sterb5

hi all . took my car in to get some work done and was told it wasw ready at 5 oclock. could not get home in time to pick up so told the garage i would pick up in the mornin.
at 9" 15 my mate phones to tell me he has just seen my car car driving around the local town centre.whats ur opinions on this guys.
as for me not very pleased.

360ste

iTrader: (1)

This is shocking would have been great if your mate had got a picture as proof. Just right for pinning the git's to the wall. Give them hell when you pick it up! Could this be classed as vehicle theft as a road test would be done during business hours, also would probably be driving without insurance aswell. let us know what the outcome is.

Jdub

Would think the garage could be in serious trouble mate, they are allowed via insurance to test drive them if they have done the breaks etc.. but if they have already told you your car is ready then they have no right to be out in it, I would go now and ring the police and drop them right in the ****, be aware it could have just been nicked from the garage so best to ring the old bill.

Squarepusher

Besides being totally unprofessional
ffs taking the customers car cruising on an evening

Gotta agree with some of the comments, would report to police and check with garage to see if has been stolen.

I presume you took it to a specialist and not a scooby dealership

craigdmcd

iTrader: (2)

If you can, get proof, then read them the riot act in the morning. The very least is to expect not to pay the bill (unless it's very large).
Heard of a boy in Scotland who dropped his car off at a very large multi dealer in Glasgow for a straight forward service, told to collect it the next morning. Went for a drive that night in the courtesy car and noticed his vehicle getting driven by someone else. He challenged the driver, who told him that he was given the car as a courtesy vehicle . He arranged with this driver that he would appear at the dealer 15 mins before his car returned. He went in to the dealers the next morning where the Service receptionist looked a little surprised, and asked the gentleman to wait. The gentleman waited for a short while, then confronted the staff who denied this.The owner of the group was in that morning (a certain gentleman who's initial's are reputedly the 1st and 3rd letters of the alphabet), and heard the arguement, and came over to address the problem. The customer reputedly got a new car out of the situation to keep him quiet.

RON

This just one of the reasons that i do all of the work on my car, i trust no-one with it, even when it went to a bodyshop, i made sure it would be very slow should they(or anyone else) decide to take it up the road, it actually only did 0.4 mile in the 3 days they had it... ie, into the workshop each day and into/out of the oven....

Difficult to decide to call the cops on this one, if it has been nicked all well and good, if not, the garaeg won't be very happy, (not that they deserve to be) but might it not mess up insurance somehow...??

Good luck....

bpm1588

are you sure your mates not winding you up?,i know my friends are allways looking for chances like that as they know my car(baby) is my bigest weekness.
but if it was your car driving round i'd be onto the peelers.teach the guy in the garage a good leson in trust

360ste

iTrader: (1)

Having looked at the other posts if you can get to the garage go down now and look for your car. If possible take pictures to prove it is not there. If you are that pi55ed off and cannot sleep get to the garage well early and see if you catch the F'er driving your car. As much as you might like to give him a reason to see a dentist, just take pictures and confront the manager with the evidence. Best of luck and hope it is not nicked, Steve

GC8

Sometimes a garage will take a car come that they dont have room for inside; rather than leave it outside, or in a less than secure yard. If that were the case in this circumstance then the garage had actually been acting in your best interest..... Of course if the car was being ragged up the road then thats a different matter!


Simon

sienar33

W*****s
But, mate works for B*W and they do shake downs for the weekend sometimes.
If there has been significant work, ie shell, front/back etc

There maybe local cctv footage if it comes to it
Think I'm gonna take mine to the clinic or Litchfields in November

Might be worth getting in touch with CAB, to know where you stand
Good luck

bob r

iTrader: (46)

sounds like a t.w.o.c to me.

this can be used against the management to seriously reuce the cost of your service or the driver can be locked up.

pslewis

Probably the Mechanic took it home to keep it safe, of course - he drove it round to his mates and took them all out, his girlfriend found the rear seat quite comfy too!! Expect to find a used one under the back seat!!

One Mechanic once told me that they consider that they have won the lottery if a customers car comes in with plenty of fuel in it!!!

I have seen Mechanics remove parts from customers cars to fit on their (older) cars .... their knackered old part goes on the customers car!!

I hate leaving my car anywhere and try not to - seeing the Subaru Main Dealer squeal my car round the Car Park and into the workshops makes my blood boil ..... if you complain they treat you like you are pathetic!!

