Questions and Answers

Taurus Makes Road Kill Stew Q. Dear Vincent, Our daughter had no choice but to run over an already very large dead animal while driving on a busy interstate at night. (Thank God she wasn't hurt!) The next morning there was oil leaking from her 1998 Ford Taurus, 8 cylinder. (about 60,000 miles, power steering, automatic, cruise) so she took it in to be repaired.

They said she needed to have a new oil gasket put on even though there was no visible damage underneath her car, except for some fur from the animal. (It was felt quite strongly when she hit the large dead animal.) They said it didn't look like the impact of running over the road kill caused the leak, but still it was leaking oil badly.

She had just had her oil changed a week before. Do you think that impact caused the gasket to leak or could it have been from when she recently had her oil changed (at a different place) and maybe they didn't get the plug in properly and the impact loosened the plug? Her car had not been leaking any oil before this happened.

This repairman did show her where the oil was leaking from before doing the work. I would hope he was honest with her. She was out $283.00 for the repair and it was such a large amount to an already financially struggling college student.

Thank you so much for your answer!
From a concerned Mom

A. I don't think she was taken advantage of Mom. The job takes about 4.3 hours. Plus new oil and filter. So the $283.00 is, in fact, very reasonable.

Could it have been the drain plug? I doubt it. If he showed her where it was leaking it would be obvious if it were a loose drain plug. Personally, I think she did okay and found a mechanic who treated her right.