oil change

The oil filter has a gasket. I think what you are thinking about is the crush washer on the drain plug. Only a couple of possibilities here: your cousin didn't use a new crush washer on the drain plug or forgot to reuse the one that was on there, filter is loose, drain plug loose. If the filter is loose/leaking, a visual inspection should confirm this. If it is the drain plug, just live with until the next oil change and make sure a new crush washer gets used.

The only place I could find these washers was at the dealer. Think for about 75 cents each. You take a chance reusing as I discovered when I first started changing my Foresters oil.

More likely the home garage mechanic (or you in providing the parts) neglected to buy a replacement washer. The crush washer has to be replaced for each oil change. The nylon washer can be reused but it could be damaged so replace it, anyway. If the mechanic worked on the car in your garage and that's where the car still resides, perhaps it was part of the mess of crawling under your car and trying to do the oil change under limited space (i.e., some oil gets splashed out of the drain tray, drips off the wrench, or drips off the plug after reinserting it).

Why not just call your cousin to simply ask if he replaced the washer (regardless of what type it is)?

It maybe that the oil filter just needs to be tightened a little. It's common, when they get warm, they may not be as tight as they need to be.

Thanks everybody for your replies. I'll ask my cousin when I get a chance. Tim

i have also seen a higher chance of the filter leaking if it isn't OEM