Car in for service - been driven in the AM

Dads_Car_Stolen

DELETED

DarkJager

Sounds like someone has been cruising for birds in your car. Why else would it be driving anywhere at that time of the night?

joeperry

Looks like somebody took it home,prob the only car that had tax on it and was taken by mistake?

What garage did you leave it with,do they not normally fix 80k cars?

mickdw

I guess if its in for a fault that can only be spotted by driving it around, it ok for then to drive it however, you should be informed of this need to drive it and on no account should it be out at 2 am driving all over dublin.

I would play it cool, walk them into a trap and then hit them hard.
You can be sure it wasnt being treated with care too.
I would go nuts with them and look for compensation

Bazzy

We left a van in to be fixed at work. The garage rang and asked could the "Head Technician" take it home. We said no bother. Said "head Technician" was doing his best to get 130 MPH out of said van.

Armed with tracker on my laptop we went down to the garage next day, few red faces but we got a free service and tyres for the van. Ask when you get back has it been driven or point out a stone chip or small scratch and explain that it wasnt there before and if they argue show them the evidence.

A friend of mine used to work at a large reputable BMW dealership and used to take the customers cars home because the sales guys used to moan because they had to clean them when they got them back ! thats why i'd never buy a decent car in this country

Victor_M

That's a bloody disgrace, I'd go straight to the manager in the morning, there is no justifiable reason for a car that's in for a service/repair what ever to be driven after hours particularly at that hour of the night. If they are trying to identify a problem they drive it around during business hours. Threaten to report the garage to BMW/MERC/AUDI/Whomever Ireland.

Don't pay for what ever work was done, there isn't much else you can do or get, I presume they hockeyed the crap out of your car. Also get the manager to find out who took it home and why and push to have them disciplined/fired if they shouldn't have taken it.

Oh, and don't bring it back to that dealer again.

paddydriver

Dads_Car_Stolen wrote: »

Hello all,

I wont name the dealership in question, but yes i am just building a file now, will be interesting to see where it goes over the weekend, and if thats the case, i certainly will be hitting hard if it pans out that way, trying to seek legal advice currently and who deals with that sort of stuff.

Are you talking about where the car or the case you are bringing goes over the weekend? If you are that a fanatic on your car I would not be chancing leaving it with them for the weekend! I would be in there tomorrow morning demanding that they carry out their work for free and fully compensate you for wear and tear.

I too had these concerns when I have left our GTI in for servicing and I simply recorded mileage when left in and also checked its location that evening via the tracker.

They are real dumb sh1ts not to consider that it may have a tracker.

Best of Luck. Get in there tomorrow - it will eat you up for the coming days if you do nothing about it.

Paddy

beam99

I,m guessing this is a german car, if this was only in for a service , what were they doin driving it after hours, thats the first question i wod be asking when collecting it.

timmywex

By any chance did you get a pic of the computer screen schowing the location or can you get a printout or anything that could prove your case?!

Neilw

Dads_Car_Stolen wrote: »

Yes, i have a full screen shots back dated to when i got the tracker fitted. The evidence couldnt be clearer..

Interesting to see what the dealer has to say when they are confronted with the evidence.

I recall a person on another forum who left their car into a main dealer for some work, the mechanic was out for a "spin" and wrote it off :eek:

I wouldn't post up too much information just in case but please do keep us posted, makes for some interesting reading

towel401

this, lads is why you fix your own car.

Gary ITR

This is a very interesting story but can I just request that you do not give any info that may lead to the identification of the garage in question

Bazzy

On the tracker system we have in work it can basically give you a snail trail on the map of ireland of where any of the vehicles have been including the several ferries around ireland which can be rather funny.

But i am sure yours has similar indicates speed etc also hang them out to dry they deserve it!

Nonoperational

What a joke. Can you go to the location of the car and have a look? Has i been taken far?

weirdear

Photos of the car out and about would be an ultimate FAIL on their part. Unbelievable in this day and age someone might jeopardise there job for a cruise in a nice car.......?

C.D.

