I recently moved and needed to have my oil changed for the first time in my new area. I went to a Texaco express lube business. I've never had problems in the past with oil changes anywhere I went.

When I was almost home, I noticed the car exhaust was emitting smoke. It wasn't doing this prior to the oil change. I don't know much about cars but looked under the hood and checked the dipstick and the oil level was well above where it should be. I let the car sit for a little bit and checked it again and it was the same. I've never had anyone put too much oil in my car before. It looked to me to be a bit extra.

I went online and discovered that the smoking was a sign of the oil level being too high. I saw where potentially a great deal of damage could be done to vehicles when they have too much oil.

So I headed back to the place and spoke to the manager. He guessed it wasn't going to be much extra but when all the extra was drained, it was a quart and a half more than should have been added. He apologized and said to bring it back if there were any other problems. A bit of oil had spilled out around the filter area when that had been changed and they tried to clean that up some.

Driving home I did not notice all the smoking that I had upon my return trip there and it seemed to drive fine. At no point did the oil light or any other lights go on. My car would have been driven no more than 12 miles with the extra oil and the speed varied from 20 to 55 mph, with the majority being 45. However, it was started several times as I'd stopped at a store along the way home after the intial visit and restarted the car after returning home to check better about the smoke. My guess is that it was started a total of seven times after the initial oil change (several times at the facility).

After returning from the second visit, the little I'd read online disturbed me and so I looked in the driveway where my car was parked and looked underneath for signs of oil leakage. There were two smaller puddles of oil but I am unsure if this was from my first trip home or this second or a combination of both. There was also water dripping from some point in what I believe is the exhaust system. I cleaned the oil off the concrete so I'll be able to see anything new in the morning. I did notice one area where some oil was coming out very, very slowly, but that could have been from the oil overflowing from when the oil filter was changed.

Now I am apprehensive concerning my car. I almost don't want to look in the morning to see if there's any oil on the concrete.

My questions are as follows- if there isn't any or if it is very little, how do I know whether it is from something that leaked due to the overfill or if it is from the oil that spilled out from the filter? (It was smoking in that area when the manager checked the oil level on the second trip there.) How long should I watch for signs of oil leakage?

Also, are there any areas of the car that should be checked or watched for damage?

This is a 1998 Lexus ES300 V6 engine. There were no oil leaks or oil problems previously. I am hoping because of the few miles it was driven that there will be no damage, but seeing the oil on the concrete earlier has me concerned.

Any advice would me most appreciated!

No one has any thoughts?

This morning there was some oil under the car at the same location I previously saw it, though it was a small amount. I am yet uncertain if this was from what they spilled when replacing the filter or something else.

I took the car out for a short ride where I could get up to 65 mph and the car ran fine. There was a little smoke when it first started. I didn't see any oil dripping below the car when I returned home.

I took it out a couple hours later and when I came home there was a tiny bit of oil again from the same place. I wiped it off the area- it hadn't yet dripped. I stuck a plate underneath the area and haven't used the car for a few hours and last I looked there were no oil drops anywhere.

It will be watched closely for a few days until I can be sure there are no leaks and that what I saw was from when they replaced the filter.

Again- any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.