Wow

 

A few years ago on a Mustang forum there was a similar horror story. A dealer tech was a regular on the forum and bragged about thrashing a customer's car. Turns out the customer was *also* a member of the same forum and put two and two together. As I recall the tech lost his job.

Cheers
DD

 

There was a case on the M5 forum that was awful. Guy took the car in, tech did oil change and took it for a "test" drive. Turned off traction control, lost control, hit a curb, broke the suspension and had to walk back to the dealership to get it towed. Guy fought for over a year and finally they bought the car back. Crazy thing was the tech was blaming the owner for having his car set up improperly for driving. Really weird, lots of money spent. Local enthusiasts trashed the dealership online, BMW NA said issue was with dealership. It was a BMW dealership, but they are independently owned. Always makes me worry a bit when the car goes in for a noise they have to road test.

 

The only saving grace from buying a car from the biggest regional dealership. They have resources to settle easier.

 

This happens more than you think. While working for a dealership in the 80's, I was told several times to run the dog sh^& out of a customers car my the service manager. I was even told to blow up the engine in one so warranty would pay to install a new one. Anyway here's a follow up to the original posting:

South Carolina resident William Clark's standoff with a dealership he accused of abusing his 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS while in for service has ended in a settlement, with Clark and the dealership saying the Camaro was bought back and that the profits will be donated to charity. But judging by the feedback he received -- and we as well -- Clark's story hit a nerve.
Best Chevrolet of Easley, S.C., says in a statement to Motoramic that the Camaro will be auctioned for the March of Dimes. For his part, Clark says the dealership bought the Camaro back at more than Blue Book value -- with Clark saying his proceeds will also be donated to charity.
But Best Chevrolet also offers a defense of sorts to Clark's secret recording, which an attorney for the dealership had called "misleadlingly edited" and pushed to have taken down. While Clark captured tire-squealing driving by the technicians at Best Chevrolet and their discussion of making him pay for a new clutch, the dealership contends Clark drove the Camaro just as hard once it was in his possession.
"A car of that style needs to be driven hard to test for the problem he stated. It is a high performance car and is not likely to be damaged in such a way," the dealership said in a statement. "In his own words, his vehicle already had been damaged at another location."
Indeed, Clark did say another dealership had damaged the Camaro at some point -- which is why he hid an audio recorder in the door pocket. After getting into a standoff with the dealership that nearly escalated to a lawsuit, Clark says the dealer's buyback offer was generous, and he has taken the audio off YouTube.
Judging by the nearly 4,000 comments on our story and emails to Motoramic, Clark isn't alone. Untangling mechanical problems with a car can be a fraught process for both sides; one look at the Reddit thread of "Just rolled into the shop" provides a glimpse of how some owners abuse and neglect their vehicles for years. The tough economy has made people more likely to hold onto their old clunkers, leading to more fights at the service desk over what's urgent versus what's affordable.
Instead of secretly recording every person who touches your car, we'd suggest doing some extensive vetting before taking your ride into a shop; many sites offer reviews of dealerships and independent mechanics, not to mention the Better Business Bureau. It's better than spinning your wheels after the fact.

 

Which is why we have hi def cameras all over the dealership. You can see a scratch on the drive. And we get alot of "thats wasnt there before i came ins" we try to mark everything beforehand but you cant catch everything on a dirty car and when do most people look at a car...after work is done. Me i have a bad habit of walking around my car all the time. I dont like taking cars out anymore unless i have to, it wastes time and you never know when some moron is going to hit you in a customer car

 

I had a new Acura a few years back with a back tranny. I kept bringing it back and asking them to drive the hell out of it, but they kept telling me that they couldn't reproduce the problem. I took the tech for a ride, a very spirited ride, and even though I could clearly tell the tranny was slipping he kept denying it! I threatened a lemon law suit and they ended up giving me a new car (it was lease, all I got was a newer car for the rest of the lease term!).

So, my problem was they didn't (or said they didn't) drive the hell out of my car and I wanted them to!

 

Back in the early 90s I had a regular customer with a ZR1 Corvette....one of those early ones with the engines built by Mercury Marine. Those were considered quite a road rocket car at the time.

Anyhow....


He was a swell guy who worked at Sony Studios (previously MGM) and would always stop by my office when he brought the car in for service or repair. He always *insisted* on two things:

1) That I drive the car home for a couple days ("and don't be bashful with it") to make sure everything worked correctly

2) That the car be fully detailed (which he paid for happily) when he picked it up

Naturally I was only too happy to accomdate his wishes and always took the l-o-n-g way home. Up Pacific Coast Highway and then cutting inland on Malibu Canyon Road.

One of many great customers I've known over the years.

Cheers
DD

 

Doug,
It's a small world. I was the Corvette Tech at the Chevy dealer where I worked and also the ZR-1 tech. At that time, those cars were the poo.