Service Advisor Wrecks Customer’s Rare Camaro in Joyride

[@iansabrewolfe]

The dealership should be on the hook for the money, but the joyriders should be in jail on criminal charges, too.

[@WigWoo1]

I agree this repair shop should be on the hook but what criminal activity did the joy writer take? If anything I think he just disobeyed an order but I’m not exactly sure how that could be classified as a chargeable crime other than just insubordination on your company behalf which would get you fired

[@kaseyboles30]

@@WigWoo1 Conversion. Mr. Lehto explained it and even gave the statute in Michigan. It's doing something with someone elses property beyound the limited permisions given.

[@WigWoo1]

@ oh all right I didn’t realize there was a statue. I figured the dealer could’ve just argued that they had to take it on the road to test if whatever they did to repair it fix the vehicle. Kind of like how if your car is making a sound when it’s driving you’re not gonna be able to diagnose that sound unless you take it out on the road and listen for it

[@Tahgtahv]

​@@WigWoo1 Except Steve explained that this was absolutely not necessary for the issue it was brought in for. The owner knew that and so should the dealership. If the owner was mistaken, the proper thing for the dealership to do would be to call the customer and ask "Hey, we think we fixed the issue, but it really needs to be driven to be sure. Do you want to do that or let us do that?" And while I'm not a mechanic, I'm pretty sure that unless the issue was something like "the car is making a weird vibration but only between 60-70 mph", there is absolutely no reason to take it on the highway even if does need to be driven to be tested.

[@mdshovel]

@@WigWoo1 In the UK this is known as TWOC ..."Taking without owners consent". In this case they had explicit non-consent. This law in UK exists because the definition of "theft" is the "intention to permanently deprive" .. which most car taking is not.

[@AdamBlack-h9r]

Ford dealership wrecked my 2000 Ford Lightning when I took it in for service. They put 23 miles on it for no reason and the front air dam was broken and barely hanging onto the truck. The dealership claimed that the truck was like that when I dropped it off. I had to threaten to sue for them to fix it. When I picked up my truck after the paint and body work, the body shop manager told me I was no longer welcome at that dealership. That was the last Ford I will ever buy.

[@DaveBigDawg]

Held them accountable and they are mad about it And why would you bring it back anyway

[@C.J...]

Always sue them when u can. They would do it to u no questions asked.

[@glennjeffers9692]

Catch 22 right now 💯‼️💥👍🏻✅🎯

[@lguthrie8607]

A 2000 ford lightning?

[@DaveBigDawg]

@lguthrie8607 Yes, before they were electric, High HP internal combustion

[@ZVexxPlayer]

I dropped off an RS7 at the dealership for service, oil change and new tires. Ended up in the shop for 45+ days and only came back because I demanded it be flat-bed to me. They were joy riding and damaged the suspension. I had video of them doing donuts and all sorts of crazy unsafe driving. Idiots didn't realize I had the dashcam set to upload to the cloud using in car wifi as well as store on SD card. Couple hundred miles were added to the car. I wish these things were super rare.. but they aren't.

[@aaadamt964]

Pep boys did doughnuts in my built fox body several years ago. If you think about how many 1,000's of vehicles are serviced every day, stuff like this really is rare. I've worked in shops for decades and never seen a car get a joy ride without being told to by the customer. I have seen shops deny to drive a car because it does this or that at 90-100mph.

[@N0V-A42]

However rare something like this is it's not rare enough.

[@jeaniebird999]

Please tell me you won a lawsuit, over this??

[@CKM-gf3ik]

I will never forget, this was like 20 years ago, I went with my buddy up to a tire shop to have four new tires put on his beautiful Nissan twin turbo Z, we head over to an Ihop right across the street to eat, while were sitting there in the front window eating out pancakes we see his Z fly by. There was no mistaking it, it was absolutely his. He jumps up and runs across the street to confront the owner. The guys in the car didn't come back for like another 10 minutes, they ended up giving him 50% off discount and he stood there in the shop and watched them change the tires. Had we not decided to go to that Ihop we might not have every known they were joyriding his car.

[@ZVexxPlayer]

@@jeaniebird999 It took 9 months to sort out the legal mess. I ended up selling them the car and recouping what I paid for it when I bought new. Moved on to another brand. They lost me over how Corp and the Dealer handled it and i've owned 12 audi's over the past 20 years.

[@jeffhaddox2239]

I worked with somebody that left his new Mercedes at the dealership for its service. Upon returning in the evening his car couldn’t be found. In fact had not been worked on. It was reported stolen. The vehicle was returned a few days later by a customer that was given the keys as a courtesy vehicle.

[@Thomas63r2]

I'm retired from dealership life now. I had a glorious 30 year career in sales, and the dealership and my customers knew I often raced my modified Corvette at track events. One day a customer brought in a new Lingenfelter Corvette they had just bought from another dealer (out of state) with some drivability and performance concerns. The service manager knew it would be too tempting a car for the service techs and porters to want to drive it, so he kept control of the key. For the road going part of the diagnosis and after repair test drive the service manager asked me to be the test driver - he said there would be too much of a chance that a tech might do something stupid. In my long career there had been several times I knew of where high performance cars in for repairs were wrecked by mechanics or porters or salesmen going for a joy ride.

[@TheScrubmuffin69]

Damn i couldn't imagine ripping people off for 30 years, that's insane

[@Jaegov]

Dedicated ✊🏻

[@jamessimms415]

@@TheScrubmuffin69. You’re declaring him Guilty By Association. I don’t know, but I’m guessing he had developed a loyal clientele of repeat customers & customers coming in by word of mouth by treating customers right. There are some salesmen out there like that.

[@Delimon007]

@@TheScrubmuffin69 Not everyone who works at a dealership is a piece of trash and high performance vehicles either needs a high end private repair service or you need to go to the dealership to get it fixed.