OP should have waited till it was parked for the night and then picked it up and driven it home with his/her spare key. Let's see them explain how your car got "stolen" and then land them right in the sh**er.

bf

Sounds like somebody is in for the sack! Is this a main franchised dealer OP?

reverandkenjami

Surely if the car is in for repairs it has to be test driven to ensure its fixed properly? 9 times out of 10 a spin around the block won't show intermittent stalling etc! Dealers would be insured?

Neilw

reverandkenjami wrote: »

Surely if the car is in for repairs it has to be test driven to ensure its fixed properly? 9 times out of 10 a spin around the block won't show intermittent stalling etc! Dealers would be insured?

Yes they are insured alright. Does not give them the right to drive you car around Dublin at 2.30 in the morning tho does it?

Gisty

Call the cops, the trading standards authority and the press and show up in the morning with all 3 in tow.

cars123456789

main dealer opening hours from 9-6.
if dealer says car is hooked up to computer, ask them why its showing up in differnt parts of dublin?
so, small service=short test drive
pulling the p--s=2.30am

cars123456789

what exactly was wrong with the car

cars123456789

????brinks alloy robbery??? ring any bells

cars123456789

i think you should get a new 09 model for compensation.

reverandkenjami

Neilw wrote: »

Yes they are insured alright. Does not give them the right to drive you car around Dublin at 2.30 in the morning tho does it?

So lets say the service manager takes the car home one evening to see if the problem is gone. Leaves his own car on the dealer premises. What happens if he has to go out at 2.30am?

Keith C

reverandkenjami wrote: »

So lets say the service manager takes the car home one evening to see if the problem is gone. Leaves his own car on the dealer premises. What happens if he has to go out at 2.30am?

Try reading the first post sloooowly, then try again :rolleyes:

reverandkenjami

Keith C wrote: »

Try reading the first post sloooowly, then try again :rolleyes:

Ok smart arse!! So he was driving around all night? Big deal! I'm sure its in the small print

Praetorian Saighdiuir

This is mental, keep us updated, if the garage has taken the piss, i believe we should be informed of who it is, i doubt anyone wants to deal with a dodgy dealership like this! They could be using the car in illegal activities.

peltor

You never said what faults were in the car requiring diagnostic work,or is it just a routine service
I run a small independant garage,working on a fair amount of expensive/flashy cars,my bit of technical rant is i don't disagree with test driving the car depending on the cars fault often a cars computers have to go through a complete drive cycle which under normal driving conditions could take half a day/full day/2days etc before problems re occur,thats why intermittent faults can be so hard to diagnose thats why they take ages to show up,wit new cars this is even more advanced and lots of data need to be logged to determine faults,customers don't want cars to be missing for days and i would often take home "personally" customers car(not my staff) for data logging to speed up fault diagnosis if required not till 2 am mind you if i can help it and i have very satisfied customers.I am not sticking up for anyone here but you should post up why/what probs are wit the car and have proper technical advice on repairs needed before shooting from a high horse or you will be bombarded with technical facts and difficulties in fixing modern cars, my guess is BMW because they use overseas logging by techies to help diagnose vehicles.End conclusion: the dealership should have a really good reason or just be very precise for havin you car out and about so much, i think they could have streched the bounds of trust to the limit though,without informing you it was necessary to have the car on extensive road tests,people saying they should be fired really are talkin through their arse and have no idea how difficult,time consumng and under paid the motor trade is,lads sayin fix the car at home themselves fair play to them but i think when it gets a bit more technical especially on modern cars they should leave well enough alone unless properally trained.

cars123456789

pleaseeeeeeee...........give me a break////you dont take a car belonging to a customer home unless this was sanctioned by the customer. the bottom line is that this car is their property not the garage's.....this garage , whoever or whatevr they are, are not acting in a professional manner.. they are compromising the property of the registered owner of the vehicle, they are also devaluing this vehicle with ever extra mile on the clock. this is not an acceptable situation.

cars123456789

peltor, i agree with all you have said as i am in the 'independant' trade also. but i think someone is messin around..........

cars123456789

i do not agree with being informed . i am not into the lynch mob gang............not a good idea.

Gary ITR

Thread is pointless now that the OP has seen fit to delete his/her posts. I hate when people do that.

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