[djpeetur]

My roomate, who I finance this car too, took the car to oil change place. They empty the oil and forgot to put oil in. Started the car, the engine is toast. The oil change place admit fault, but their insurance (Beskshire Hathaway) does not want to pay for it and dragging their feet. My roomate insurance said that they will take over and cover the car. Roomate is scared his insurnace will go up, and want to make the oil shop's insurance pay for it. How do I got about this SHIT SHOW.

[cptcrunch]

Lawyer up.

Or have your insurance company deal with their insurance company. Your rates shouldn't go up given that the other party has admitted fault (you have that in writing, right?!).

Having your insurance company cover the claim while they go after the other party is common. Think of an un-insured party who hits you. Assuming you have the coverage your insurance company pays you out and then sues the other party or goes after their insurance.

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by djpeetur

My roomate insurance said that they will take over and cover the car. Roomate is scared his insurnace will go up, and want to make the oil shop's insurance pay for it.

His insurance won't go up, it wasn't his fault. The oil shop's insurance will pay for it eventually, but that's for his insurance to deal with, not him.

[Fuller]

Going forward, advise him not to take nice cars like that to some in and out, assembly line oil change place. In an effort to save a few dollars, his sweet ride was destroyed.

[cfm56d7b]

This is the very outcome no one wants to see or experience. Take a deep breath, get a lawyer. The insurance company may assign a lawyer to the case. Lesson learned ...

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by Fuller

Going forward, advise him not to take nice cars like that to some in and out, assembly line oil change place. In an effort to save a few dollars, his sweet ride was destroyed.

Even if they'd put in oil would it have been up to BMW specs? Probably not, even most synthetics don't make the grade. I'd only trust a dealer or an Indy shop that specializes in German cars, if I didn't do my own, that is.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

This is what you are paying the insurance premium for. let them deal with it. You guys are not at fault no increase in rates.

Look at the bright side you will have a zero mileage engine when its done.

[kikcaffine]

Originally Posted by BEAR-AvHistory

This is what you are paying the insurance premium for. let them deal with it. You guys are not at fault no increase in rates.

Look at the bright side you will have a zero mileage engine when its done.

By zero mileage you mean either a reman (best case) or a used one from LKQ( Most likely scenario).

[enjoythemusic]

Let your insurance handle it. They'll easily get Warren Buffet's company to pay up. Insist dealership does the work. NO EXCEPTIOHS

[Big Mexican Women]

how would anyone forget to add oil to the engine during an oil change..? even if they did forget, you would know the second you started the engine and turned it off. sounds suspicious to me. no wonder insurance won't even bother. to your friend or whatever, man up and just pay for the new engine. nothing else you can do.

[Big Mexican Women]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Even if they'd put in oil would it have been up to BMW specs? Probably not, even most synthetics don't make the grade. I'd only trust a dealer or an Indy shop that specializes in German cars, if I didn't do my own, that is.

that's bullshit - oil is oil. there are good dino oils out there and bad synthetic oils. just because an oil is not synthetic or LL approved does not mean it won't provide a sufficient amount of protection. sounds like a load of bullshit to me.

[jgoens]

Just tragic...oil change on these cars is easy as shit....I understand if car was with a girl who doesn't know anything..but, damn, I've changed oil on many cars and these are pretty easy.

[Fuller]

Originally Posted by Big Mexican Women

that's bullshit - oil is oil. there are good dino oils out there and bad synthetic oils. just because an oil is not synthetic or LL approved does not mean it won't provide a sufficient amount of protection. sounds like a load of bullshit to me.

You can get your oil changed by whomever, and put whatever oil you'd like in your car. In my mind though, it makes sense to follow recommended guidelines and make sure things are up to spec. Why get a premium car and then pinch pennies on oil changes? That makes no sense to me.

[vooonoo]

Originally Posted by djpeetur

My roomate, who I finance this car too

I'm trying to make sense of this part, did you and your roommate co-sign on a car??... that seems like a terrible idea

[rak299]

It isn't that clear that the claim will not affect your insurance rates. People with more not-at-fault claims are statistically more likely to have claims in the future. Different states have different laws. Texas (your location) has a point system.

https://www.dps.texas.gov/DriverLicense/drp.htm

The story doesn't seem right. Even after the oil is drained, there is residual lubricant on the crank and main bearing surfaces. If you start the car, you will get warnings before you get the kind of seizure I see in your picture.

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by Fuller

Why get a premium car and then pinch pennies on oil changes?

BWM spec approved oil is no more expensive than other good grades of synthetic oil anyway. It may or may not be different, but since it costs no more why not? If five minute oil change outfits could be trusted to actually put high grade oil into your car that would be one thing, but I don't trust them. As for mineral oil, if one doesn't know why synthetic is far superior they should not be giving advice, they should be asking for it. They might even find out that petroleum comes mainly from zooplankton and algae, not dinosaurs.

Even after the oil is drained, there is residual lubricant on the crank and main bearing surfaces. If you start the car, you will get warnings before you get the kind of seizure I see in your picture.