[@bryanst.martin7134]

@@TheScrubmuffin69 The salesman doesn't define the dealership program. And you presume the man guilty. Are you reflecting personal values? This is often the case. And having been around a while, I see most people seem insane. Especially those without respect for others.

[@nicholas_scott]

My neighbor took his truck to the local dealership for brakes serviced. It got totaled when the techs took truck for a joyride to "loosen the stuck rims". The dealership admitted fault, but would not replace the truck as it was, because it had a 3rd party utility bed. They only offered an older pickup as replacement. So.. long story short, after a lawsuit, and bad publicity, the neighbor got what they wanted

[@Limitedonathios]

Like 3yrs ago on Instagram, a crew of mechanics and service workers went viral for saying that they use the cars that they are meant to fix to run errands while in their possession. Any upset or outrage was met with, “you’re being dramatic, every shop does this.” This is why people were upset and outraged

[@MonkeyJedi99]

A typical diagnostic test drive is: 1) Done by the mechanic, as they need to know what is going on with the vehicle to begin diagnosing it. 2) Typically 1-3 miles, depending on the roads in the area, which is often enough to experience running, braking, acceleration, shifting (auto or manual) and feeling is the vehicle wanders/drags/shimmies/or otherwise makes unusual noises or vibrations. - There might be a mid and post repair drive as well. If they put more than 15 miles on for a big repair without a good explanation, that should be the last time they see you, your vehicle, and your money

[@JChaos1120]

there's a huge difference between taking someone's Camry, Accord, or my STI out for an errand, and taking a 100K specialty collector's car with immense power on the interstate.

[@michaelcosta7235]

Actually, it is pretty common on hard to diagnose conditions. Usually, you get the owners permission to let the tech drive the car for personal use to try to catch a hard to find concern.

[@fivespeed3026]

@@JChaos1120Not really. It’s not their damned property.

[@2TMON]

My former uncle does this with the cars that he fixes. Especially if its a BMW or other type of fancy car. My aunt has divorced him over other shady practices and we don't ever take anything to him because he's untrustworthy

[@Echowhiskeyone]

Thank you for using 'transmogrification'. It has been so long since I heard or read it. And I now have to dig out my Calvin and Hobbes collection to read, again.

[@swskitso]

Kickstart my brain trying to remember where my book it now. I had a shelf for all my books but it didn't look good, one or the other would always fall over.

[@alphabravo8703]

I saw that word elsewhere recently and looked it up. It's an actual word, not something Watterson made up.

[@jasonc.776]

Liked video for the C&H reference

[@tcpnetworks]

The phrase was also used in Red Dwarf..

[@stephensarkany3577]

The first time I ever read the word transmogrification was in a 1970's Penthouse mag comic strip called "Oh wicked Wanda". Interesting comic strip.

[@dylanmorrison8516]

It’s the Chevy dealer in Darien Connecticut

[@dianeladico1769]

H & L Chevrolet, service advisor Matthew Sebastien

[@greyhamlogan2255]

Awesome 😊 thanks😊

[@neilopfer5687]

Thanks for the info!!

[@BirdDogey1]

Retired cop here. I would catch mechanics running errands in customer's cars. I would call the customer to let them know.

[@12point131]

Thank you!

[@danielmarek4609]

“That horse has already sailed” good line Steve! Hey don’t worry love the channel.

[@777CaptMark]

I have to think Steve did that on purpose. Good one, Steve.

[@ronblack7870]

like the fit hit the shan

[@janem3575]

LOL def can't put the sh*t back in the horse when it's at sea!

[@johncope4977]

Steve I like your shirt. And, you're the only man I have ever heard quote Calvin and Hobbs, all my respect dude. 🎉

[@alphabravo8703]

I saw that word elsewhere recently and looked it up. It's an actual word, not something Watterson made up.

[@johncope4977]

@alphabravo8703 that's great 👍, thank you 😊 😂🤣

[@darksideofthesun7157]

Indeed. My man used the greatest comic strip in a sentence. Scholar and Gentleman.

[@navajojohn9448]

My mind made me laugh when I heard a $100k Camaro with 900 miles was in the shop for repairs.

[@Jaegov]

For a bad switch probably made in chiiina!😂

[@jasonbourne1596]

No newer vehicle is not junk.

[@Jaegov]

@@navajojohn9448 no truer words! Unfortunately

[@ezg8448]

EXACTLY! A brand new car is in for clutch problems... That speaks volumes about the quality of the camero, a special edition one at that too.

[@marcanthony854]

@@ezg8448and your Spelling, it’s Kamarrow ! 😊 Camaro….. lol

[@nocturnechanson]

Years ago I worked as a lot tech at a Ford dealership. A customer once ordered a high end custom mustang. While the new owner was signing the paperwork the salesman took the car to detailing. The guy apparently on the way to detailing decided to do a few donuts and blew up the clutch. The salesman was fired but it was a whole big mess.

[@GoonyMclinux]

Car wasn't worth it if the clutch blew up from a few donuts, took me 5 years of idiotic driving to blow my clutch. 😂

[@nocturnechanson]

@ I’m assuming you probably know how to do a donut. This was the result of a determined idiot in a car with a whole lot of torque. It was a V8 Mustang with a stage 3 Roush kit. 😅

[@Ka_Gg]

​@@GoonyMclinuxyou don't realize how little some salesmen know of cars. probably had the clutch half pushed in the whole time. Lol. I worked at a dealership I'd be surprised if any of the salesmen knew how to even swap out a battery on the most basic vehicle. I don't say this as somebody that was a technician. I say this as somebody who was a salesman for a short time.

[@rainshadowband3161]

The employees driving the car off the lot need to get auto theft charges

[@williamosgood3565]

As Steve stated, its conversion not outright theft.

