##help please! Bad service by mr. Lube!##

I’m experiencing a very bad service by Mr. Lube (Finch & Don mills store), and don’t know how to deal with this situation, thus have to ask for everyone’s help. My Toyota RAV4, running at excellent condition and never had any problem in the past, had a normal maintenance service at Mr. Lube on Aug. 9th,2017. The technician at Mr. Lube damaged the radiator hose during the service, leading to overheated and damaged engine. To make things worse, the manner that Mr. Lube representatives are handling this accident is disappointing, unprofessional and unacceptable.

My Toyota RAV4 is only 83000 Kilometers with very good maintenance at North Toyota. It had a transmission and radiator flush service at Mr. Lube (Finch & Don mills store) on August 9, 2017. During the work, the technician accidentally damaged the radiator hose and replaced it.
It was leading to overheated and engine damaged.

My wife and I nearly risked our lives over the past two weeks after we received the car service at Mr. Lube, as they didn’t warn us of any potential problems after the maintenance. The car was overheated and stalled on the highway! Instead of suggesting us to recheck and repair the car, they kept affirming us that the car had no problem when we reported them of the highway incident.

As the car was obviously problematic and technicians of Mr. Lube denied any problem, I resorted to North Toyota and the technicians there eventually found out the root cause: the technicians at Mr. Lube did not empty the air inside the coolant during the service. This caused the radiator hose popped out, overheated and damaged the engine. The manager of Mr. Lube acknowledged it and agreed to repair the problem. However, to make things worse, his solution and manner was rude and perfunctory – to replace a second-hand engine with the damaged original engine, and provide only 1 year guarantee of the used engine, the history and status of which we have no clue at all. When we proposed that the car be fixed at North Toyota given that it’s hard for us to trust in Mr. Lube, they abruptly rejected us.

I’m very upset at Mr. Lube’s un-professional and rude services, and how they treated a customer after causing such severe damage! I have already lost many working days due to the damage of my car, and it would take me much more time and energy if I eventually have to resort to the court. How shall I deal with the situation? Do other customers come up with similar situation by Mr. Lube? Thanks!

I don't have an answer for how to deal with the company. I can say that as the operator of the vehicle you are responsible for paying attention to the gauges. If you had pulled over as soon as you saw the engine was getting hot the damage would not have occurred. For the Toyota dealership to assert that without a doubt the air was not purged properly is being a little assumptious.

They replaced the hose so I see no need to warn you of potential problems.

Again, had you been paying attention to the gauges no damage would have occurred. You have some responsibility in the damage of the engine. I don't know how civil court works in Canada, but in the US you'd have a hard time proving the lube shop to be at fault and getting full compensation from them.

Like he said. Also, since your engine was used, it would be abnormal for it to be replaced with anything except a used engine. There are sources of very good used engines from Japan. If you have a choice, get one of those.