[Eric SS]

It made it to my front page. Lucky no kids darted out into the neighborhood streets.

Hey r/cars, long time reader, occasional poster, and thought I would share a recent event that happened to me. Throwaway account just in case.

I needed some work done on my car after my first track day with the car per the manual, just brake and rear differential fluid changed out. Searched reviews and auto shop websites for a place to get it done. Dealer wanted to charge me $145 for the brake fluid swap (and that's discounted because I was bringing specific DOT4 brake fluid) and $180 for the rear diff fluid change. Found, what seemed, to be a good shop and called and they offered basically half the price.

Took it in Tuesday and picked it up after work. Everything seemed fine until I see my car. I saw both windows down, car unlocked and the keys on the floor. It was in the parking lot and could easily been taken with no alarm, no broken glass, nothing. I asked the clerk about it and he said it was "a standard thing across the industry". I am thinking what a bunch of crap. The keys were tagged with my cars details, they should be in an office on a rack with other keys, supervised and my car locked and windows up, but whatever, nothing was stolen. Lucky me and them.

Here is the thing, got in the car, it just happened to be on my transmission fluid temperature on the LCD display. It was slightly over 100F. That is odd, the only way to get it up that high when its been in the 50's is to drive for quite a while or do some serious hard shifts. Yes, yes, I got an auto for the first time since 08'. Even the mechanic mentions it! HA...

Anyways, this makes me want to look at my dashcam footage that night. Both before and after they were supposed to do the work on my car, it was driven full throttle and redlining and a few TC & ESC kick-ins . In the video, he accelerates, shifting twice, meaning he is in third gear and the engine is revving at near redline. Based on the sheet for the A8 Camaro SS, the max speed of 3rd gear is 93MPH, so he was going around 85+. And that is in a 45MPH street. Revs my engine in park and neutral, talks to another shop and jokes about racing, switches it into either sport or track mode to messing with the active exhaust. You will also notice at the end of the video that my dashcam messed up and only recorded the last seconds of a THIRD time the car was driven, clearly hours later. Another joyride for the hell of it? Who knows what the **** happened that time. Also the lovely offer the mechanic makes to another employee to drive my car. At least one person working there has a conscience and denied the offer.

So, I understand driving the car around the block, of course, but to go full throttle/redline (on an engine not given time to warm) on every straight, going so fast and probably nearly double the speed limit, is completely unprofessional and negligent.

I did confront the owner on it the next day. He first told me, over the phone, he would talk with the mechanic and doesn't need to see the video and assured me this has never happened before. I insisted I wanted to meet and show him. I met the owner around lunch and he said he will get the mechanic in to watch. I said he doesn't need to watch, he knew what he did. I wanted to talk to him, the owner. He repeats that he will talk with the mechanic and that there isn't anything else he can do and he can't control or know everything. He said something about bringing my car in that made me respond with "I would not be bringing my car back ever". And he said "And I am completely fine with that" in a tone like it was no skin off his back. That really pissed me off but just kept calm.

I explained that how can I trust the work was done on my car. My dashcam is only on when the car is on. So I cannot see if work is done. Did they even use my brake fluid? They said they used all 3 bottles. I was too angry to think to ask for empty bottles as proof, plus it was the next day so I am sure "something something in the trash". He got noticeably upset saying something along the lines of "I can ****ing guarantee the work was done." I just reiterated that how can I trust him that it was done when clearly he "can't control or know everything".

I expressed what he could do is give me a refund and then I can go somewhere else to have it inspected. He got angry saying “You know what, give this guy his ****ing money!” and walked out. I did get my refund on my card just hours ago.

If anyone learns anything from this, get a dashcam! I had it for covering my ass in possible car accidents in case someone tries to blame me. Turns out useful in other scenarios.

TLR
Took car to a shop, mechanic took it for at least two short joyrides. Had dashcam footage and got my money back.
EDIT: Wow, got bigger than I thought. Thank you all for the conversations and discussion! I said in the comments but will put it here that before I even submitted this that I went to the local news and they interviewed me and they have the details. Again, I don't want to actively give you all the details to avoid witch hunting. This was purely sharing my story as a car lover and hopefully encouraging people to get dashcams. I'll respond to as much as I can, gotta goto work.

https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/commen...of_a_joyride/?




And video:

[Egon]

It's funny we were just having this very conversation on another thread here yesterday and I was told I was a "snowflake" for suggesting someone get a dashcam to prevent or at least catch actions like this from service technicians.

I was just waiting while watching that video for a car to pull out of a driveway or a kid to step out between some cars while the tech was flooring it. Also reading the comments by the poster on Reddit the garage he took the car to didn't seem to give a damn about it either, I am sure it wasn't the first time it's happened there. All the more reason to protect yourself. Thanks for sharing.

[CyberGuyPR]

I find hilarious how the OP over there blurred the shop as to "avoid witch hunt". it took me around 15 seconds to find out exactly which shop it was. I'm surprised people who have nothing to do with the incident haven't lit up their Facebook and Yelp pages.

[Eric SS]

Originally Posted by Egon

It's funny we were just having this very conversation on another thread here yesterday and I was told I was a "snowflake" for suggesting someone get a dashcam to prevent or at least catch actions like this from service technicians.

