Caught on audio : Mechanics abusing customers car

[Nicksfix]

A man goes into his local Chevy dealership to have a clunking noise in the transmission of his Camaro diagnosed. What he secretly recorded was amazing.

Unfortunately, the video (audio) link in the following article has been taken down from You Tube. It was quite expletive when I heard it earlier this morning.

Article

It kind of makes you wonder ... how often do things like this go on ?

 

[Theace37]

Wow.. wouldn't want them doing that to my car, thats for sure!

Especially since mines been out of warrenty for almost 30 years!

 

[a6m5]

It definitely happens. However, I think the dude was extremely unlucky. People I work with have witnessed similar incidents, but not to a degree where customer's car is getting ruined. And without fail, any employee caught breaking any traffic law are reprimanded.

Having said that, they are sometimes required to push the car to reproduce issues customers might be experiencing. Even if you see techs pushing the cars on a backroad, revving it up or whatever, chances are, they are just looking for that noise, hesitation, vibration, etc. the customer is complaining about.

The story reminded me of a pay parking story I saw on TV awhile back. They were joyriding expensive sports cars, then got caught by undercover news crew. If I remember correctly, they got caught on film, and still denied it. Losers.

 

[ZohsixGT5]

Awesome story of justice served. I always take a picture of my dash before I drop it of somewhere, so I have a record of the current mileage and fuel load.

 

[Schwartz]

The story reminded me of a pay parking story I saw on TV awhile back. They were joyriding expensive sports cars

Sounds like Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

 

[Jay]

This sort of thing can happen but is fairly rare, usually with idiot young apprentices. I do hope this makes the idiot shop mechanics think twice before joy riding.

I almost always do all my work myself but years ago I sent my car to a body shop to get a few things done that was easier done with specialist tools, I knew the body shop had a few young guys employed so I set a 4000rpm limit on my ECU (standone ECU) which couldn't be overriden by them. If it was a normal car I won't have bothered but a tuned turbocharged Skyline tends to bring out the hoon in a lot of people especially after they all came out to have a look when I arrived. Checking the ECU log later and they didn't attempt to abuse it which is nice to know.

 

[AMCNUT]

That's as depressing as it is sad that supposedly professional mechanics would deliberately trash the guy's car, and then try to bill him for the parts that they broke. It says quite a bit about the lack of respect a few bad individuals in society have - I hope that dealer terminates their employment as a message hopefully to everyone else that things like that won't be tolerated. Otherwise, I'd say boycott the dealer.

It certainly serves as a reminder to take a good look at the condition of your vehicle before it goes in for any type of service.

 

[Crash]

It sucks that some mechanics do this to customer's cars, and it is absolutely inexcusable, but unfortunately, it happens, and it can be hard to catch.

There's a guy with an E60 BMW M5 where one of the dealership's employees took it out on a joyride and totaled the car. There's a big thread over on another forum about that.

I've heard people suggest that you should write down on all paperwork something like "car may not be taken off shop property without explicit written permission from owner." This won't necessarily prevent them from joyriding it, but if they crash it on public roads, then they've broken another part of the contract. I'm not sure how well that would actually work in court though.

 

[Dean]

Why haven't this guy been fired? I mean, if it was my car, I would be so mad at him.

 

[Grayfox]

This is another one.

Going 30mph over the speed limit, speeding where kids play and in a porsche.
The mechanic did it cause it was a porsche, same has happened here where a mechanic drove like an idiot in a guys lamborghini.

In these types of cases products like this are very valuable.
http://www.roadhawk.co.uk/roadhawk-rh-1/prod_3.html

 

[Pupik]

It definitely happens. However, I think the dude was extremely unlucky. People I work with have witnessed similar incidents, but not to a degree where customer's car is getting ruined. And without fail, any employee caught breaking any traffic law are reprimanded.

Having said that, they are sometimes required to push the car to reproduce issues customers might be experiencing. Even if you see techs pushing the cars on a backroad, revving it up or whatever, chances are, they are just looking for that noise, hesitation, vibration, etc. the customer is complaining about.

