Having your oil changed is the simplest part of car maintenance. Or at least it’s supposed to be. But as with any maintenance, it’s possible to make an expensive or catastrophic mistake.
A woman says that’s what happened to her. She claims a Valvoline oil change resulted in a fried alternator and a litany of other issues.
According to TikTok creator Kayla McCormick (@truthbetoldbymom), she was in a drive-thru when her Hyundai’s battery light came on. Soon after, the car shut off.
“We had to get it towed, and then we took it to Firestone,” she recalls. “That next morning, …they gave us a call after they looked at the vehicle… They asked, ‘Who did your oil change last?’ And so I told them it was Valvoline.”
“They said, ‘Okay…because your oil housing has been cracked, or was cracked,’” McCormick continues. “‘Whoever did your oil last cracked it,’ basically is what they said.”
As a result, she says oil began leaking over McCormick’s alternator. This reportedly fried her alternator. McCormick says she now needs “a new alternator…a new oil housing, and probably a new battery, amongst many other things.”
Woman goes back to Valvoline for answers
From here, McCormick says she decided to try to resolve the issue with Valvoline. She claims she submitted a request to the company and provided them with details about the Firestone location where her vehicle was serviced. She says she also included images of the damage.
According to McCormick, Valvoline ignored multiple inquiries over the coming days. She says they eventually did call — to deny culpability.
“They are telling me bogus reasons why this isn’t their fault, which, of course. I figured that they would deny the claim. Nobody wants to pay out on this kind of thing,” she starts.
McCormick notes FIrestone was the one levying accusations against Valvoline, not her. Not only that, but she claims that no other company has worked on her car in the interim period.
“The only people who have touched my vehicle in the last, like, six months is Valvoline,” she adds. “They’re the only people who have touched it.”
Finally, McCormick says she reached out to Firestone to see if Valvoline had even looked at the evidence she submitted. According to McCormick, Firestone told her that Valvoline claimed it did not receive any pictures. Firestone also said that Valvoline claimed it would send someone to look at the car. She says it did not do this.
Now, McCormick says she’s escalating the issue with Valvoline. In her estimation, Valvoline effectively admitted to deciding the claim without actually looking at the issue in the first place.
“How can you come to a conclusion when you haven’t even seen the evidence?” she asks.
McCormick adds that she is now seeking legal advice about the next steps to take. Her video detailing this series of events currently has over 19,000 views.
Via email, a Valvoline spokesperson told Subplot News, “We have been in contact with Ms. McCormick. The condition in question was present when the vehicle arrived for service and was documented on the invoice before service began. We appreciate the opportunity to address the concern.”
Can an oil leak destroy an alternator?
It’s impossible to know whether a botched Valvoline oil change truly caused McCormick’s issues. That said, the mechanical failure she describes is a potential result of an oil leak.
If engine oil enters the alternator, carbon brushes and slip rings can get contaminated. Add in some debris, and the oil can create conductive deposits. This in turn can result in electrical shorts, accelerated wear and, in some situations, failure.
This is a known issue in some vehicles. For example, Go Parts notes that the BMW 3-Series (E46) and Z4 (E85) with the M54 engine has an oil filter housing gasket positioned directly above the alternator. When this gasket leaks, oil can drip into the alternator and, over time, break it.
Other complaints about Valvoline
An individual Valvoline location can perform dozens of oil changes in a single day. Given the volume the nationwide chain does each year, there are bound to be some disgruntled customers.
So it’s not surprising that McCormick isn’t the first to claim that a Valvoline location damaged her car during an oil change.
In one complaint to the Better Business Bureau, a customer claimed that an overtightened oil filter damaged part of their housing, causing oil to leak. Valvoline eventually offered $540 for repairs while declining to cover additional costs. The complainant describes this as a “low ball offer.”
Others have made similar complaints to the BBB. In many cases, Valvoline denies these claims.
If you suspect that an auto shop has damaged your vehicle, the Federal Trade Commission recommends documenting all transactions, expenses, conversations, and relevant dates. From there, they can approach the shop that caused the problem and attempt to resolve the issue.
If this is ineffective, the customer can contact their state attorney general’s office or a local consumer protection agency. Alternatively, they may consider pursuing the issue in small claims court.
‘They didn’t even pull the drain plug’
In the comments section, users shared their own complaints about Valvoline.
“The last Valvoline I went to they didn’t even pull the drain plug. They sucked the oil out with a machine,” recalled a user. “I will not be going back because you know that they didn’t get all the old oil out.”
Using a vacuum to remove old oil is not uncommon, but some don’t believe it isn’t as effective at completely removing debris and dirty oil.
“Valvoline did this to my car as well. I got an oil change done, the very next day my car started driving weird and the check engine light came on. Had a mobile mechanic check it out and this exact same thing happened to me. I did everything you did and corporate finally got involved and they called me and said they checked the video footage of my oil change and that the mechanic did nothing wrong and they weren’t responsible for anything. The mobile mechanic even said he’d testify if I took them to small claims,” recounted another. “I ended up just paying for everything.”
That said, some claimed Valvoline may not be at fault.
“Those plastic oil filter housings break all the time. With pressure, heat and corrosive chemicals plastic filter housings deteriorate. It’s usually a design flaw,” shared a user. “The only thing that Valvoline did wrong was not tell you about your leaking oil filter housing.”