[@jeremyweems4916]

It would be considered "joyriding", not "GTA". There is a legal difference, although there shouldn't be.

[@maxwellmelon69]

Do they have written proof of saying not to leave the lot? Otherwise its word vs word…still liable for destroying the car

[@justanoman6497]

@@maxwellmelon69 The (borderline) reckless driving they were doing were certainly without permission. So there is that.

[@solandri69]

@@williamosgood3565 That's why I asked in another thread? Which is worse in the eyes of the law - conversion or theft? I can see an argument that conversion is worse. You kinda _expect_ a thief to steal your car. But a service employee doing it results in both the car being stolen + betrayal of your trust, making it arguably worse.

[@joecampbell4336]

Had my 1987 Buick T-Type stolen while in for repair at a dealership. In court the defense actually asked me if I had given permission for my car to be used in an armed robbery (which is what actually happened). I replied no. Then they wanted to know where I was that day. I was actually at the Marlins home opener and had the ticket to prove it. I did get the car back (covered in fingerprint dust) but nothing was ever said by the dealer about it. I wish I could go back in time and sue the dealer. I was young, didn't even think about it. Just happy to have my car back.

[@robertthomas5906]

The defense must have thought you were an idiot, or a wild shot in the dark. Imagine if you screwed up and said yes. You did give them permission.

[@Ka_Gg]

I watch a lot of warriors on KZbin and they all pretty much have the consensus that you only asked questions if you already know the answers. I don't see how asking that question would help them or even help set them up for another question. Sounds like they had a terrible case and just throwing crap at the wall.

[@J-Colt]

I was a body shop porter for a cadillac dealership when I was 19 in Florida. The owner of company had the official Indy 500 pace car for I believe 1975. This was in 1979. One job of mine was to take car out of storage once a month, wash then take car about 1.5 miles up the road, come back then put back in storage. One time I gunned it and almost lost the car. Never did that again. At least I was just a dumb kid.

[@dkline74]

I love mixing metaphors... that ship has already left the barn. You made the bed, now you have to walk in it. Have we ever met a horse sailor? Ha! Love the channel, Steve!

[@solandri69]

You mean shutting the barn doors after the ship has fled.

[@Bob-Lob-Law]

As a consolation to the owner of the Camaro The dealership has guaranteed the repaired clutch switch will never fail again.

[@jparker785]

Silver linings! 😁✌️

[@CL-yp1bs]

Haha

[@bullithedjames937]

🤣🤣😶‍🌫️😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣😶‍🌫️🥃🤣🤣🤣😢😢😢

[@jamesn3513]

Can’t beat a lifetime guarantee!

[@BastiatC]

Math problem for yall: how many laps around the dealership is that.

[@machintelligence]

I believe the legal term for a case like this is "a slam dunk."

[@1337penguinman]

Tech here. A no start generally doesn't need a test drive. Some shops have a policy of "test drive everything to make sure there's nothing else wrong" but the owner should have been told that if that was the case. But a bad clutch switch? Test if the car starts with the clutch down, and make sure it doesn't with the clutch up. Testing done. Also, the reason dealerships keep acting this way is because they don't suffer any real consequences for it. Certain things you simply have to take your car into the dealer for. A third party shop can't do recalls, for example. Or, on rare or performance cars, a lot of third party shops won't even touch them. And while it's true money can't make you happy, it can buy a lot of stuff that does.

[@Whateva67]

My wife dropped her Acura TL at a dealer in Calgary to get a simple 50$ EGR sensor replaced and the guy took it for a half hour test drive after and used a quarter tank of gas. He said to her when he gave her the keys that the car goes really good. Some peoples kids.

[@Nickmacpaddywhack]

As soon as you said 90mph and guardrail I knew you were gonna follow that with "totaled"

[@ratsofatso5525]

As soon as he said "dealership employees" and "joyride" I knew he was going to say "TOTALLED"

[@MarkIrwin02]

How do you lose control at 90mph. That's such an easy speed to maintain total control.

[@DrEpicPhD]

@@MarkIrwin02 Camaros are known for being slippery when gunned.

[@TheScrubmuffin69]

Wow you could be a detective, so smart

[@MarkIrwin02]

@ I’ve never experienced that in any car I’ve driven. Now if I was pushing a car in tipple digits and not paying attention I’ve started to lose control. This haven’t driven a Camaro in a long time but even when I did I never had anything like that happen to me. Is it something with the new models especially the supercharged ones?

[@ratsofatso5525]

He had the EXACT CAR he wanted. He's going to double down on treble damages.

[@michaelosmon]

How would that apply in this case? I had gotten hit on my harley in September and it got totaled. I bought it from my friend who is now deceased, so i mean to say it is not replaceable. My attorney seems to think there isn't more meat on that bone, so just wondering how treble damages would apply to this case or i guess more accurately how it might apply to me

[@Ka_Gg]

​@@michaelosmonyours is more sentimental value. Let's say to you it's priceless but maybe the value is only $5k to the average person. That's different than this Camaro. Also, yours was a typical auto accident. Nothing like this. I personally would have tried everything possible to buy the bike back and fix it.

[@michaelosmon]

@@Ka_Gg its illegal for me to buy it from the insurance company in this state. I believe I could have a friend buy it, but I almost died on it. I dont think I'll be riding again unless i move away from the city. Thank you for taking the time to respond to my questions. I appreciate you

[@Ka_Gg]

@@michaelosmon Yeah I want to ride motorcycles. I like them. I just know of far too many people that have been seriously injured or killed on them. Even in rural areas. Just slightly getting rear ended due to a person not paying attention could ruin your back forever.

