How to Ruin a $25,000 Car Without Really Trying

A Troubleshooters.Com reader bought a sports convertable in the mid 90's. At the 3000 mile oilchange, the dealer's mechanic left the oilcap off, resulting in the engine being covered with oil. The dealer then "solved" the problem by steam cleaning the engine, presumably resulting in the electrical problems this person experienced. It's not too long a leap to imagine how a steam cleaning could dislodge or corrode electrical connections and grounds. As a matter of fact, some outfits require a customer to sign a waiver before steam cleaning an engine, because there's such a high correlation between steam cleaning and electrical problems.
The car suffered several instances of dead battery in less than 2 years, in spite of the fact that the dealer replaced the battery twice and the alternator once. The Troubleshooters.Com reader finally got money back for the car, minus mileage, but was forced to trade the "lemon" at the original dealer (and therefore forced to buy the same make of car).

At one point in the correspondence, this reader mentioned to me that for the past several months it had been necessary to spend time on these car problems at least once a week. The reader emailed me that although forced to buy the new car through the same dealer, all repairs will be done by a different dealer.

What we learn from this story (true, to my knowledge and belief) is that going to a dealer doesn't guarantee competant repair. The dealer first made a bonehead mistake (leaving off the oilcap), and compounded it by incredibly poor judgement (steam cleaning the engine). It would have been cheaper for them to yank the engine and scrub it with gunk degreaser and toothbrushes.