Could be worse...the fleet "mechanic" at my work once did an oil change in a Cadillac Escalade. I got into the car to do an airport pickup and got a "Check oil level" warning on the dash. I immediately shut the engine off and went to pull the dipstick and it was dry. Turned out the guy who did the oil change forgot to put oil back in
and the car was moved from the garage to the parking lot like that. My boss chewed him up one side and down the other, and he didn't last much longer after that...and neither did the Escalade
To the original question, I've done the suck-the-oil-out-of-the-dipstick before on my Jetta. It got most of the oil out, and is considerably easier than pulling the belly pan to access the drain plug. The oil filter is accessed from up top, so when sucking the oil out from topside, I don't have to get under the car at all. However, I still like to do it the "hard way" and drain from the drain plug once in a while. I figure this lets me get out any sediment that may have built up in the bottom of the pan.
Regarding the Fumoto valves...I've considered one before, but I have to ask about them. How far below the oil pan surface do they stick out compared to a factory plug? I've always been worried about a stray piece of road debris reaching up and snapping it off, especially if you do any off-road driving. Has anyone, particularly with a 4x4, had that issue or seen the potential for that issue? What's the likelihood of something like that happening? That's the single biggest thing that's stopped me from giving it a try...
