Wondering if its normal for a shop owner to take a customers car home? - space at the shop is available but tell me security is a worry. Obviously apart from accident risk the more likely issues are rock chips and unnecessary miles. I never had this in the UK but wonder what local experience is? thanks
I've never heard of it happening here. Of course, if it's a high-end car then the shop owner may just be using it as an excuse to drive it / put some miles on it / show it off to friends. I know for a fact if there was a Murcie Roadster on my driveway, my friends would virtually move into the house just to check out the car. For your sake, I hope it's not what I think it is, Donnie. Hope it all works out.
Don't think so. Unless they're trying to replicate a problem by driving it...even then it should go back to the shop afterwards.
I have on occation taken a car home over night. But always with the customers consent and on a signed work order. There is only one true reason to take a car home for the evening in my eyes. If there is an intermintant issue while driving the car. Sometime during the day you just don't have the time to go for hour long road tests or more. Evening many times is the best time road test car because there is less traffic on the roads. If the issue occurs at a specific speed/rpm/gear, it can be almost impossiable to mimic in daily stop and go traffic.
What kind of Exotic Car Shop owner is worried about security enough to take the car home with them? Something isn't right here!
Is not should not be a common occurence. Definately not condoned by the automanufacturer or the insurance company. Not to say it has never been done. A technician is (95% of time) paid flat rate, a road test pays at most half hour maybe 1 ( on waranty) . Modern cars of today you can plug in a flight recorder and ask the customer to press a button to record any electronic occurence. A tech should not take a customer's car home, too many implications, professional and legal.
I agree 100%, when I used to work for my brother we would take cars home ALL THE TIME. Usually cause 90% of his client's lived in Forrest Hill and it was convienent to meet them in the morning etc., Also if you have a client complaining about something that 50 15 minute test drives don't solve how else are you going to find it other then driving the car for longer periods of time? Keep in mind that EVERY single one of my brothers clients knew we(bro and I) had their cars and one in particular used to ask for it that way as he didnt' have enough room for all his cars and used to ask for one of us to keep one 'close by' so he could drive it on a whim. Maybe his indoor pool should have been turned into a garage instead? not like the outdoor pool wasn't enough! I think it all depends on the why the car was there in the first place and how much you trust your mechanic. At the end of the day it's what the customer wants and if it's for his cars not to be driven other then short drives then its what he gets. And about the security reason's, it does seem stupid as a explanation at the time but if every single car is worth more then all the others that need to go inside at the end of the day but its still too valuable to be left out overnight what other options are there?* *use a service that handles this type of thing for you so you don't have to deal with the picking up/dropping off etc., hehe
if the dealer does not drive the car home why would any other shop have to?I have serviced my car at Ferrari and elsewhere..just my 2 cents..
I was told the cars might be taken home but im not told when it happens - I have a gps tracker so I know when and where the cars are out and about 24/7. The car can be in for an oil change and get taken home. I`m fairly easy going and I was ok with this however recently the car needed detailed due to its last AWOL. After this happened the shop and I discussed the issues but there is still an assumption the taking home of the cars is ok. The main problem is the risk which recently left the car needing detailed - so clearly the risk is real. I like the shops work so just wanted to know some opinions.
I wont say as I have a good relationship with them - its not about publicizing their name - just wanted opinions as to how common it is for a car to be stored at a mechanics home...and given I had some problems while a car was out of the shop its clearly a process that can go wrong.
Find another shop. What if they are out joy riding in your car and end up killing someone, geuss who gets sued you as the vehicle owner. It simply isn't worth it when there is a number of good reputable shops that won't take the car home EVER. Unless it is a situation such as the one TBAKOWSKY explained where you are notified it and are aware of the time and purpose but to just have a open policy that we may take your car home is un-professional and extremly risky. Just look at the issue you had, the car needed to be detailed which leads me to believe they don't care about your property or you, imo.
Tom = tbakowsky We've run errands for 1-2 days in customer cars with intermittent and hard to duplicate, let alone diagnose, transient problems......sometimes you can't fix it until it happens.....and it's all done with customer approval of course.
