filter and drain plug before returning the car to you. You should definitely make a ruckus with the service manager, and perhaps even the owner of the dealership.
 
What do you recommend....

I dont trust germans..... had 3 of them 2006-2010s...

What irks me is that they're supposed to be professionals....

The 2 most likely causes: pinched o-ring on the filter housing cap (I've had that happen twice on my VW Jetta) or failed drain plug gasket. Both easily fixed.

Other less likely but not uncommon causes: cracked filter housing from over torquing cap, stripped and loose drain plug from over torquing the plug. Unfortunately, both also totally plausible coming from a dealership service department.

There's nothing wrong with your engine. The oil warning light would have come on well before damage was caused. They're designed that way. If there is an abundance of oil under the truck on the garage floor it leaked out while sitting there overnight or however long you parked it. If you had problems you would have gotten them before you parked it.

I wouldn't run it. I would look for the source of the leak but I typically do my own maintenance so I tend to inspect things after someone else has worked on one of my vehicles.

As for Germam cars, IMO and experience they are reliable for the first 4-5 years. Then the problems start. I've been lucky with my Jetta, it's almost 10 years old and I've had no significant issues. I also think people tend to not be as diligent on their maintenance after the first 2-3 years so things can start to fail.

I can't agree with you more that the dealership is SUPPOSED to be the place with the professional experts that know how to work on the vehicles they sell BUT the truth is dealerships tend to hire new mechanics fresh out of school who have been trained on how to plug in a diagnostics machine and press some buttons. They are not top of their class mechanics and they don't put an emphasis on how to actually do quality, detail oriented mechanics (i.e. wrench turning). They are paid as little as possible and only when they are actually working on something so the process then becomes quantity over quality, push as many jobs through as they can. The details suffer, things get missed and stuff like what your are experiencing happens. I'd wager that you'd be hard pressed to find a mechanic at a dealership with more than 5 years experience working there. If you did, they're probably the senior person on the shop floor.

I understand that not everyone has the skill, time or desire to do their own maintenance and that's ok. It's not for everyone. What I always recommend is finding a quality, small, independently operated shop that can handle your maintenance. They keep records and Toyota cannot void your warranty for having your maintenance done and documented somewhere else unless they can prove without a doubt it was done improperly. Improper maintenance happens far less at small shops because the mechanic working on your vehicle is often the business owner and cannot afford for the work to be done wrong. Their livelihood is at steak so they pay attention to what they're doing.

Some of this is assumption based but most of it is experience over a few decades and a lot of different makes/models of cars and trucks. I stopped going to dealerships for anything other than recalls or warranty work and even then, I try to avoid them.
 
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You should be okay. As others have mentioned, start doing it yourself. I had an issue one time with a Lexus dealer (overfilling) and I have since done all my own work.
I would suggest getting a fumoto valve as it makes it so much easier and CLEANER when draining the oil, especially when using a hose during the draining. You will also torque everything to spec yourself and know the job is done right.
I also keep all of my receipts and keep a log as to work done, just in case.

Good luck.
 
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First off, never trust the warning lights on a vehicle. Especially an oil light, they are usually too little too late. However, at this point i wouldnt be too concerned. Let them see what caused the issue and then they should check how the engine runs. If the engine didnt seize then you may have some internal damage or you may not. No way to really tell without pulling the engine and breaking it open. I would however raise hell with the dealer and push them to extend the warranty on the engine at minimum.
 
Should be fine, but hold out for the million mile extended warranty and learn how to do oil changes yourself. They throw the least qualified of their lackeys at oil changes.
 
It's coming from one of two places. Climb underneath and see if it's coming from the drain plug or the filter housing and you'll know which one they didn't tighten correctly.

Unfortunately as the others have said, it's usually the dingleberries they put on oil changes. Amazing how often they can't get it right.
 
It's coming from one of two places. Climb underneath and see if it's coming from the drain plug or the filter housing and you'll know which one they didn't tighten correctly.

Unfortunately as the others have said, it's usually the dingleberries they put on oil changes. Amazing how often they can't get it right.

So they sent two techs to my house to address the issue cause i refused to turn the engine on. From the 6.2 L about 2 L remained... the O ring on the filter was broken because of the little guide. It caught it...
they poured new oil and replaced the filter only. Reused the original plastic filter holder.
 
First off, never trust the warning lights on a vehicle. Especially an oil light, they are usually too little too late. However, at this point i wouldnt be too concerned. Let them see what caused the issue and then they should check how the engine runs. If the engine didnt seize then you may have some internal damage or you may not. No way to really tell without pulling the engine and breaking it open. I would however raise hell with the dealer and push them to extend the warranty on the engine at minimum.

The engine runs smooth... but i still dont trust it.
I dont want them to break down my engine and examine it, if they cant even do a simple oil change....
 
Since a lot of the oil ended up on your garage floor, and you did not get a low oil pressure warning light, your engine will be OK; it had enough oil to make it home.

But what the dealer did is unacceptable. They use the lowest paid trainees to do the simple things like oil changes. A more senior tech should have checked the tightness on the oil filter and drain plug before returning the car to you. You should definitely make a ruckus with the service manager, and perhaps even the owner of the dealership.

I agree, they should double check the work, the o-ring was broken they showed me, when they came over tl fix it...but the kid that is changing the oil doesnt realize we put our hard earned money into a $60k truck... and it's not acceptable.
 
