Car covered in oil

My daughter took her car in for service. All was apparently going well until their oil extraction system exploded and covered the car in dirty used oil. All over the outside, and some inside too - the window was open. It sounds as though some has run down the inside of the windows and may have found its way inside the door.

Assuming it can all be washed clean, is there likely to be any long term damage?

Is there anything, in particular, we should ask the garage to do?

They are planning to get a valeting firm in in the morning. I'm just wondering what the guy's face will look like when he sees the car.

Reply to
GB
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I would want it independently inspected before accepting it back.

Reply to
Mrcheerful

WTF?!

Reply to
SteveH

Me too. Who knows what damage has been done.

Reply to
Huge

How do I arrange that? The car's in Canterbury, by the way. AA/RAC?

Reply to
GB

The things we used when I worked at Citroen *aeons* ago, were big barrels on wheels with a drainer, emptied by plugging an airline into them and plugging another pipe into the oil draining system in the wall of the workshop. Get it wrong, and a lot of oil went a very long way. I'd want it inspected too, and properly cleaned!

Reply to
Mike P

I'd want it cleaned, but that ought to be pretty bloody obvious, it's noy going to have done any subtle hidden damage, stripping the wax off is fairly obvious.

Reply to
Duncan Wood

Not a lot, other than it needing the oil cleaning out, is my guess.

It's just a splattering of used oil from a stopped engine - it's not like anything mechanically could have gone wrong.

Reply to
SteveH

What should be considered is what used engine oil will be like on the interior, if the oil was just over the outside of the car/engine it would be a very different matter. If the car is a high end one then the problem will escalate due to the materials used. Even on the exterior there can be problems with any rubber components like door seals, window trims etc.

AA or RAC are easy to arrange, but I expect there are others that specialise depending where you are in the country.

Reply to
Mrcheerful

You've not seen one of these commercial drainers go wrong have you?

" just a splattering of oil from a stopped engine" it is not... high pressure airline, about 50 litres of oil.. going upwards out the drainer at high speed goes a long way, and all over what it gets in the way of. Hit the roof in our dealer workshop, 40ft up.

Reply to
Mike P

Still not convinced it needs a professional inspection.

A good valet / steam clean and possibly even a quick 'detail' of the bodywork and all will be good.

I think it's a reflection of the times in which we live that the instant reaction in a minor incident is to make it into something much bigger (and no doubt, worthy of compensashun)

Reply to
SteveH

what about the interior?

Reply to
Mrcheerful

'a good valet / steam clean'

HTH.

Reply to
SteveH

I've got them to give it a thorough clean and valet, including the air inlets for the ventilation and removing the door trims. We'll give it a go and have a good sniff at it once she brings the car home. The garage are swearing blind it doesn't smell of oil, but then they work in a place full of oil, so could they tell?

I agree that there's no point making more of this than necessary. To be fair to them, they volunteered to do most of the above anyway.

Reply to
GB

Just check they've rewaxed it.

Reply to
Duncan Wood

let's hope it isn't a nice interior with cream leather, sheep skin rugs and wood finishes.

Reply to
Mrcheerful

Fairly basic Nissan Micra. :)

Reply to
GB

Sounds like it's oilcloth at the moment.

G.Harman

Reply to
damduck-egg

I really don't know why they did not just drain the oil normally.

Reply to
Mrcheerful

Quicker and disposes the oil without a mess - but this didn't happen.

Reply to
Rob

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