That pretty much sums it up. I've seen an occasional bout of total incompetence by technicians (at least two totalled cars in my day), but usually, they don't constantly push the envelope. Also, an additional part to a repair on a not-so-old car is going to raise suspicions with a manager, especially if it's going through a possible warranty claim. If something didn't look right to me, I spoke up so I wouldn't have any awkward explaining to do later (unless it was a bona fide weird scenario).

Typically, the older and/or more experienced mechanics aren't doing these types of things. And despite the tally of very damaged cars, we've had far more loaner/rental mishaps by customers to outweigh any shop errors, lot damage, or failed attempts to get a car properly...ahem, "orbital".

 

[ZohsixGT5]

I bet they don't have these types of problems at Kia dealerships.

 

[NikoBellic]

Damn. Poor guy.

 

[Pezzarinho17]

And despite the tally of very damaged cars, we've had far more loaner/rental mishaps by customers to outweigh any shop errors, lot damage, or failed attempts to get a car properly...ahem, "orbital".

I had a courtesy car when some work was done to mine. When the guys picked it up they had just come from picking up another, and it was a mess. By the state of the passengers side, Sebastien Loeb had borrowed it... And I was worried about touching a kerb earlier in the week (Bad snow the day I collected it, just didn't see the kerb at all for all the snow around. No damage and I wasn't going very fast at all).

 

[Slash]

Happens all the time, in fact I've personally seen it happen. It's a shame.

 

[Nicksfix]

This is another one.

Going 30mph over the speed limit, speeding where kids play and in a porsche.
The mechanic did it cause it was a porsche, same has happened here where a mechanic drove like an idiot in a guys lamborghini.

In these types of cases products like this are very valuable.
http://www.roadhawk.co.uk/roadhawk-rh-1/prod_3.html

BUSTED

It kind of makes you wonder (now that this story has gone public) how many people will "rig" their cars with such devices.

I've seen an occasional bout of total incompetence by technicians (at least two totalled cars in my day),

You've seen 2 cars get totalled ? If your the service manager / owner of the shop ... how would you even begin to tell a customer that the car they dropped off for a repair has been totalled out. ? VERY CAREFULLY

The worst I have ever seen was a technician backing out a mid size motor home. While backing it out, the car in the opposing bay (a Corvette) got into his blind spot. Yeah, guess what he backed into ?

 

[a6m5]

Craziest I've witnessed is a service advisor trying to park a disabled driver van, while sitting in a improvised seat(I was told a chair, or stool or something). He drove that thing into the service reception lobby, driving this full size van through a glass wall. Van only stopped when it slammed into the reception desk.

Extremely luckily for us, there was no one in the chairs(located right by the glass), or its path. If the desk didn't stop it, our service secretary would've been most likely killed.

I just remembered, same thing happened, also with a disabled driver's mini-van before. That time, it was a service advisor's office. Again, he happened to be out of his office, or he would've been killed without a doubt.

After each incident, they installed those heavy duty post things to stop any approaching vehicles.

Happens all the time, in fact I've personally seen it happen. It's a shame.

Like me & Pupik said, it's not something we typically see. And if it's discovered, proper action will be taken. If any dealers in your area fail to address such issue, you should avoid them at all cost.

 

[Pupik]

You've seen 2 cars get totalled ? If your the service manager / owner of the shop ... how would you even begin to tell a customer that the car they dropped off for a repair has been totalled out. ? VERY CAREFULLY

In the immortal words of Rod Roddy:
"It's a BRAND-NEW CAR!"

 

[SRV2LOW4ME]

Heard of worse things happening. My mechanic worked at a Dodge dealership here, and someone had brought in a Buick GNX a few years ago. One of the mechanics decided to take it out for a spin and ended up blowing the engine on the drive. They basically told the guy the original problem was worse than it was and charged him for the repairs needed from the disaster.

Another reason why I hate Dodge dealerships.