Why would he get sued?! Someone leaves there car somewhere for service/detailing etc. and the mechanic hits someone and kills them. He absolutely would not get sued OR if there was a prosecuter dumb enough to try and sue it would be thrown out. This isn't the states where you can sue everyone down the line...and even down there they're starting to eliminate all the frivolous lawsuits. Also the car needing to be detailed has nothing to do with a shops commitant to providing good service, shops are dirty so cars get dirty. In this particular case it was a little more dirty then it should have been. This same shop's owner would fly around the world, come meet you at 3am cause your car won't start etc., if a good client asked him to. So would I and have done so, not around the world but the states(California twice) Also the person that drove the car home has FOUR 360 challenge cars as well as a 700 HP 993 turbo, doesn't drink etc., it wasn't a case of someone wanting to drive a nice car for the night. However I do agree that if the car's not in there for something that's not a intermittent problem that only show's up every 'once in a while' then I agree that it should not be driven home UNLESS there are legitimate security concerns or the car needs to be properly diagnosed. Sometimes my brother used to drive his customers cars for a couple of days after to make sure they properly fixed the issue. Keep in mind these are long term clients. (20 + years) It all depends on WHY it was driven home and the owners feelings about the possibility of it happening or NEEDING to happen. If the cars owner say's no then the shop should find another way to fix the issue. Also I think that if the car does have the possiblity of having to be driven home overnight etc., that it be told to the owner BEFOREHAND so he can make a proper judgement call about it. Cheers! James Simpson
Keep in mind this car is detailed every 2 weeks - polished every 6 weeks. In this case james when I got the car back the bentleys carpets looked like a 1996 honda civic your elderly relative uses to transport his muddy dogs. The paint was stained as oil had been spilled on it (I was able to have this polished out). The interior which I keep immaculate was covered in a thick layer of dust and the car had been used to transport something or someone to a breakers yard in Guelph which is how the car got in to the condition. I suppose part of the bigger problem is the car wasnt just taken home but used as a run around. Also although I have a gps tracker I very seldom check it but did so on this occasion because of maps printed out to the breakers yard with a list of car parts which I found in the back footwell of the car when inspecting the poor condition - the gps tracker confirmed the car had been to the same location on the printed map. The shop apologized which I appreciated and said it shouldnt have happened but said they were dropping a mechanic off at his home at guelph and stopped by the knackers yard on their way to the other home. Obviously your mind races to think "is this the first time? The odds say it is NOT the first time but the first time I found out. On this occasion the car was in for an oil change. Also I dont understand how there can be real security concerns as the shop has plenty nice cars in for the night also they have multiple customer cars in therefore cant take them all home to be "safe" I agree with someone above - the problem is I should be told each and every time the car is taken home rather than this one catch all statement that is meant to make it acceptable anytime no matter what the work being done ...washer fluid or engine out. But yes what I can say is I agree an accident will have nothing to do with me. I sort of see it as better the devil you know and now having been caught out and knowing I have gps trackers (which they knew already but had forgotten) they will not be likely to do this again.
I'm not sure who the shop is but in my opinion the shops (owner) that work on my cars always have full authority to drive my cars. The way I see it is that if I trust them enough to take the thing apart and repair it then why not drive it? One thing must be clear I definitely wouldn't approve of the kid who cleans the floor or the parts guy driving it home but like I said there has to be some trust or don't take your car there. The one thing about a car like your is that it will get spotted no matter where it is, even in an underground so if the purpose to taking a car like that home is to go joy riding then the guy's an idiot and he will get caught. When it comes to privately owned repair shops I'm pretty sure the owners aren't stupid enough to allow employees to take cars home. Ultimately the responsibility is on the owner of the shop and the last thing he wants is to hand over a quarter million dollar (or more) car to one of his guys and tell him to take it home for the night. We all remember what happened to that grey bull on the 401 a couple of years back. I'd bet my life it wasn't the shop owner that wrote that puppy off. Funny this topic comes up because a similar thing happened to me with my 930 when I had the motor and tranny done. The week after I got it back I took it to the Porsche meet Saturday morning and to my surprise I found out that my mechanic, who's shop is in Newmarket drove it to the Saturday meet the week before. A little shocked at first only because I wasn't told but accepted it without any problem. In fact I was glad he used the opportunity to take it on a long run instead of giving it back to me without fully putting it through the hoops. On many occasions I insisted he drive it just to gut the bugs out. One thing that used to go through my mind when I worked on cars was that if I wrecked it I'd have to buy it so I never did anything stupid and always felt I was fully responsible for my actions. I assume a shop owner would use the same common sense and Donnie if it's who I think it is sleep well at night and know it's in good hands.
Interesting, I was posting my previous reply while you were responding to what James said so I didn't get your full story. Using a car as a parts car would hit a nerve though. I would have to give the shop owner the benefit of the doubt in that he was probably not aware of what took place and that your car was given back to you in that condition. Make him aware and give him sh&t!
James description of the autos the shop owns is quite a give away lol...maybe an edit is in order James as this is a discussion on the ethics of the situation rather than outing? lol I do agree if I trust them to work on the car then why not drive it. Wise words. Thats why I still go there - they are good guys. It seems this is a semi common practice. However it clearly has its risk....and that trust can be stretched thin and perhaps the people doing it dont even realize cause they treat the cars like their own. I know if I had my cars sitting there I could NOT leave them there and drive home in ANYTHING else.