I recall someone, probably Mobil back in the early days of Mobil 1, draining the oil, then driving the car to see how long it took for the bearings to go. The OP doesn't say how far the car went before it died. You'd think there would have been sufficient warning before the damage was done, but people have been known to shrug off warnings.

[SoCal_NSX]

Originally Posted by rak299

It isn't that clear that the claim will not affect your insurance rates. People with more not-at-fault claims are statistically more likely to have claims in the future. Different states have different laws. Texas (your location) has a point system.

https://www.dps.texas.gov/DriverLicense/drp.htm

The story doesn't seem right. Even after the oil is drained, there is residual lubricant on the crank and main bearing surfaces. If you start the car, you will get warnings before you get the kind of seizure I see in your picture.

Yeah, you think a huge warning light would have come on in time saying shut off the f------ car!!!

[obert]

Good luck with getting this figured out!

I worked at a place where this happened but not to a nice car like this. The person drained the oil and put the plug back in. Then the mechanic did the brakes on it with out lowering the car down first to refill oil.

Car was lowered and taken for a test drive with no oil.

Person who changed the oil should have put oil in it before anything else was done to the car. The person that replaced the brakes shoul have seen all the warning lights or light as soon as they started it but didn’t.

End result was the shop replaced the motor but with a used one.

[Humdizzle]

yeah this doesn't make sense. co-financing with a roomate? also the car will give you a warning when the oil is even low by a quart. you would think this would set off alarm bells in someones head after JUST having the oil changed.

Maybe they forgot to tighten the drain plug? but you would still get a warning on the dash.

[Big Mexican Women]

Originally Posted by Fuller

You can get your oil changed by whomever, and put whatever oil you'd like in your car. In my mind though, it makes sense to follow recommended guidelines and make sure things are up to spec. Why get a premium car and then pinch pennies on oil changes? That makes no sense to me.

I don't recommend that anyone strays from the LL requirements! I was just making a point. every single time I would change the oil on my car, except for one single exception I would only use LL certified. I used Castrol several times, not the worst oil out there, certainly nothing impressive. Tried Motul and absolutely loved it, pricey but worth every penny. Tried Liqui-Moly last oil change and thought it was also quite good. The only time I didn't use LL certified was Shell Rotella - a diesel oil to help clean out my crankcase and it did absolutely wonders. the engine loved it - was so much more smooth and quiet on cold starts, ran cooler at operating temp, and I remember opening the oil filler cap to peek inside and removing the oil filter during the next change, it came out far cleaner than the previous interval. you have owners still using Mobil 1, even though it is NOT LL approved anymore... so if you're gonna be straying from the requirements (even though basically all the good oils such as the ones i've mentioned, and Penzoil platinum are LL approved anyways) use something that would actually be beneficial.

Originally Posted by SoCal_NSX

Yeah, you think a huge warning light would have come on in time saying shut off the f------ car!!!

even if you didn't get a warning light, the sound the engine would be making.... you'd know right away that something is wrong and shut the car off. but what sort of shop forgets to add oil during an oil change..? this all sounds like complete bullshit to me. it's no wonder the shop's insurance refuses to cover it. whoever blew up the motor needs to pay for it and that's it. blaming the shop isnt going to get you a freebie on a new motor if it's not their fault..!

[SoCal_NSX]

Originally Posted by Big Mexican Women

I don't recommend that anyone strays from the LL requirements! I was just making a point. every single time I would change the oil on my car, except for one single exception I would only use LL certified. I used Castrol several times, not the worst oil out there, certainly nothing impressive. Tried Motul and absolutely loved it, pricey but worth every penny. Tried Liqui-Moly last oil change and thought it was also quite good. The only time I didn't use LL certified was Shell Rotella - a diesel oil to help clean out my crankcase and it did absolutely wonders. the engine loved it - was so much more smooth and quiet on cold starts, ran cooler at operating temp, and I remember opening the oil filler cap to peek inside and removing the oil filter during the next change, it came out far cleaner than the previous interval. you have owners still using Mobil 1, even though it is NOT LL approved anymore... so if you're gonna be straying from the requirements (even though basically all the good oils such as the ones i've mentioned, and Penzoil platinum are LL approved anyways) use something that would actually be beneficial.



even if you didn't get a warning light, the sound the engine would be making.... you'd know right away that something is wrong and shut the car off. but what sort of shop forgets to add oil during an oil change..? this all sounds like complete bullshit to me. it's no wonder the shop's insurance refuses to cover it. whoever blew up the motor needs to pay for it and that's it. blaming the shop isnt going to get you a freebie on a new motor if it's not their fault..!

According to the OP the shop has already admitted fault.

At that point I don't know what the hold up is with the insurance company???

Just seems odd that the car would blow up as soon as you "started the engine"

[Big Mexican Women]

Originally Posted by SoCal_NSX

According to the OP the shop has already admitted fault.

At that point I don't know what the hold up is with the insurance company???

Just seems odd that the car would blow up as soon as you "started the engine"

suspicious. very suspicious.

yup, and then there is that too...