[@erictaylor5462]

There was a high end auto mechanic near where I lived with an extremely good reputation. He was honest, and fast, and could perform whatever repair you might need He only worked on very high end cars, and he wasn't cheap. One night, with $16 million worth of cars parked in his garage (this is not counting his extensive collection of tools and equipment) one of the cars parked in the garage caught fire. The garage, and everything in it was totally destroyed. A legal fight got going between the fire starting car's owner and the insurance broker for the business that went on for years. I don't even know how it ended (or if it ended). In the mean time, no one was getting paid. Total nightmare.

[@MrAnderson3615]

I own an independent auto repair shop, and one of my customers owns a bunch of nice cars, 2020 corvette, and a Dodge hellcat charge . He found out that i had to pick up my son for his first day of school he gave me permission to use his car to pick up my son from school. He has also offered to let me borrow any of his cars for prom for my daughter. He is a great man.

[@Enter-a-name55]

I'm a licensed automotive mechanic(Canada) retired after 30+ years. I did a large amount of work on custom show cars. Cars that the underside had a better finish the most cars do on top. These cars were driven out of a trailer and into the shop by the owner. I was always super paranoid having these cars in the shop. Accidents do happen. Unless I had another employee doing working on one of these cars, they weren't allowed near them. It's not about the value of the car. Some of these guys have spent 20 years building them. How do you give someone back all that time ? You can't. When a customer says don't drive my car, you don't drive it. End of story.

[@johniwan1]

I had a Merkur XR4Ti years ago that was pretty fast. 2.3L turbo 4, 175hp with a 5 speed manual. Speedo went to 160 mph and would do it if I wanted. It was the only 5 speed that I've owned that still had passing pedal left while in 5th gear. I took it to the local Ford dealer for a new MAP sensor and when I picked it up there was a note from the mechanic that did the work saying he'd like to talk to me. So he comes out and tells me about all the fun he had blasting down 495 at 130mph! Says he was was having so much fun he didn't realize he was going so fast. I haven't been back there since.

[@1mikewalsh]

1 I miss the most, wish I hadn't traded for a turbo coupe.

[@Dryloch]

My first manual transmission car was an Audi Quattro coupe. A friend's Dad taught me how to drive it. He had it going 60 in second gear and swore he would lose his license if he owned that car. It was magnificent.

[@Past10Performance]

Had a turbo coupe, was always on the lookout for a xr4ti but up in Canada most of the ones I've gone to look at have been to rusted out for me to want to take on

[@robertboudrie2234]

Many dealer service order contracts contain "permission to road test at owner's risk" an "no verbal modifications to this contract are binding". Watch what you sign carefully.

[@richardross7219]

I live in CT and believe that this happened a while ago. I think that the dealer tried some rediculous strategy and it didn't go well for them. Happy Holidays. Good Luck, Rick

[@bullithedjames937]

Yeah I thought this happened like last year

[@richc3437]

What happened with their 1st strategy; the "diculous" one?

[@richardross7219]

@@richc3437 I don't remember exactly. I think that they just tried to tell the customer to get his insurance company to pay for it. He then got a lawyer and sued the dealer. I haven't heard beyond that. I think the dealer had other legal problems too. Something to do with this getting other customers to file complaints.

[@MB-ig6gl]

@@richc3437 I bet they did the "they were clocked out at the time" strategy. When they left work not doing actual work (joyride) they were in essence off the job. Or the "they were not following the repair manual" so they went rogue and are on their own. It happened off property so not a dealership issue. The car was modified and the owner did not report it when they dropped the car off. The mods caused the car to be unsafe. "You didn't tell me the car had a blind spot. Who's gonna pay the cleaning bill for my suit since I spilled beer on it." I am sure they tried any and all excuses they could come up with. All they had to do was separate themselves from the individuals actions (not employees).

[@markmichlewicz5141]

This story reminds me of ferris buellers day off.

[@Crosshair84]

As an adult, I now realize that Bueller was the bad guy.

[@chaos.corner]

@@Crosshair84 The movie was actually about Cameron.

[@leepowell6754]

One big piece of crap movie & that was the worst part.

[@ahanna4396]

😂😂😂 good got damn movie

[@boataxe4605]

@@Crosshair84 Yeah, but he got Mia Sara.

[@TomsBackyardWorkshop]

This is why I do all the work on my 1967 Mustang.

[@CopperCooper420]

Based take. Good luck hacking that SkyNet 😅

[@tyree9055]

Good for you. Long live quality products!! 🥳🎉💯

[@melissasmess2773]

Same for my Oldsmobile Intrigue, well I am a mechanic anyways. 😂

[@ron8802]

The reskined Falcon...lol

[@nzobrist6525]

I had a 67, the only thing I couldn't fix was the transmission.

[@lufiron]

In fact, I'll give you a real world example where a test drive saved me: New customer, never been with us before, wanted fog lights fixed. Fog lights get fixed, do the courtesy inspection, find nothing wrong, take it for a quick spin, to make sure the vehicle is safe. Engine locks up. Long story short, customer was trying to scam us by having us fix something unrelated, then when going to pick up the vehicle, the engine blows up on them, blaming us. because it blew up on me, i just quoted an engine before he picked up/closed the repair order, and that set off a chain of events that ultimately found us not liable.

[@Tumbleweed1961]

Spring of 1990 I left my '62 Thunderbird Sport Raodster at a transmission shop for repair. 480 miles and a trip through an automatic car wash later nearly the entire length of the drivers side of my car looked like it had been keyed with a chainsaw. Turned out the shop owner had allowed his girlfriend take it to her high school reunion. Shop owner told me he'd cover repair cost and comp me $500 as a rental fee, but, he had the balls to say he wanted to review three repair estimates. By the time the dust settled my car was repaired by the best shop in the area and I had an additional $1600 in my pocket.

[@cma9042]

I have owned my 1967 Mercury Cougar for many years...so I KNOW...hell hath no fury like a vintage/unique car owner after some TWIT crashed their "baby"!!!!!!

