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Walmart didn't put oil in my car.

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aking378

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Colorado

Thursday- i took my car to walmart for an oil change and to get a light changed. I was told my car was finished, i got in my car, drove to get gas, it wasn't driving right, i drove a little further and realized that my oil light was on, i turned around to stop at the nearest gas station. I opened the hood of my car, the cap was off for where the oil goes in and was sitting on top of the engine. I checked to see how much oil was in it and it was bone dry. I called walmart, a man brought me oil said if i had issues to come back. I drove home, it wasn't working right. I brought it back, Walmart's service manager checks my engine. They get my car towed to the dealership and the manager says they will do what it takes to fix it. He clearly stated several times it was their fault. So now i'm in a rental car, my car is at the dealership and i am dealing with walmarts insurance.
Tuesday- The insurance company finally contacts me. They say they are having an issue because they should replace my car engine with a used engine part with less than 35,000 miles on it because thats what my engine was at. BUT if they use a used part i loose my life time warrantee on my engine. So they are trying to figure out what to do with the managers. If they give me a new engine they say its "betterment" but i can't get an old engine with only a two year warrante. I also drove back to walmart, the service manager apologized again, stated it was their fault again and refunded my oil change and gave me a 50 dollar gift car.

So, i need advice. I am thinking i should ask the CMI, (walmarts insurance) to send me an offer as to how they are going to fix this problem to look over. but over all i feel rather cheated. I spend six hours dealing with this problem on tuesday and although the manager is really nice i am nervous about how they are going to fix this. I haven't signed any paperwork and have only been sent to the insurance.
 


ariastar

Member
You do know that lifetime warranties do not mean forever and ever until the end of tim, right? Or even until you die? It means for the expected lifetime, usually in miles, of the engine on your car, which may only be 100k miles. Also sometimes these warranties require you have the oil changed at certain authorized locations. If your warranty has this caveat, then I guarantee you that WalMart isn't going to be one of their authorized locations for exactly this reason. (On the BMW I had, I had to go to the dealership and pay about 5x what JiffyLube charges for any warranty to stay in effect.) If you'd have gone to an authorized location with a minimum quality assurance that the engine manufacturer is comfortable with, then this wouldn't have happened, and a replacement would continue being covered. But go to WalMart, and their insurance is right - a brand new engine is a betterment, which does more than make you whole.

I suggest you get their offer in writing and send it to the warranty department for your engine and see if there's any middle ground. WalMart isn't responsible for making sure your warranty stays in effect, only that your vehicle be made whole, which is the same engine, same miles (approximately). The warranty is between you and another company.
 
You should certainly be given something for the lack of warranty. I would place a reasonable value on the warranty and demand payment, or demand that Wal-Mart pay for a new warranty (they can be bought).
 
WalMart isn't responsible for making sure your warranty stays in effect, only that your vehicle be made whole, which is the same engine, same miles (approximately). The warranty is between you and another company.
Nonsense. A warranty has value, and if the value is lost because of Wal-Mart's negligence, then Wal-Mart is liable for paying for the lost value.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
Not to mention that it's illegal for the auto manufacturer to require maintenence be done at specific places in order to keep the warrenty.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Not to mention that it's illegal for the auto manufacturer to require maintenence be done at specific places in order to keep the warrenty.
That wasn't the point. The point is that, once a DIFFERENT (used) engine is put in, the warranty won't apply to that engine.
 

ariastar

Member
I'm not saying WalMart shouldn't have to make the guy whole. WalMart shouldn't be required to make the guy better than before. A brand new engine is better. There may be some cash value that can be placed on a warranty, maybe not. The company covering the warranty on the engine right now certainly owes nothing. Thats why I'm suggesting getting WalMart's offer in writing and submitting that to the company warrantying the vehicle to see if an agreeable solution can be found.

If not, then time to get an attorney, which may cost a hell of a lot more in the end than forgoing the warranty. It's really damned hard to get an engine replaced under warranty anyway if you can't prove all oil changes on time at an approved location, all maintenance done at exactly the right time at an authorized location, etc.. Paying an attorney will most likely cost this guy a whole lot more considering very few engines need to be replaced before the "lifetime" is up, and few of those that need to be are actually covered under warranty. If his engine were to need replacing, what he'll pay on an attorney could easily cost more than paying out of pocket for a new engine. So he's somewhat damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. An expensive lesson in why not to trust WalMart with a vehicle. But chances are heavily in his favor that he'll hit the 100k-mile "lifetime" without needing an engine replacement anyway, after which time he wouldn't be covered.

Now he could be very lucky and have a judge order WalMart to reimburse the attorney fees. But he'll still be paying those fees out of pocket up front. It's an awfully expensive gamble to take.

In OP's shoes, I'd take a used engine, which will not be one that's just pulled from another vehicle and stuck in the car without being remanufactured/rebuilt. Since a mechanic has to look over the entire thing to make sure there are no problems, rebuilts get more individual attention that factory-new, line-assembled engines, and are almost always BETTER than brand new. A rebuilt isn't being assembled by a crew that has a very limited time before the product needs to be passed to the next person. Rebuilts get ore time dedicated to them. Knowing what I know about engines (and electronics), which is far more than the average layperson, I'd take a rebuilt over a factory-new engine any day. Rebuilts usually do come with a warranty for a period of time as well anyway, 30 days or so, and if there are any problems with the job, it will almost always pop up before this time.