It's in the computer record with Toyota. Keep a copy of the receipt for the oil change and the subsequent refill at your house. I wouldn't want their mechanics to tear down the engine either. Monitor your oil level. I would do daily for a week or two, then weekly, then monthly.

I did an oil change on our 2012 Corolla when it was time at 20,000 miles, the small 4 cyl. engine. I put the O-ring in the wrong place. I took it for a test drive, went about 4 miles and then the oil light came on and the engine started making noises. I quickly pulled into a parking lot and called AAA to tow it to the dealership. That was over 15,000 miles and it's still fine. My daughter drove it across country to Oregon and it doesn't use any oil between changes.

I think you'll be okay, just monitor it.
 
The 2 most likely causes: pinched o-ring on the filter housing cap (I've had that happen twice on my VW Jetta) or failed drain plug gasket. Both easily fixed.

Other less likely but not uncommon causes: cracked filter housing from over torquing cap, stripped and loose drain plug from over torquing the plug. Unfortunately, both also totally plausible coming from a dealership service department.

There's nothing wrong with your engine. The oil warning light would have come on well before damage was caused. They're designed that way. If there is an abundance of oil under the truck on the garage floor it leaked out while sitting there overnight or however long you parked it. If you had problems you would have gotten them before you parked it.

I wouldn't run it. I would look for the source of the leak but I typically do my own maintenance so I tend to inspect things after someone else has worked on one of my vehicles.

As for Germam cars, IMO and experience they are reliable for the first 4-5 years. Then the problems start. I've been lucky with my Jetta, it's almost 10 years old and I've had no significant issues. I also think people tend to not be as diligent on their maintenance after the first 2-3 years so things can start to fail.

I can't agree with you more that the dealership is SUPPOSED to be the place with the professional experts that know how to work on the vehicles they sell BUT the truth is dealerships tend to hire new mechanics fresh out of school who have been trained on how to plug in a diagnostics machine and press some buttons. They are not top of their class mechanics and they don't put an emphasis on how to actually do quality, detail oriented mechanics (i.e. wrench turning). They are paid as little as possible and only when they are actually working on something so the process then becomes quantity over quality, push as many jobs through as they can. The details suffer, things get missed and stuff like what your are experiencing happens. I'd wager that you'd be hard pressed to find a mechanic at a dealership with more than 5 years experience working there. If you did, they're probably the senior person on the shop floor.

I understand that not everyone has the skill, time or desire to do their own maintenance and that's ok. It's not for everyone. What I always recommend is finding a quality, small, independently operated shop that can handle your maintenance. They keep records and Toyota cannot void your warranty for having your maintenance done and documented somewhere else unless they can prove without a doubt it was done improperly. Improper maintenance happens far less at small shops because the mechanic working on your vehicle is often the business owner and cannot afford for the work to be done wrong. Their livelihood is at steak so they pay attention to what they're doing.

Some of this is assumption based but most of it is experience over a few decades and a lot of different makes/models of cars and trucks. I stopped going to dealerships for anything other than recalls or warranty work and even then, I try to avoid them.

The o-ring was completely broken, he said it got caught on the guide that tells you where to stop.

I looked on the skid plate as i didnt want them to say oh you were playing with it ... ie you caused it... their mess they have to deal with it.

I do all other stuff myself, but i dont want them to put the blame on me especially for warranty claims ie you missed the deadline for so and so maintenance.

I ve had 2006 2008 and 2010 jetta 2.5s. Modified no problems other than rust and vw replaced all the body panels... but after that the mk6+ lost their quality and thats when i bought 2 2020 4runners.

Ive had a 2016 camaro 2ss bought brand new 2021 mustang gt brand new, 2 brand new 4runner tdor and my 3 jettas and i never had any dealer on any of the makes, make a mistake like this...
 
The engine runs smooth... but i still dont trust it.
I dont want them to break down my engine and examine it, if they cant even do a simple oil change....

You're pissed and I get it. However, I would stop by the service department and see what they documented as to what happened, the amount of oil that remained and how they fixed the issue. You need to have them add anything else you feel is important. Noe one is tearing your engine apart to inspect it. That's stupid. But with that documentation, if you do have an engine issue in the future, you ahve the ammo you need with that documentation for Toyota to ensure the dealer takes care of any future engine issues that could be affected by this problem.

This doesn't sound like a service issue, sounds more like a faulty filter issue.

The other thing you didn't mention is there oil covering the entire undercarriage and or deck lid/window? If the entire undercarriage is oiled, make sure that is mentioned in the notes. It denotes the leak occurred while driving. If not, it means it occurred after the engine was shut off and lost its vacuum meaning the engine didn't lose oil until after you drove home. Had something similar happen on my dragbike once. It sits really low and I hit a pothole on the return road and it punctured my oil pan but didn't lose any oil until l shut it off in the pits.
 
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Actually no this was the better of the 3 dealers... i trusted these guys more
Am in Ontario

if you want, PM me the dealer or the general area you are in. I have had a fair amount of experience with a few dealers within a wide radius of where I live. If you're somewhat close to any of these dealers I'll send you their names. they are toyota dealers though not indy.
 
Actually no this was the better of the 3 dealers... i trusted these guys more
Am in Ontario


As much advice as people try to give on here, it’s hard to assess or even DEFINE “reputable”. It’s all based on perception and anyone can be fooled. Not your fault, just another nail in the coffin that makes me want to do my own maintenance!


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