[@anonnona8099]

@cma9042 > I have owned my 1967 Mercury Cougar for many years... > so I KNOW...hell hath no fury like a vintage/unique car > owner after some TWIT crashed their "baby"!!!!!! The word is TWAT.

[@jamessimms415]

Wish I had the ‘77 Camaro Z28 back I received for High School Graduation. Drove it for a number of years (100,000 miles), it was well maintained as all the work needed was performed by my Dad’s Full Service Station. Sold it to a kid when I was assigned to Korea right out Basic Officers Course. Kid we sold it to blew the engine w/in a week & tried to bring it back. Broke my heart when I found out.

[@kellymorast6460]

It’s stories like this that anger me so much. I have cars that are special to me and avoid taking them to mechanics because I don’t trust they will treat it like I do. One such car is my 1970 Plymouth Road Runner, a car I’ve had since high school. No amount of money can replace the memories made it my car.

[@swskitso]

I don't even let my brothers drive mine. I park outside Walmart tire center and roll my wheels in 2 at a time, that's the closest anyone but me and my brother gets to working on them.

[@Tripoutski]

I am looking forward to your follow-up on this mess. I just read that case detail and the dealer already has a failure to appear and two extensions to prepare ( believe related to dragging their feet on discovery - you would know that better than me). I think that they next confer in February.

[@01bigstick]

I don't always agree with you, but huge props for the Calvin and Hobbs reference!

[@BeatTheD3viL]

When i took mine for first oil change, I noticed there were burnout marks on the road just outside the dealership exit, and burnt off rubber on the rear bumper. Never going there again

[@fivespeed3026]

Sorry about that! 😅

[@rockyroad7345]

I would never go to a dealership for an oil change because I'm a stickler for running the same oil and bring my own oil and filter to my local oil change shop. Best of all, I don't even have to get out of the car while they do it. A good way to prevent misuse of your car.

[@melissasmess2773]

I'm 60, never paid for an oil change. Do everything myself, don't trust others..in general 😂

[@BeatTheD3viL]

@melissasmess2773 yea. I am doing this too now. Invested in a lot of basic tools and do maintenance over long weekends

[@510six]

Years ago I had a car that had an aftermarket EFI system.When carpet was put in the car I set the rev limit to 2k rpm to keep a Ferris Bueller ride from happening.. Purposely attached the controller and raised the limit before leaving, seeing the employees face after doing this told me that it probably averted disaster.

[@P_RO_]

Some of the more expensive cars come with a 'valet mode' which limits power, speed, or the amount of time it runs until the owner cancels it.

[@joecummings1260]

My buddy's older brother (problem child from a good family) worked at a Cadillac dealer and a customer brought in a brand new caddy for some minor complaint. He took it for a test drive with the customer waiting, and never came back. They found the car like a week later all beat up and with a blown motor somewhere in the middle of Nevada. The dealership he worked at was in the suburbs of Philadelphia. He didn't turn up until a few years later

[@wilson2455]

the 1st thing a dealership service dept. will do is disconect any cameras/dashcams installed in your car. I have a dashcam that sends a text to my phone when it is disconnected & loses power. The service dpt. got a huge shock when I arrived in my 2nd car & yelled, " who stole my car? ". I also walk around the car taking photo's inside, outside, the odometer, etc.

[@donbeary6394]

You mean " some " dealerships ... Our dealership / mechanics .. do not disable or mess with any customers stuff, including dash cams (unless it's plugged into the computer communication port and we have to scan the vehicle) .. and a full video is taken of all sides of your vehicle when the car is brought in and tagged with your Repair Order number , both to protect us from false damage clams, but to support any that you might find that we caused

[@wilson2455]

fair enough. But for my protection, I also walk around the car taking photo's of the inside, outside, odometer, etc. I understand that some cars need to be driven to diagnose a fault, but FB/Insta/YT has 100's of vids where mechanics take cars fo joyrides, lunch runs, etc. without the owners persission.

[@jamescaron6465]

Replacing a faulty clutch switch is a no brainer. The hardest thing about replacing one is getting under the dash to get to the switch and then getting yourself out from under the dash. that the clutch switch needed replacing after less than 1000 miles of driving is concerning. But you certainly wouldn’t need to take it for any test drive you replace the part faulty part you step on the clutch you turn the key and if it starts, you’re done

[@gpslightlock1422]

Friend bought a brand new pickup and took it in for a recall. While on his lunch break at a drive-thru he noticed his truck in the same line. The mechanics took his truck to get their lunch that day.

[@MrAnderson3615]

I had a customer of mine who took me for a ride in his Ford Mustang Shelby edition. The customer took me for a ride, then on our way back, he said, "Drive it like you stole it. i was nervous at first, and he said just floor it up to 90 it was crazy fast. He has been a great customer.

[@whalley6044]

Even if they somehow found an equivalent vehicle it would not be "one owner" hence lower value - the difference in value increases with age. I agree with other comments that the driver should be charged with theft - he not only didn't have the owner's permission he most likely did not have the dealership's permission.

[@dtcdtc8328]

They don't call them stealerships for nothing ya know!

[@twentyfiveyears5010]

According to Steve, they should probably call them "Conversionships" instead, but it just doesn't have the dame ring to it.

[@jocktulloch3499]

In the dealership I worked we had a sign in the shop "A happy customer will tell ONE friend. An unhappy customer will tell ALL his friends."

[@dtcdtc8328]

@jocktulloch3499 Yeah it's sad that that's how it's with most everything. When I'm happy with someone's service, I make a point to tell all my friends. Like the GMC Dealership in Chestertown MD, excellent mechanics there who care .

[@stanbest3743]

I remember a similar case here in the UK. Two jor ruding mechanics crashed a customers 993 generation Porsche. The business owner fired both of them and told the customer just spend whatever it takes to fix your car to where you are happy with it. It went to a specialist and was totally rebuilt from the firewall forward and stripped and resprayed. It shouldn't happen, but once it does thats the right response.