Pete

sterb5

my mate said that he came to the traffic lights seen the car and flashed his lights thinkin it was me . he then drove past the car and seen what he said was (a scrawney lookin lad ) driving my car.he did not know my car was booked in the garage. he told me the road he seen it ,which is down the road from the garage so they could of been moving it round to the back of the shop but at 9:15pm.i just dont know.

RON

YOu coud always ring the police and ask their opinion, if they decided to 'pull' the car over, and there's a simple explanation, then you and the garage have nothing to fear, if however it's been TWOC then they're in trouble.... assuming it's someone from the garage thats driving it that is.....

GC8

Considering the time then Id say that one of the mechanics got lucky. If youre absolutely certain of the facts then Id consider calling the Police and reporting the car stolen because even if it was taken home for safe keeping, the garage/mechanic has no place whatsoever driving it around late at night.

Alternatively, you can ask them about its safekeeping when you collect it tomorrow. Allow the garage to incriminate themselves, rather than immediately accusing them..... "it was here all night" isnt difficult to counter but "it was taken by a trusted mechanic for safe-keeping" needs a little more cunning. Id ask whether it would just be parked up safely and not driven about; the reply will be "of course"; then you kick off!

Simon

Stephen Pope

I used to pick up cars from garages and take them back to the auction that we worked at. Every journey back to the yard was a race. Cold engines or not. Slightly off topic perhaps but I am just making the point that these things happen everywhere. Taking sweets from a kid and all that. I borrow colleagues staplers from their desks - it this principle not the same as your predicament in essence?

pslewis

A bent staple is easier to suffer than a shagged engine in an Impreza!!

Pete

RedScoob

Another one here that doesn't trust (or use) garages.... I'm not paranoid (or at least the voices tell me that I'm not), but I've had too many experiences with services carried out by the "apprentice", huge mileage inconsistancies and problems appearing after a service....
Personally I'd just not use them again and always record your mileage before you drop the car off in future (photo is best). Unless you've already done this, you have no recourse without an admission of guilt.

Bockett

apprentice mechanic maybe???
CCTV will be a bugger to get from council unless old bill envolved (cctv engineer speaking)
Best thing get to garage with a mate kip up the night leave camcorder on facing garage and film the buggers coming back in the morning, best i can think of good luck

LongTimeLurker

I'd turn up as early as possible in the morning at the garage and demand to see your car, if they question why say your medication or something is in the glove box and you desperately need it. Post back the results then name / shame em.

Tidgy

i always use the same garage for my work, i trust them 100%, the only time they ever drive it in ernest is when i tell them there is an issue and its the only way it can be replicated, knowing how good the drivers are i don't have one problem with that at all (which lts face it can be an issue).
i do drop with one of the guys who works there cos of issues getting it to them, and even though i have said to him if you wanna have a quick blast on the way back feel free, he hasn't and said he wont.

if a dealer has taken a liberty like that you wont be the first or last person they do it to, have em over a brrel and demand some serious repairs out of them, aka new clutch new tyres new brake pads etc etc, all and any possible part that has been damaged by abusive driving

Dazza01

Make sure your at the garage for when the first chap comes in and then ask to see your car, if its not there play foo kin merry ell with them

can you remember the mileage ???

Mrs WRX

What happened? What did you do?

Scooby Snacks 23

Probably still down at the dealers, having it out with them

Harty2000

Theres been many times when ive had texts saying my car had been spotted out and about when it is still parked up the drive.
Maybe it was just a similar car unless he noticed it from the plate

staffychance

The amount of horror stories of my mate, means i hate taking any of my cars to garages.

Things like we had a Subaru P1 in the other day, its fast as F..K, Im sorry but how do they know, simple they flog all the fast cars they work on.

Take it Early on a morning not the night before so you drive it into the garage, ask them how long it would take and arrive 30min early and wait outside until the time to collect.

ScoobyAddict

It was spotted at 9.15pm!!! How many average mechanics knock off work at that time?

Anyway sterb5, it's morning now - any news?

corradoboy

It's not just main dealers, but any garage where this can happen. A mate of mine had some suspension work done by a very well respected independent. His Defi's told him that during the test-run after that they hit the redline in several gears and exceeded 90mph. The test took less than 15 minutes, so no warming up and they're a good 10 miles from a motorway, so the high speed was questionable. If anyone needs to test mine in future, I go with them.

sterb5

hi .sorry for the delay.got down to the garage this mornin and my car was on the front.ask the guy were my car was lastnight he said it was here and that he took it for a testdrive at about 8:30 oh and then to the shop to pick some stuff up then straight back. i think ive learned my lesson guys.

Bockett

w4nker test drive at 830
What work did you have done for it need test driving