Jiffy Lube, Division Of Shell Oil Co. Did not replace Oil filter properly. Oil ran out, Engine Seized and is ruined. Wilmington And National Delaware, and Nationalk

What the dealership told you was incorrect. There would indeed be oil to drip wherever the vehicle was parked. I know as I have had plenty of clunkers that ended up leaking. They also neglected to tell you that the clicking lifters would also have been a warning to at least check your oil level.

I have a question for the OP, JP.

You stated this occured after a few hundred miles. Please state exctly how many miles, and also how many days/weeks/months passed before the occurence.

If you did the few hundred miles the same day, and this happened, I would be on your side.

But if it was more than a few days or even a week, I would side with Jiffy lube, as this is owner negligence for not paying attention to your oil level, and observing leaks under the car.

I look under my car every day! And, I check the oil every week.

If my car developes a leak, I WILL catch it.

I brought this up with the car dealership.
They told me that when driving, the oil is swept away in the undercarriage.

The oil comes out only when the engine is on as it is under pressure to move throught the oil filter. Therefore there would not be an oil leakage stain in the driveway.

Larry, it still doesn't address the inevitable leak that would be apparent at least where they park the vehicle overnight.

When an old oil filter is removed, the O-ring gasket sometimes sticks to the mating surface on the engine block. An experienced mechanic will check to see if this has happened and remove the old gasket from the engine.

If a new filter is installed with the old gasket still in place, the seal between the two gaskets may leak immediately or it may hold for awhile.

I personally witnessed one of these double-gasket failures some 500 miles after the filter had been changed. In that particular instance, I was standing in front of the vehicle when it was started, saw oil pouring out, and told the driver to shut it off. He did so immediately and there was no harm to the engine. The driver crawled underneath to find the source of the leak at the oil filter and soon crawled out with his oil filter in one hand and an extra gasket in the other hand. After the gasket blew out, he was able to remove the oil filter without tools as it was no longer tight.

It is quite possible that this is what happened in this case. I tried some of those fast oil change places 20 years ago and every time they managed to screw up something seriously. My recommendation is to stay away from Jiffy Lube and all the others like them.

"I had an oil change and lube and after a few hundred miles "

Now, it stands to reason that you would see at least a leak or stain from the oil leaking prior to the filter "falling off" thus it could be reasonable to assume that it could have been replaced or retightened to prevent damage. It doen't just "fall off". It also wouldn't take a "couple hundred miles" to show up after an oil change. If it was indeed the oil change place's fault-regardless of who-it would show immediately.