I find myself in a very helpless position. I got my first oil change at 4416 miles on my 2007 Hyundai Elantra. A little over 5 weeks later my dash lights came on and before I could pull over the car stopped running. I called the dealership where I bought my car and had the car towed. I expected that the problem would be a warranty issue. Within a couple of hours the dealer call and asked where did you get your oil changed. I asked why? They told me that there was no oil plug in the car and all the oil drained out and the engine had seized. The dealer advised me that this was not a Warranty claim since the oil change was performed by Pep Boys. At this point I notified the Service Manager at the Plantation Pep Boys where I had my oil changed. He was very nice and said he would submit a claim to Pep Boys Corporate. At the time I had access to another car so I didn't request a rental while I was waiting for a response from Pep Boys. Over 2 weeks went by and no decision had been made and I was informed that Pep Boys Corporate was sending a second inspector to look at my car.in the mean time my daughter was involved in an accident and the car I was using to get to work was totaled. I notified the Pep Boys Service Manager and he authorized me to get a rental car while we waited for a decision from Pep Boys. Over 3 weeks had passed and I finally got a letter from Pep Boys in the regular mail. They declined my claim based on the following items:
1. I had initially stated there was no oil in my driveway. Upon closer inspection I did find a very small and very light oil stain. My driveway is black and I expected to see a large puddle of oil. My driveway is also on a hill so it would not leak very much sitting on incline. Also it had been raining quite hard and often in the weeks prior to my engine failure. I informed Pep Boys that my original statement was incorrect and asked them on 2 occasions to come and look at my driveway both before and after my initial statement. They declined and made no mention of my amended statement in their declination letter.
2. They said they found no evidence of negligence on the part of Pep Boys or its employees. The Hyundai Service advisor and the mechanic both said that based on the physical oil running from the oil pan to the rear of the car was consistent with a oil plug that was not tight enough.
3. Pep Boys also confirmed in their letter that there was no evidence of any physical damage that might have knocked the oil plug out of the car and the dealer also confirmed this finding.
4. Pep Boys solution to how this occurred was that a vandal may have crawled under my car and loosen the drain plug or took my plug completely out of my car therefore causing the engine failure. I didn't have 4 or 5 quarts of oil on my driveway and no oil plug laying on the driveway so I guess the vandal cleaned it all up and took the plug with him. That makes sense right?
5. They also stated that my car has an oil sensor light that comes on when the oil gets low. As I understand that system only works when the oil gets to a certain point. So if the oil plug fell out before the level got to that point then the light would not come on. Therefore I would not have had any warning there was a problem. The first indication I had of a problem is when all the dash lights came on and the engine stopped running.
6. Finally they said it is my responsibility to prove that the drain plug was left loose by Pep Boys. If I can not show proof that Pep Boys left the drain plug loose they would continue to deny this claim.
After I received the Pep Boys declination letter I sent them a online complaint asking them to reconsider their position. One of the reasons why I asked them to reconsider their decision is their warranty states they stand behind any repair performed by Pep Boys for 90 day or 4,000 miles. My claim was made after 39 days and 1484 miles. I received no response so I contacted the Service Manager at the Plantation Pep Boys store. He called the Corporate Office and informed us that they had made their decision and my only recourse would be to "sue them". Since then I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau of which Pep Boys is a member. I did receive a response that my complaint had been received by the BBB and they were going to forward the complaint to the BBB in DC. I assume that is where the Pep Boys Corporate office is located. I never received any additional response from the DC Better Business Bureau or from Pep Boys concerning my complaint.
I now understand why Pep Boys advised me to "sue them" if I wanted to resolve this claim. There is no one a single consumer can go to to get help. I tried several lawyers but the claim is not big enough for them to be interested. The local Better Business Bureau hands seemed to be tied because this is a out of state company.
At this point our claim is for $7036.04. This includes $6325.58 for the Elantra's new engine (parts, labor and tax), $602.46 for a rental car (Which Pep Boys Management Authorized) and $108.00 in lost wages. We're not looking to make a killing. I'm only asking for Pep Boys to make this right. A mechanic made a mistake. It happens, but I shouldn't have to beg to get Pep Boys to fix this.
Although I think we have a strong case I can't find anyone to take it on. Fighting a huge corporation with unlimited resources is scary at best. The only alternative I can see is to find some one as big as Pep Boys like the media who can call their bluff. I have seen may reports on rip off report.com and Better Business Bureau complaints against Pep Boys but none of this seems to compel Pep Boys to do the right thing. Can't anyone get companies like Pep Boys to be responsible and do the right thing without taking them to court?
Although this may not seem like a lot of money to a large company which I'm sure has insurance to cover mistakes like this. But to a small middle income family who put their trust in Pep Boys to do a simple oil this has been financially devastating experience. There is a lot more to this story then just the situation my family has had to endure.
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