[@mikeo9049]

God I love that statement you made"money can't make you happy but it can solve things that make you unhappy" so true.

[@PLdemorygray]

Now I think I need a t-shirt that reads "That horse has already sailed." A thousand hilarious images spring to mind with that mixture of idioms.

[@daviddempsay4930]

Are horses different in Michigan? (15:21)

[@solandri69]

@@daviddempsay4930 Look on a map. Michigan is surrounded by water. The horses there evolved differently.

[@z33511]

Attorney: The defense rests. Jury Foreman: We have reached a verdict, your honor.

[@JohnnyWilliams-FreeMan]

Being a Car Guy. I hate these stories.

[@jocktulloch3499]

I think in cases like this with rare cars a SIGNED copy of the 'do not drive' demand would be good to have. I sign and the customer signs, and we both have a copy. Then I staple my copy to the work order. CYA!

[@bfaproductions7121]

I know the shirts are random, but it funny to see the Super Bee shirt when talking about a muscle car

[@CopperCooper420]

Who says they are random? 😅

[@KarlEchtermeyer]

@@CopperCooper420Steve has said so multiple times in his videos. That’s who.

[@CopperCooper420]

@KarlEchtermeyer My sweet dear summer child....honest question. Do you believe everything the internet man on your phone tells you? 🤭🤭🤭

[@KarlEchtermeyer]

@CooperCooper420. You asked the question and got the exactly true and specific answer to the question you asked. Not my fault that you didn’t ask the question that was in your head.

[@CopperCooper420]

@KarlEchtermeyer Honest question, how many times does Steve's shirt need to match the topic before you believe your own eyes and not his lying mouth? SMDH, you think you "got me" but in reality you've just got yourself. Looking a fool, but continue....it amuses me.

[@jeffatturbofish]

A few months after I bought my MX-5, I took it into the shop to fix an issue. After a few days, I stopped by to see what was going on. The mechanics said how much fun it is to drive. When I finally did get my car back, they reformatted the SD card in my dash cam.

[@82ndAbnVet]

Oh to be able to witness the phone call when the employee called his boss with the great news about how well the clutch safety switch worked flawlessly on I-95 @90MPH!

[@backachershomestead]

I did some work at car restoration/custom care builder. They built an Eleanor mustang clone. They charged an out of state man $120,000 for the build.The day he flew in to get the car the shop supervisor decided to open it up in the parking lot and put it into a fence and ditch totaling the car before the guy arrived that day.

[@robertsmithington8892]

I worked for a couple of dealerships when I was younger. Only certain individuals at the dealership were allowed to drive the expensive and high-performance vehicles. After I had some seniority, I was finally allowed to drive the Corvettes and other vehicles. Once I got involved in this, what I found very disturbing, is that at least one of these individuals who are "trusted", was out joyriding these vehicles. This is the same person who had the authority to authorize who was allowed to drive them. Car dealerships tend to attract people who don't have integrity, have trouble holding down jobs elsewhere, and a very young inexperienced workers. Some of the individuals I worked with work very good people, but there was a surprising number of people with no integrity

[@robertgrowcock4238]

In 1986 when I shipped my 1970 GTO convertible with 4 speed to Hawaii from Florida through the military shipping service, it arrived 3 weeks late and with 430 miles added to the odometer. Not a thing I could do, but at least it didn’t have any damage.

[@solandri69]

Seems like before shipping it, you could do something trivial to discourage this. Like disconnecting some of the wires from the distributor or replacing some of the spark plugs with dummies, so it would still run but not well enough to joyride. I would imagine a joyrider wouldn't be so keen on spending time diagnosing why your car isn't running well. Oh well, glad you got your car back in good shape.

[@jimsackmanbusinesscoaching1344]

I doubt it was "the dealership" making that decision. It was the employee. The mistake the dealership made was hiring that person.

[@TimothyWelty]

Still doesn't exempt the dealership from liability. I believe the main problem is the mindset. Make money at all costs.

[@777CaptMark]

Vicarious liability

[@CraigGrant-sh3in]

Did the stealership pass the do not leave lot note to the shop?

[@sidserv1978]

I had one of my trucks in for a recall and one of the mechanics hit one of the bollards and they blamed me because he was struggling to drive my truck with my dual disc ceramic clutch. Yes it is grabby but no more than any other ceramic dual disc clutch. Dented my bumper in, cracked my grill and broke a headlight housing. They really tried to say my clutch was defective and that caused the wreck. Between the police report and my insurance calling BS, they replaced everything that was damaged. They tried to put a used junk yard parts but my insurance made them replace them with new parts. I do not take anything to that dealership anymore. Blaming me the customer for their employee not being able to drive was the part that irritated me the most. That dealership has a bad reputation already and they sell more to out of town buyers than they do to locals.

[@jandejong2430]

The horse has sailed. Would have liked to see that.

[@michaelnoble2432]

I heard that too and assume it was deliberate...

[@mrbob4u495]

Maybe it was from Krypton? Or Waterworld?

[@Dr.Claw_M.A.D.]

Seahorse

[@jocktulloch3499]

Love the mixed metaphor!

[@xenuburger7924]

A sailing cap for a horse has holes for the ears.

[@spandecker727]

Years ago I took my 70 dodge dart drag car to the alignment shop after I rebuilt the suspension (it was sort of street legal), I told them, no one is allowed to drive the car, they insisted they needed to test drive it after the alignment. I told them if I’m capable of rebuilding the suspension, I can also do the test drive, or I’ll take it somewhere else. They relented, and I stayed there the entire time, watching them like a hawk. I could tell they really wanted to drive the car.

[@daveblock4061]

To quote the Pirelli ad, "Power is nothing without control".