 

[Guardian]

I heard a slightly similar story about a guy (in this country) who took his car into a garage to get it painted (I think). He gets it painted, drives off... walks back to dealership with gear lever in his hand...

Long story short, they had stolen his clutch (or gear linkage, or something) and put a total misfit in it's place.

 

[toymdngn]

This is a response that a friend on another forum had to the issue (he's a dealership mechanic, though not irresponsible like the guys in the vid):

"The complaint was grinding gears... and it had 38k on it. The guy broke his own clutch and is butthurt that they wanted to charge him to replace his clutch. The way they set it up, they would have saved him from paying for a pressure plate. sure they were ripping off warranty, but it would have worked in the guys favor. *Everyone* claims they dont beat their car... even when a new car with 10k miles on it has a blown up clutch and bright blue pressure plate. They'll swear they drive like a granny.

In reality, i bet the shop did absolutely nothing that damaged the car (it had an existing problem when it came in). Pretty rude to burn tires on a customer car, but they might have chirped off 0.5/32nds if they were especially rough. The guy broke a car, dodged paying to replace the clutch he burnt, and got out of his expensive car payment... yeah, hes the victim".

and a response from another member:

"You're insinuating the man was out to dog the shop from the get go. What do you imagine would have happened if the shop hadn't treated the car so badly?"

and my mechanic friend:

"A LOT of customers go in expecting to get screwed, and leave feeling screwed no matter what. A LOT go in expecting that no matter what all repairs should be free, and feel ripped off when its not. Im not saying he went in looking to scam.. im saying hes probably that customer whos never going to be happy.

If they didnt do that, he'd still own the car and have a big bill. He made out like a bandit.

A lot more are great and reasonable. Both happen every day. Cars can really take a beating, a 20 minute hard drive isnt going to destroy a car.

If they didnt hammer the car, it would have left and came back again for the same issue. Then it more than likely would have started slipping on the customer and would come back again... and he'd be butthurt when he sees that he needs a clutch (because everyone drives like a granny when its under warranty!)."

I agree with both sides of the story. On one hand, sometimes you have to abuse the car a little bit to find "that noise/vibration/etc" yet to do burnout after burnout (and farting up the car too! ) is not needed.

 

[turbolefty78]

A number of years ago in Readers Digest, an article was done up on this very sort of thing. How many/few honest mechanics are there in the country vs. the dishonest sort.
To conduct this test, the gents at RD purchased a decent new car which was then brought to a very reputable dealer and gone over in detail to determine it's condition. All was in order and the car in fine shape. The fellows then proceeded to travel a course around the country making stops at shops along the way. Before pulling in to each, they would pull over somewhere close but out of sight of the shop, open the hood and partially disconnect a spark plug wire, causing the engine to have a misfire and run a bit rough. They would then pull in to the shop and ask for assistance and document the ensuing results.
Of all businesses visited, approx. 30% were honest and did the right thing, popping the loose plug wire back on and not charging them, or at the very least, charging a minimal fee for service, like $5 or something small. Most did it for free though.
Of the 70% remaining, the things tossed at that poor car, and the services performed on it, were truely astounding. Everything from fuel injectors to brake pads were installed in it. One shop even told them the transmission was bad and ordered up a new one! Quite the leap from a loose spark plug wire to an entire transmission replacement!
The auto repair industry as a whole failed miserably during this test, in many cases, criminally.
During my stint as an auto tech I tried to do my best by each and every customer tossed my way. I did the "pop the plug wire back on and send them on their way" thing whenever the opportunity arose. I don't care to admit it, but after having worked for a couple big dealers, I know all too well about what goes on with customers cars. Some techs are pushed into doing certain things to cars by their employers. You're taught to always be on the lookout for anything that needs servicing, even wiper blades. It's income for the company they say. Any way to make a buck. Other problems are simply greedy mechanics who have no business wrenching on anything but their own rides.
So, in short, after having been a part of the auto repair industry for a good 20 years, yes, I've seen the sort of thing happen as with that poor guys Camaro. I certainly don't condone it though. We did have to take cars on road tests to determine what that "clunk", "clank", "wobble" was and then see if we could fix it. It's not that easy to do at times, but the honest ones will do right by you in the end.
Do your homework and find a good mechanic/technician ahead of time and save yourself a whole bunch of headaches, and probably money, in the long run.