OP, how much are you willing to gamble? Are you willing to shell out thousands of dollars and several days in court to get a brand new engine to have an original warranty to 100k miles and run the pretty high risk that you'll not get reimbursed for the attorney fees, even if you win? Can you afford to do so? If the answers are not, take the best offer you can get between the original warranty and WalMart, and take better care of your car in the future. WalMart brings you low prices by providing crap products and services, and they provide crap services in most areas by hiring those who can't get hired at the nearest chain oil-change place and paying them a few bucks less. Saving yourself $20 or so wasn't really worth it.
 

You Are Guilty

Senior Member
Why is this so difficult? OP gets the used engine installed, and Walmart pays for an aftermarket engine warranty for the amount of time OP would have had left on the original warranty had the engine not been replaced. Done.
 

ariastar

Member
Not to mention that it's illegal for the auto manufacturer to require maintenence be done at specific places in order to keep the warrenty.
Say I took my BMW to the dealership to have the oil change done. The engine would be replaced under warranty no problem because their own guys caused it. Their fault for not ensuring that the people hired to work on the engine they're covering were up to par. If I took it to WalMart the quality of the job is not within their control, and I wouldn't expect BMW, legally nor morally, to be responsible for a half-assed cheap job that amounts to partial neglect in the case the job was done wrong. Lifetime warranties are privileges, not rights.

An implied warranty, that the product will work as expected upon receipt, is different from an expressed warranty, a warranty that the product will work as expected for a certain period of time. Expressed warranties are great ways to get consumers to buy a product, and don't have to be offered. Though few people would even think of buying a brand new car without one.

If you think that there can't be conditions, yet a consumer signs agreeing to it, then it's going to be on the consumer to hire and pay for an attorney to fight it in court. And the OP, if he expects a brand new engine, may very well have to pay unless he'll take what he can get.
 
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Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Say I took my BMW to the dealership to have the oil change done. The engine would be replaced under warranty no problem because their own guys caused it. Their fault for not ensuring that the people hired to work on the engine they're covering were up to par. If I took it to WalMart the quality of the job is not within their control, and I wouldn't expect BMW, legally nor morally, to be responsible for a half-assed cheap job that amounts to partial neglect in the case the job was done wrong. Lifetime warranties are privileges, not rights.

An implied warranty, that the product will work as expected upon receipt, is different from an expressed warranty, a warranty that the product will work as expected for a certain period of time. Expressed warranties are great ways to get consumers to buy a product, and don't have to be offered. Though few people would even think of buying a brand new car without one.

If you think that there can't be conditions, yet a consumer signs agreeing to it, then it's going to be on the consumer to hire and pay for an attorney to fight it in court. And the OP, if he expects a brand new engine, may very well have to pay unless he'll take what he can get.
That's a ridiculous statement. Lifetime warranties are RIGHTS afforded under contract.
 
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ariastar

Member
Why is this so difficult? OP gets the used engine installed, and Walmart pays for an aftermarket engine warranty for the amount of time OP would have had left on the original warranty had the engine not been replaced. Done.
Sounds like the OP wants the original warranty by the original manufacturer and wants a new engine instead of used. He'd be made whole with a used engine and aftermarket warranty. He'd be made better with a new engine. He'll have to go to court for a new one.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Sounds like the OP wants the original warranty by the original manufacturer and wants a new engine instead of used. He'd be made whole with a used engine and aftermarket warranty. He'd be made better with a new engine. He'll have to go to court for a new one.
OP did not say or imply that. OP just wants to make sure he has the same level of warranty as before.

ANOTHER option is for the OP to pay the difference between a "used engine" and a "new engine" installed by the dealer ;)
 

ariastar

Member
That's a ridiculous statement. Lifetime warranties are RIGHTS afforded under contract.
If a contract is signed between seller and purchaser.

You do know that Chrysler is not offering lifetime warranties on its 2010 vehicles, right? There's a transferable limited powertrain warranty instead. I consumers have a right to lifetime warranties, well, I'll watch the news for a class-action against Chrysler for not offering the lifetime warranty you say is a right.
 
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Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
If a contract is signed between seller and purchaser.

You do know that Chrysler is not offering lifetime warranties on its 2010 vehicles, right? There's a transferable limited powertrain warranty instead. I consumers have a right to lifetime warranties, well, I'll watch the news for a class-action against Chrysler for not offering the lifetime warranty you say is a right.
It doesn't matter whether OTHER people get a lifetime warranty. THIS person has one. The warranty is a RIGHT provided to him per the terms of his purchase contract. GET IT? :rolleyes:
 

ariastar

Member
OP did not say or imply that. OP just wants to make sure he has the same level of warranty as before.
His expression of concern for his lifetime warranty and wanting a new engine to continue the original warranty (which would, in effect, renew the warranty from the very start, giving him more time/miles than he has left) sure sounds like he wants a new one. He doesn't want an "old" engine with "only a two year warrante (sic)". For all we know, his lifetime warranty only has two years left.

ANOTHER option is for the OP to pay the difference between a "used engine" and a "new engine" installed by the dealer ;)
This would be reasonable and went through my mind. I still get the feeling though that the OP is hoping to hear that he's entitled to a brand new engine on WalMart's dime. You know, like all those people posting that they found a hair on a hamburger or a bolt in a bag of freshly popped popcorn (that one is a recent post, and I wonder why the microwave didn't react to the metal if it was really in the bag before popping) and are angry to find out they didn't just hit the jackpot because there are no damages.
 

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