I was just waiting while watching that video for a car to pull out of a driveway or a kid to step out between some cars while the tech was flooring it. Also reading the comments by the poster on Reddit the garage he took the car to didn't seem to give a damn about it either, I am sure it wasn't the first time it's happened there. All the more reason to protect yourself. Thanks for sharing.

I have a dash cam in all of my cars and always watch the footage after I take my car in for service. I'm in the insurance industry and I can't tell you how often people lie about accidents and either dashcam or other CCTV footage proves what really happened. Get one to protect yourself all

[Eric SS]

Originally Posted by CyberGuyPR

I find hilarious how the OP over there blurred the shop as to "avoid witch hunt". it took me around 15 seconds to find out exactly which shop it was. I'm surprised people who have nothing to do with the incident haven't lit up their Facebook and Yelp pages.

Reddit has had some bad things happen from witch hunting (such as the Boston Bombing) so good posters do what they can to try and curtail it. I'm sure some people will light up yelp and FB and I'm with you, I wouldn't blame them.

[pdiddy972]

Originally Posted by Eric SS

I have a dash cam in all of my cars and always watch the footage after I take my car in for service. I'm in the insurance industry and I can't tell you how often people lie about accidents and either dashcam or other CCTV footage proves what really happened. Get one to protect yourself all

That's the beauty of my Vette's PDR Valet mode. It records everything while the car is on and running, and locks the glove box and drop-down screen. They won't be doing any driving antics without me knowing about it.

[Egon]

Originally Posted by Eric SS

I have a dash cam in all of my cars and always watch the footage after I take my car in for service. I'm in the insurance industry and I can't tell you how often people lie about accidents and either dashcam or other CCTV footage proves what really happened. Get one to protect yourself all

Yep it's the same reason that people put security cameras on their homes and businesses. I am absolutely certain that this joy riding thing happens a LOT more than we realize, since we are only seeing a small fraction from people that have dash cams. For every one we see like the one you posted there are dozens we don't see because there is no recording of it. I know there are lots of really great techs out there that would never dream of doing something like that and I feel sorry that they get lumped in with the bad ones but dash cams will help the good guys too.

[vet757]

I tell the service manager before I hand over my keys. My car is equipped with a dash cam that records everything(including GPS speed and location).

[Boilermaker128]

[–]DrunkenGremlin 112 points 9 hours ago
Good news is it could have been worse. This happened a few miles from me and it ended up making big headlines.
http://blog.powerblocktv.com/dealers...ee-totals-zl1/
TL; DR- Guy sells his 69 Camaro and trades in a 2011 towards a new ZL1. Dealership takes it for a joyride and totals it. Dealer says screw you until it becomes a big story.
Fun follow up note: By absolute coincidence the owner of the ZL1 came to work for me as a temp electrician and was bat shit crazy. He carried around 2 rocks in his pocket that he wanted me to put on the payroll because he said they helped him get through his shift. He was ultimately fired for threatening to shoot up he place. Good times.

LOL, and others follow up with the rocks kept him grounded etc hahah

[CamaroBody]

can someone recommend a dash cam like this

[Allez]

I have a dashcam with GPS in my car also, but I wonder is there anything to stop someone from disconnecting it before they go on a joyride? Mine is USB-powered and hardwired. I guess maybe you could tell if it was disconnected by seeing if with the start of each clip the car is in the exact same location as where it stopped?

Is it better to tell the shop ahead of time or not?

[Genesis7]

Originally Posted by CamaroBody

can someone recommend a dash cam like this

this is what I have and is pure awesome.

[vet757]

Originally Posted by CamaroBody

can someone recommend a dash cam like this

I had the Rexing V1 it was pure garbage it died after a month they sent me a second one it also died, so I got a refund.

Right now I have the Street Guardian Amazon Link http://a.co/ecKpfV1 It records footage, audio, gps speed and location. Has a super capacitor so you dont have to worry about your internal battery killing the camera during hot summers. Also is a "set it up and forget it" type camera it records in loops so never runs out of memory... just start your car and go.

[Eric SS]

Originally Posted by vet757

I had the Rexing V1 it was pure garbage it died after a month they sent me a second one it also died, so I got a refund.

Right now I have the Street Guardian Amazon Link http://a.co/ecKpfV1 It records footage, audio, gps speed and location. Has a super capacitor so you dont have to worry about your internal battery killing the camera during hot summers. Also is a "set it up and forget it" type camera it records in loops so never runs out of memory... just start your car and go.

I don't use the Street Guardian but I do use the A118 (Or B40, take your pick) which is what the street guardian is based on and so I do recommend either what you have or a cheaper version. I don't have the GPS antennae but you can hook them up to these as well. I prefer the battery version to the capacitor version (I have both) because the battery version will power the camera for a little while after the car is shut off while the capacitor version stops recording the second you turn the car off and open the door. Search A118 or B40 and you get a bunch. I have not had a failure yet but I do know it happens with these cams. My oldest is over 2 years old. I did have an issue with it where it stopped overwriting once but a reset and a reformat of the card fixed it. And this is in the Phoenix heat.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=A118+dash+cam

Also, dashcamtalk.com is a great forum for anyone interested in dash cams.