 

[Encyclopedia]

There's been a few similar stories here in Sweden regarding MOTs. Some guy got his Viper (which he'd saved up for for many years) totalled by an employee at a MOT place that wanted to test it out a bit.

Also another guy got his personal F40 crashed but luckily not totalled by another one. He took it with ease though but still.

Some people really need to respect other peoples things.

Edit: The Ferrari - http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article12010781.ab

And apparently a Supra suffered a similar fate: http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article4990394.ab

 

[Spike125]

You have "bad apples" in every workshop, same as you will have them in every other business (the waiter and the soup).
This guys were stupid enough to take the risk (imo doesn't matter for the good of the customer or not, because cheating on the warranty is as bad as treating the customers car wrong) and on top got caught.
It's the difficult job of the workshop owner/manager to keep his employees at bay and test drives professional and reasonable.
But I know from my experience, it's so difficult.
You can setup guidelines and rules, you can monitor the employees and cars, but at the end you have to trust in character and commen sense of the drivers/testers/mechanics.

It's not an excuse, but it always happened and it will always happen.

 

[Nicksfix]

A video of this has emerged.

WARNING - LANGUAGE CONTENT



*note - this video is the exact same one that originally appeared in the article. It has been copied by another You Tube user and not edited from the original one that once was there.*

 

[Pupik]

Extremely luckily for us, there was no one in the chairs(located right by the glass), or its path.

I just remembered, same thing happened, also with a disabled driver's mini-van before. That time, it was a service advisor's office. Again, he happened to be out of his office, or he would've been killed without a doubt.

(Un-)fortunately, the advisor is only at his office/desk about 33-50% of the time!

I only caught up with this video recently:

A video of this has emerged.

Okay, the last part (which they claim is fraud): Usually, the clutch and components aren't covered, but if the car has low enough mileage, manufacturers might cover certain elements of goodwill warranty (and may have it expressly written as a special policy coverage, or "customer satisfaction").

So explaining it away as fraud is absolutely incorrect, if the manufacturer itself is perfectly willing to step up to the plate and authorize it. The dealer wouldn't agree to cover it without prior knowledge of this, or they would have their warranty claim bounce! Then they'd have to cover it out-of-pocket. Yes, I've done warranty administration, met product reps, and worked in the repair industry (from "the desk", that is).

So that last part is absolutely ding-dong-diddly-wrong-o-rino, designed to stir up the user with bull puckey.

This whole thing sounds like nonsense; how else are you going to duplicate the noise and action of a clutch in a performance car? What was stated on the repair order? What did they tell the advisor and manager? We don't know that, we're left up to the one side explaining how his car is a pristine piece of engineering and beauty that is suddenly beaten by mechanics, which is an impression people have, even if it's never actually happened to them.

The rest of it is two guys in the business talking about cars, and this car, and if he/they can't handle that from an enthusiasts' standpoint, they're upset because it seems like they're talking behind his back (of which they hadn't said anything that even sounded personal, unless it was edited out). The technicians aren't heads of state nor in charge of the lives of hundreds, they talk like average folk and are generally professionals like everyone else, the difference being that they get their hands physically dirty and have to solve physically complex mechanical issues that most lay people do not have the ability, time, wherewithal, and equipment to repair or maintain. And the advisors aren't mind-readers nor magicians; the manager has to keep things afloat and can't just give into every demand from the customer, or the lights don't turn on int eh shop one day.

Anyhow, I don't like to armchair these kinds of decisions with only one-third of the story, the other two sides being this dealers' response and actions, and the hidden things the customer probably hasn't said about their car and how the behave with it, and how it behaves in return.