[@arnodyck]

Conversion sounds like a criminal liability. "that horse has already sailed" LOL good one

[@_BAD_MERC_]

I left my car at a bodyshop for legit touchup work. No worries and hardly road legal since a lot of trim/headlights were removed. I also used my tuner to load the Valet tune "just in case". Left it with an artificially low top speed and RPM.

[@riglowkun]

I just wanna say I love listening to your videos while doing stuff, they're SUPER informative and interesting!

[@annietiques1803]

Darien, Connecticut is a fancy little commuter town 45 miles out of New York City.

[@445supermag]

"That Horse has already sailed", I think you mean "Locking the barn after the ship has left".

[@patrickhill8748]

That’s why I drive a manual, 98% of kids today don’t know to drive one. Had to wait over an hour to pick up my daughters Mustang stick cause dealership couldn’t find anyone in back that could drive a stick😂😂

[@itsandrewt]

it's a skill that takes a day to learn, two to do it well, I'm sure that if they were exposed to it more often, they would learn just as quickly.

[@CopperCooper420]

​@@itsandrewt I learned to drive a manual transmission when I was sent to Germany for the Air Force. You always knew who the new recruits were because they would stall out at the gate on the hill not knowing how to work the clutch. But rest assured every service member knew how to drive a manual transmission after 2 weeks in country. Best way to drive.

[@mrbob4u495]

Long live the "Stick." My '05 is a stick. Everyone praises the car, but no one has ever asked to borrow it. Praise God!

[@michaelgarrison688]

Every car I had after my first car was a stick except for 1. I traded that one in 6 months later because my sister kept "borrowing" it.

[@EchoTangoSuitcase]

I took my driver's test in a stick-shift car. Passed the first time. Never expected that a manual transmission would become an antitheft device.

[@coryfogle5353]

A freind of my brother has a VERY collectable early Transam, he hought new and Has put VERY few miles on it. A couple of Car Porters not only took it for a joy ride, but took it OFF ROADING and left it coated with mud and weeds.

[@GeneralElectricCNC]

I took my almost new F350 into a Ford Dealer for brake warranty work. The Mechanic rear-ended a lady on the test drive. I picked up the truck not noticing any damage and the next day got a call from her insurance company. I told her insurance company that my truck was at this Ford Dealer for service when it was wrecked! I then called the dealer and they took over from there. They fixed the lady's car, apologized, and put a new front bumper on my truck. It happens!!!!

[@chaseme9860]

I had a 66 GTO that years later a coworker told me he went joyriding in with a mechanic at a mechanic shop. He a said they were pulling holeshots all night in it. To add insult to injury, the mechanic shop said in the morning they were unable to do the ring and pinion change because they didn't know how. So they basically took my car for the night with no intention on doing the work.

[@jeaniebird999]

What's a holeshot?

[@hotpuppy1]

@@jeaniebird999 Revving up and dumping the clutch.

[@mikeskidmore6754]

Post-crash analysis of the onboard factory track data recorder shows the accelerator was depressed 95 percent a mere three seconds before the crash, which ultimately totaled the limited-edition model. Valued at $97,000 in a recent appraisal, Habul had never driven the Hendricks Edition Camaro on the road before, instead keeping it as a collector's vehicle. Prior to the crash, the car only had 989 miles on the odometer.

[@dougjones9493]

The dealership will say he wasn't an employee at the time so the owners instructions that no employee shall drive does not put the dealer on the hook LOL

[@CrazyRFGuy]

Wont work and might even be worse to try that. It means the dealership allowed the car to be stolen. I would imagine this would let the car owner sue them both separately, but that is a question for a lawyer.

[@mrbob4u495]

"Retroactive termination" is a rule in the insurance industry.

[@Zamiroh]

That is a normal ploy in lawsuits. However, I don't think car dealerships will usually claim this. It's most common in the medical field. If an employee is on your payroll at the time of the indicent, which a service advisor would be, then they can't claim that.

[@fuzzytincan]

I was friends with a guy back in the 90's who was a mechanic and he had a habit of taking customers vehicles out for joyrides with ladies of the evening. Got away with it for quite a while until he got caught speeding in a Mitsubihi 3000 GT. He was not employed at that establishment for much longer afterwards.

[@williamosgood3565]

As a tech, I never road tested a car without telling my supervisor and getting their explicit permission to drive it on the road. Too much to go wrong driving an unfamiliar car in traffic.

[@geoffstrickler]

Transmogrification is not a word I expected to hear in this video. Well played.

[@stevewesley8187]

Not a new phenomenon ,while working at a Foreign Car Dealership in the mid 70s there were 2 Jaguars(one 6 cyl. and 12 cyl.) with blown engines from joy rides . My job was to rebuild both and reinstall , what a mess !

[@dianeladico1769]

In Connecticut, treble damages for conversion are available under the state's Civil Theft statute, Connecticut General Statute (C.G.S.) 52-564. This statute applies when someone steals another person's property or knowingly receives and conceals stolen property.

[@autobotjazz1972]

The dealership should totally own this as the fault is clearly on them via their employee(s) . They should not even bother trying to fight it but as clearly they aren't willing to own it and pay up if the matter has gone so far as the owner of the wrecked car to lawyer up. The fact is most automotive techs are Big Gear heads / Car Guys ( or gals to be fair ) and a high end sports car is a huge temptation and the rarity of the one in this story only adds to the forbidden fruit factor. Dealership really do need to take strong measures to secure cars that they are explicitly instructed to not take off the lot.

[@Nebis42]

This is pretty close to what happened to my dad’s first car. When he turned 15, my grandfather made the mistake of telling him that if he could pay for half the car, plus insurance, he’d pay the other half. When he was 20, my dad bought a brand new, Mark II Shelby Cobra. A couple years later, he took it in for service, and as best they can figure, one of the mechanics decided to take it out on the street and floor it. Lost control of the steering, bounced off a car on the side of the road, then T-boned another at the end of the street. There wasn’t much left.

