Wal Mart
320 W. Avenue P
Palmdale California 93551
U.S.A.
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Wal Mart Tire & Lube Express Wal Mart Ruined My Car Palmdale California
1Author
2Consumer
2Employee/Owner
My husband & I had a 1989 Toyota Corolla that was purchased from a dealer with only 70K miles on it. Because this was our commuter car that we drive from Palmdale to Hollywood we were diligent about changing the oil every 3000 miles.
Since Wal Mart was just up the street from us we decided to take the car there. The first oil change was fine. No problems. It wasn't until the second oil change...
We didn't think anything of the guy not topping off the fluids like we paid them to do. We just requested that they do it. We never thought to check the oil too!
So there we were driving our car 70 miles each way 4 days a week (560 miles+ per week). Then at 1am on a Sunday morning, as my husband was getting off the freeway, he came to a stop sign and the car stalled.
My husband tried to get it started but it refused. We had the car towed home and checked it out the next morning. We checked the gas level, the starter, the battery.
Then we decided to check the oil. The dip stick was bone dry! Now we keep our car parked in our garage and if there had been any type of leak, we would have noticed it. There was nothing.
Our mechanic told us that the engine froze because there was NO oil in the car! We drove that car 3025 miles with NO oil.
The engine would have to be re-built. We were making payments on this car to re-establish our credit and could not afford another $1200 to repair the engine. There was nothing we could do since Wal Mart refused to take responsibility. There was no burden of proof.
We ended up having to give the car back as a voluntary reposession, ruining our credit even further. Not only were we out a car, we have another negative on our credit report and there was nothing we could do about it other than tell people to NEVER take their car to Wal Mart for maintanance.
A lesson learned... the hard way.
Rochelle
Palmdale, California
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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
1Author
2Consumer
2Employee/Owner
Updates & Rebuttals
#1 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Larry - Phoenix ()
SUBMITTED: Wednesday, April 03, 2002
POSTED: Thursday, April 04, 2002
I used to work as an auto mechanic and I don't think you have blamed the right party.
You said you drove the car 3025 miles with no oil in it. That is extremely unlikely. Most cars would not make it 25 miles with no oil.
Here is a more likely explanation: The oil that Walmart put in was slowly burned over three thousand miles until you had none left.
You indicate that you purchased a 1989 Toyota with only 70K miles from a dealer who sells to people trying to rebuild their credit. My experience with this kind of dealer is that they offer the crappiest cars. It is likely that your car had far more miles on it than you thought.
My conclusion from the information you gave is that your car's oil went right out the exhaust pipe.
But I also have to question why you never checked the oil once in 3000 miles. Come on! You were driving a 13-year-old car more than 560 miles a week. Did it ever occur to you to open the hood and look at the dipstick? You could have avoided a lot of trouble.
#2 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: chris - chicago ()
SUBMITTED: Sunday, April 28, 2002
POSTED: Monday, April 29, 2002
I have to agree with the mechanic who has suggested that the oil was burned off by the engine, but would also suggest the following scenario.
I opperate a repair shop in Chicago,and am constantly made painfully aware of the ineptitude of the "technicians" who work for these fast lube-fast buck oil and brake shops.
I have lost count of the cars I have seen where the technician did not top off the oil to allow for the empty, new oil filter.
On some cars,this can be as much as 1 quart! On the other hand though,if these folks Toyota was so low on oil that the motor siezed, I should have expected the oil pressure warning light to have illuminated.
That people can, and do ignore these warnings signs makes the mind boggle. Remember,warning lamps are there for a reason, ignore them at your peril. Chris, Chicago Tech.
#3 Employee
AUTHOR: Michael - Alpharetta (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Sunday, January 25, 2004
POSTED: Sunday, January 25, 2004
I am sorry but the way that customer described the way Wal-Mart ruined their car, I mean come on! I am a current employee of Wal-Mart TLE and this is outrageous. Sounds to me we have your typical customer who would rather jump to conclusions rather than ask questions. Ruin your car??? How bout take away my bussiness? I mean filling fluids such as washer fluid, or checking the tail-lights, i mean it happens, we are far from perfect, we can accept that and even try to fix the situation. Not filling the oil now that seems a little far fetched.
#4 Ex-Employee
AUTHOR: Charles - Palmdale (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Saturday, May 08, 2004
POSTED: Sunday, May 09, 2004
i am a ex t.l.e from walmart i was so embarassed to have that job watching other people ruin other cars forgetting the oil, no oil plug,driveing a car into the pits, god what idiots,i had to leave there and i did,while i was there they have destroyed 4 cars and 2 trucks, i was not going to be blamed for someones stupidness the people they hire are to young to learn,or very forgetful, warning dont ever take you car there,it might not start up.
