Cobblestone Auto Spa & Market

Oil Drain Plug Left Finger Tight

Posted by yumacolonel on 3/15/2007

This story starts with me heading to the "big city" to see Bodyworld at the Arizona Science Center (if you haven't, go see it . . . and buy your ticket on-line, it will save you hours in line). I live on the California side of the Colorado River across from my hometown, Yuma. Having spent 30 years in the Infantry (retired in 2005), I guess my tolerance for sloppy attention to detail is pretty low. At about 1500 hours on Thursday, 15 March 2007, I stopped at this place to get an oil change & car wash. My 2006 Toyota Tacoma was my military retirement gift to myself, so I'm a bit more than normally focused on it. Leaving aside the mediocre car wash (mud left on fenders, bird dung and mud left on the hood), what set my high-and-tight hair on fire was finding a 6 inch puddle of oil underneath the truck the next evening after Bodyworld and some errands. This is a Toyota with 23,000+ mostly road miles on it and was still tight as a drum before this trip (you are welcome to check my driveway back home for oil spots). When I opened the hood, I found oil on the fan shroud (my guess would be someone slopped it there when re-filling the oil), but the oil filter was tight. So, I crawled under the truck and, sure enough, the oil drain plug was finger tight. Given the late hour, I couldn't register my complaint with the company, but you can bet that I will stop by on my way back to Yuma tomorrow, but given the it-couldn't-be-our-fault response I seem to get from most businesses these days, I doubt I will get any satisfaction. Fairness demands I tell you that I used this place once before (for my other car) and there was no problem. Of course, if I was sitting by the side of I-8 in my new truck with a burned out engine, I might be more than a tad annoyed. Don?t forget to thank a veteran this Monday on the 4th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq . . . it's an ugly fight, but our service men and women are outstanding.