[@Rock-Bottem1982]

Googled a 2018 Chevy Camaro ZL1 E, and found the exact car that was totaled, and man, what a beautiful car it was. What a shame

[@repro7780]

Something similar happened a few years ago with a rare Camaro. Turned into a huge legal battle. It was all over the internet. Mechanic hit a pole, if memory serves.

[@antonioburkhart7258]

Well the issue with “just find another one with the same mileage” is that the new vehicle is still worth less. Huge difference between a single owner vehicle and multi-owner vehicle.

[@scottnelson1713]

I once had a Honda dealer put about 15 miles on my S2000 when it was in for service. I was rather annoyed about that, but they said they "had to drive it" to make sure everything was okay. Yeah, right. I also had a Ford dealer smash in a door on my Mustang when it was in for some fairly costly repairs. I asked them to make sure that it was indoors overnight, since it's a convertible, and one of their guys was backing it into a service bay with the door open so he could line it up properly and that open door smashed into the lift. Not something they could just pound back out. It took them two months to get that properly fixed and I missed the best part of the summer weather before I got it back. I wonder about some dealers.

[@artyd42]

Well... that's a hundred thousand dollar plus problem for the service advisor's company to do.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

Service advisor/service writer is essentially a secretary and sometimes cashier for a dealership/repair shop. They are not a subcontractor, but a regular employee (in every case I am aware of). The repair shop/dealership is on the hook here.

[@VE4GAG]

I had a dealership steal my Cadillac and use it for a shuttle to the airport for another customer. While checking in for my seasonal wheel swap and oil change, I overheard the customer next to me discussing his shuttle to the airport to catch a flight. After I checked in, I went to the in-house cafe for breakfast. To my surprise, ten minutes later, I got an alert from the hidden Air-Tag in my vehicle. It had left the dealership and was on its way to the airport! I called 911, reported my car stolen, and provided the information for On-Star to activate the emergency shutdown when the police requested it. Two hours later, the police arrived at the dealership with the shuttle driver, the customer who had missed his flight, and my Caddy on the back of a deck truck. We settled out of court, lifetime extended warranty, free maintenance and they pick up my car and drop off a free courtesy vehicle.

[@BusArch42]

We have Apple AirTags in all our cars

[@fullthrottletreeservice4101]

Nice shirt. I had a 69 Super Bee back in the 70's. I wish I had never got rid of it

[@TheQuickSilver101]

I had a Camaro that I took into the dealership I purchased it from for an oil change (they were free for a year after the purchase of the vehicle). I left it there overnight because they said that they could do it early in the morning and I was working second shift at the time so I just dropped it off after work. When I woke up I immediately went to pick up my car. This dealership was odd in that it's on a bit of a hill so there was two levels of the lot. The lower main lot was the cars for sale and upper secondary lot was cars for service and parking. When I was nearly to the dealership I could see my car heading for the parking area when the service tech who was driving it went to an open area and started doing donuts. I walked up the steps to the upper level and watched him finish then park the car. I approached him and told him "That looked like a lot of fun" and he told me it was. Then I asked if I could have my car keys back. He went red and just walked away from me. I complained to the manager and never went back there

[@Sight-Beyond-Sight]

Man, the GREENEST of lawyers would e smiling ear to ear if a case like this walked in the door. Things like this are why I don't drive nice cars. I am content with something that just runs well.

[@HUMINT1]

6 months after purchasing a brand 2000 H-D SuperGlide Sport from my local H-D dealership I was back at the dealership to have the first oil change completed to keep the warranty intact. When I went to pick it up I noticed a bunch of rubber caked underneath my rear fender. Brought it to the service writer’s attention who in turn spoke with the mechanic who denied that he had ridden the motorcycle “hard”. Luckily I had friends that worked near said dealership and who both saw & heard the mechanic take off on my motorcycle laying rubber down the street. Went back to dealership with this information and spoke with the owner who not only gifted me with store credit but also apologized for the “misunderstanding”. Not a huge deal, especially considering I was young once myself I told the owner I just didn’t like being lied to. 🏍️💨✌🏽

[@dalesplitstone6276]

The service advisor should be charged with grand theft auto.

[@michaelnaretto3409]

The Calvin and Hobbs reference was great!

[@redneckcoder]

Dealerships should be required to get a signed document specifically authorizing a test drive etc. Separate document, not just buried in fine print.

[@lancereagan3046]

We had a similar issue with the airport valet in Charlotte 8-10 years ago. It made the news.

[@sidneyvandykeii3169]

I Googled the ZL1E Hendrick motorsport edition. I think there were only 40 cars made because the video i watched said that specific car was #25 of 40. The car in this video only had 989 miles on it and belonged to a collector. Was one of 40 made and in the future was going to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars if kept at very low miles and completely original. Big money loss for the owner of this Very Limited Edition Camaro.

[@P_RO_]

As someone who has an interest in classic cars and muscle cars, I've seen a few which were "1 of 1L built, and a handful which were one of a few and the only known surviving example. The sales prices some of those attain is mind-boggling when compared to more common versions. And of course those cars are irreplaceable.

[@vampirejesus8170]

They were ones that were built to commemorate the Camaro running at the 24 hour Leman race. Look up the YT vid, Camaro at leman. Oh wait I think those were the 2024s. This was a 2018. My bad.

[@nunyabisnass1141]

There have been cars i was afraid to drive just to the bay to have the oil changed, but we also had guys that would spin tires being jerks to customers cars. We had that issue with a mid 2000's mustang where they were prone to bad head gaskets. Well it was fine coming in, but not when they came to pick it up as there was now coolant going out of the exhaust. Could be a coincidence since it was a known problem, but we also knew how our guys were.

[@spyersecol0013]

That horse has already sailed! HILARIOUS!