[SolidusSnake]

I had taken my Creta for its 3rd service yesterday and as per routine procedure engine oil was drained and before fresh oil could be put in, the wheel alignment guy came in and sat in the car and to my utter shock started the car. I immediately shouted that car has no oil and then he turned off the engine. I immediately raised the issue with service advisor and CRM also came, they said car was turned off immediately and that no damage would have occurred and that I should not write a mail to Hyundai bcoz service advisor will loose his job. As service advisor is known to me, I relented and said that CRM should write a mail to me acknowledging the incident, which she wrote in second try( in first mail she simply said a incident occurred without describing it).

Now what worries me is that these turbo gdi engines are very sensitive and whether this incident would impact the longevity of the engine? and full impact of this incident may reveal only itself some thousand kms done the line. I am in dilemma that should I let go of the incident or pursue it further

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by SolidusSnake

Now what worries me is that these turbo gdi engines are very sensitive and whether this incident would impact the longevity of the engine? and full impact of this incident may reveal only itself some thousand kms done the line. I am in dilemma that should I let go of the incident or pursue it further

Sheer carelessness on the part of employee.

If the car was switched off within 30 seconds, there will not be any lasting damage.

[shankar.balan]

Oh no. This is just completely stupid.
Now, exactly how many seconds did the engine remain on for? It is important to diarize this piece as well.
While the oil indeed is drained there will still be a thin coating of residual oil but this is not sufficient to keep the engine lubricated. Therefore you absolutely have every right to inform HMIL CRM or even higher authority.

[Nalin1]

Firstly it is shocking that they mix up tasks like these. From whatever time seen inside service centres, there are separate bays for each of the checks carried out. Car moves from one bay to the other for engine oil, electrical checks, suspension etc and finally to the wash area.

Who knows what could have happened. Each one's guess. Good that you have it documented.

[MT_Hyderabad]

My question to you would be the following:

How much time passed before the engine oil was drained from the last start with oil?

For how long exactly was the car started?

If a long time elapsed (lets say more than half an hour) from the last time engine was started and this time when the engine was started without oil, there could be some chance of engine damage.

If the engine was immediately switched off, no damage is foreseen.

Although I am very envt. conscious, but in this particular case, I would recommend running the engine with old filter and new oil for 15 mins and then draining the oil and then refilling with new oil and new filter.

This drained oil should be observed for metal particles, if they are observed, I leave it upto you what to do.

As the incident happened yesterday, I would recommend getting new oil filled from them today/tomorrow as a courtesy; of course free if cost.

[vedirah]

Don't worry, if the engine was immediately turned off there should be no damage. The engine components would still have been covered in a film of the old oil.

This really depends on how long the engine was turned on for. To be sure of no damage, do a compression test.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Had an incident which was far worse, but on a much simpler engine. My old bike (a Bajaj Pulsar 180) was delivered post first service without engine oil and I rode around a few kms before realizing this from the changed engine sound.

Dealership gave their mistake in writing and also agreed to provide an additional year (2+2+1) of dealer warranty for any engine issues that may arise. Needed none of that though- the bike ran without any issues till around 10 years/56k kms when I sold it.

Would advise the same here - get the dealership to admit in writing that they will take care of any issues that will arise. Since you immediately noticed the incident and got them to switch it off, I think there may not be any issues afterall.

[SolidusSnake]

The engine ran for less than a minute, fortunately I was Standing nearby. Again bringing to the fore need to be with our prized possessions during service otherwise I would never have known about it and serious engine damage could have occurred. Though verbally they assured me they will take care of any issue that may arise but in the email they simply have acknowledged the incident, but no such assurance

[lapis_lazuli]

You should escalate and keep a record in the system without further delay. In these cases, no personal relationship with a SA will make him own consequential damages that may arise. It is unlikely that damage has occurred but please raise a hue and cry.

[JithinR]

Originally Posted by SolidusSnake

The engine ran for less than a minute, fortunately I was Standing nearby. Again bringing to the fore need to be with our prized possessions during service otherwise I would never have known about it and serious engine damage could have occurred. Though verbally they assured me that will take care of any issue that may arise but in the email they simply have acknowledged the incident, but no such assurance

You don't really need to wait for them to describe it. You can reply to the email tagging every single higher up you can find for that dealership and Hyundai CSM team and ask them to reiterate that that any damage due to their service technician negligence will be taken care off in the future.

This mail can describe the incident from your end and you can ask them to preserve and share the CCTV footage for posterity.

Sorry to sound pessimistic but I wouldn't care less for verbal assurances of these guys. Their word is worth less than nothing.

Let there be written account of the incident from either party. If they refute it then you will know their true intentions and hopefully CCTV will come to the rescue.

[ike]

Isn't the car supposed to be on a lift when the oil is being drained and replaced? Any particular reason why the car was not lifted/taken down before fresh oil was put in

[tjsi]

Well you can't really actually drain all of the oil from the engine, some amount is always left behind, so unless they really, really flushed it out (which is unlikely) then probably no critical damage was done.
The technician surely needs to be sent back to training tho. The negligence is increasing across all service centres, even the Honda and Toyota ones are caught slacking.
I wonder what really happens with our cars when we're not present there.

[maheshm619]

Originally Posted by SolidusSnake

Again bringing to the fore need to be with our prized possessions during service otherwise I would never have known about it and serious engine damage could have occurred.

Remember the incident when a Baleno went to NEXA service only to be washed, and the same getting recorded in dash cam ?? The only result of that episode was a blanket ban on dash-cams inside service areas.

Similarly , Hyundai will most likely update their SOP and restrict car owners from 500 meters of car service bays.

Originally Posted by ike

Isn't the car supposed to be on a lift when the oil is being drained and replaced? Any particular reason why the car was not lifted/taken down before fresh oil was put in

The oil draining happens on a lift, a container to catch drained oil is usually placed beneath car at that time. Pouring fresh oil happens while lift is on ground. Working at heights is usually not recommended due to safety reasons.

[frewper]

Originally Posted by SolidusSnake

I immediately raised the issue with service advisor and CRM also came, they said car was turned off immediately and that no damage would have occurred and that I should not write a mail to Hyundai bcoz service advisor will loose his job. As service advisor is known to me, I relented and said that CRM should write a mail to me acknowledging the incident, which she wrote in second try( in first mail she simply said a incident occurred without describing it).

Please write the email. There is no point getting emotional about someone else loosing their job for not doing it properly in the first place. Honestly no one is gonna loose their job on an issue like this. They are just trying to stop you from writing that complaint.

Its your money. Your money. Are they gonna give you a concession if something fails prematurely after a year ?

So just write the mail and move ahead with the issue.

[RaSing]

Dear All

On a recent visit to a showroom, the showroom manager showed us how seriously a customer complaint is taken nowadays. In our case it was a delayed new vehicle delivery for which my friend made a WhatsApp complaint on the group created. We were shown their internal email saying "strict action to be taken" against the employee. If that is to be believed, i would request you to first check the damage done to the car. If there isnt any damage, one should refrain from escalating each and every matter. May be i am wrong, but i am just thinking from the sales/service staff's perspective. He might actually loose a job here