Should you have your oil changed by a dealership?

TLDW - Dealership lube jockey messes up with the oil filter housing, starving the engine of oil. Dealership says not our problem, dumb customer goes to a repair shop and they parts canon the engine and didn't fix the actual issue.

Customer should've sued the dealership from the start.

Smart techs don't work at dealerships, they know better money is elsewhere. When you go to a dealership just keep in mind that the person doing diag and working on your car is going to be someone who is too stupid to move to a better place because they lack the foresight or the skills to.

 

I got the two free ones and moved on.
And I always check the level before leaving

 

I was near the automotive department of my Walmart (they, also, have a service center)

They had a sign HELP WANTED so I asked where the lube guys went....they told me our local Toyota dealer just hired two of them!

Oh, this is the SAME Walmart where the "mechanics" accidently forgot to replenish oil when doing an oil change on not one but TWO vehicles, burning out the engines.

 

Just what the dealership was looking for; EXPERIENCED SCREW-UPS...

 

I haven’t had any trouble since they first instituted the free program, but I always checked the level and it was usually overfilled

 

How di you know they changed the oil & filter? Do they offer the old stuff back?

My local dealer does not even adjust tire pressures to numbers handwritten by the tech. I would not trust my local dealer to do the job or do it properly.

 

Only when they overfill it. Or maybe they just add a little to make it look good

 

And Toyota vs Lexus is not a problem. They use the same parts and part numbers for most things.

 

One reason they may overfill, at least my personal DIY experience: if I do a good drain, (leave everything dripping, go have a cuppa), then refill with the spec'd amount of oil, get the front back down, run it a minute, wait 5, and then check, it's invariably a little low, maybe 1/2" below top mark (equates to about 1/2 quart/liter).

I know from experience, to wait, leave it thus a few days, then recheck. Doing that, I find the level's only about 1/8" below the top mark, and that could maybe be chalked up to DIY technique, having the front-only raised, quite high, which with the oil pan's drain bolt's aft edge of oil pan location, could afford a more efficient drain.

Dealerships or other pro's don't have that luxury, want to see the oil right at the top mark, before they hand it back. So maybe makes for a modest overfill.

Another annoyance is the permanent housing style oil filter on the 3rd gen (and early gen 4 years as well): it too easy to screw up, for pros and DIY alike. I've caught myself at least once, starting to the housing back on, sans filter. Pros should not, but...