how to stop joy rides?

[DBR]

if you take your car in for servicing, how do you stop the staff from taking it for a joy ride?

there've been a couple of posts lately with pics of cars that had been dropped off for some minor body work or an oil change, and the staff crashed the cars out while out on a joy ride. the last time my car was in for servicing, i got it back with 50 unexplained kilometers.

any ideas how to stop it? all i can think of is, buy a locking gas cap and take the car into the shop when the "empty gas" lite is on. at least it'll keep any joy ride to a minimum, cause they'll be afraid of running out of gas.

any other ideas? thx

 

[boostisgood]

Tell them straight up. "I got my milage marked, and I do not expect to see anymore then 10 miles on my car when I pick it up." Of course this depends on what the car is being serviced for, they may need to drive the car for more then that to diagnose, or assure that the problem is gone.

 

[blynzoo]

Exactly. Just be a dick and say, "here's my mileage," show them something with your mileage written down, and then put it in your pocket.

 

[Dimitrios]

Easy. Take your car in and WAIT there. Watch them; look over their shoulders; be a pain in their neck. Make them KNOW that you are watching them. Know what lift your car is on. Don't sit in the waiting room or shoot the bull with sales people.Talk to the technician and service manager; know their names (in case they are cool - future "goodwill" goes a long way) and way they deal with customers. Get on a first name basis; make them KNOW that you care more than your average owner and won't shy away from taking any necessary action to make things right.

In a way, it'll keep the 16-year old pimply oild change kid from testing your car around corners at 50 MPH. The service manager will be sure that you're treated right (or at least should...)

Whenever I go to any shop, I walk into the repair area and ALWAYS suggest to out with them when test driving your car for diagnosis or other. It is your right; if they claim "liability risks" of you being in the shop, agree to waive them if they hold against you being out there(I do - I make sure I wear steeltoe boots and bring a pair of safety glasses with me - shuts them up quick usually).

I look at it as a restaurant with an "open" kitchen. You should be able to see what they are doing all the time - if it applies to a $8 meal, it should apply to an $18k vehicle......

If they don't agree to said terms, walk...no, run, away. Find a shop that will treat you (and your car) with respect.

 

[CivicEater]

i'd have to say, stay and watch for your car..

as far as oil changes..

you should be doing those yourself anyway..

1 wrench.. a rag to keep from burning your hand, and 15 minutes of your time..

it's not rocket science lol..

and don't say you have no place to dump the oil.. a lot of auto parts stores accept oil for free or next to nothing..

 

[Dimitrios]

/\ Definitely; be more proactive and do simple maintenance items yourself; in time, you'll be doing more complex, time-consuming items yourself as well.

You'll save money and learn more about your car and yourself (which you can't put a price on) and of course worry (from the "threat" of joy riding).

 

[shawnmp5]

For minor stuff they shounld not even be driving it. As for other stuff you some times have to drive for a few miles. There earlier comment were correct and thats just tell them you have the mileage written down.

Fun you brought this up my buddys Trans AM had a flat, and when they fixed it he took it out driving, after a 30 miuntes he called, he hit a curb, shot another tire and bent the rim. They solved the problem with another set of rims but the car was 4 miles away, why was it across town?

 

[sundevilMP5]

yeah unfortunately if you take in your car for major work most places have you sign a waiver allowing them to drive it around to "properly diagnose" the problem or make sure installation was good...

on my bro-in-law's 93 rx7 he can set the rev limiter to anything so people can't stomp on it...heh...he did it to me once when he went out of town...bastard...rx7s just aren't fun when you can't go above 2k rpm

 

[redrims]

if you take your car in for servicing, how do you stop the staff from taking it for a joy ride?

there've been a couple of posts lately with pics of cars that had been dropped off for some minor body work or an oil change, and the staff crashed the cars out while out on a joy ride. the last time my car was in for servicing, i got it back with 50 unexplained kilometers.

any ideas how to stop it? all i can think of is, buy a locking gas cap and take the car into the shop when the "empty gas" lite is on. at least it'll keep any joy ride to a minimum, cause they'll be afraid of running out of gas.

any other ideas? thx

where can I get the locking gas cap from?

 

[Blown]

I took my other car for warranty body work(paint on bumper was peeling off) and a body shop came and picked it up. I got my car back with 1/2tank of gas missing and over 130km on it. Nice, eh? The shop was 10km away round trip and burning 1/2 tank of gas in a civic means that someone pushed it really-really hard! Oh well, I traded that civic in for my P5.

My advice, be aware of your mileage. When dealers enter it into their computers when you check it in for service, make sure they enter the correct mileage and not some rounded-up boy I'm too lazy to enter the correct number - mileage. If worse comes to worse, take a picture of the mileage before hand and make them aware of it.

 

[DBR]

Re: Re: how to stop joy rides?

where can I get the locking gas cap from?

generic locking gas caps should be available at an auto parts store.

sundevil...do you know how the rx7 rev limiter works? is it part of a piggy back computer?

 

[Dimitrios]

waiver or no waiver, you drive WITH them. For every loophole they manage, you can find 10 for them to jump through to keep you from watching their asses...

 

[ahb11m]

yeah i had this problem, so i decided to solve it by giving the car just on the empty light... now this is my fav bit, i told them when i dropped it in and that they shouldn't need to drive it any further than 30km max (was having probs on hills) therefore DO NOT put in petrol

haha, that worked, they gave me the final bill and when i questioned the mystery charge at the bottom ($30 of fuel!) they simply said the empty light was on so we filled it!!!

******* idiots, anyway, needless to say not only did they do a crappy job, (which i later got the balls to do myself) they also didn't get their fuel dollars back (after all they did drive over 150km!!!)

 

[Sir Nuke]

Dimitrios hit the nail on the head with his first post....THAT is the way to ensure you car is taken care of the way it should be....

as for doing your own maintenance...I agree 100%....oil changes for life was part of the deal when I got my car....it was a program that was going on at the time.....I still do my own. I buy my filters from the dealer 6 at a time. And for starters its nearly an hour drive each way to the nearest dealer.....my driveway is 10 seconds away......it also lets me teach my 13 year old son the proper way to take care of your own car......

as for disposing of the old oil....in Texas its the LAW...if you do oil changes, like any walmart, kmart, quick change place....they are required to recieve old oil from people that walk up with it.....the old oil filters too. the walmart near me is really cool about it too....for the simple fact that they are SELLING all their used oil to some outfit that is recycling it anyway....you are just putting money in their pockets.....and cleaning up your own mess.

 

[smithers_0990]

What are you supposed to do when you find out that they drove it after you told them that you know the ammount of miles. They will surely just say, "We had to do some troubleshooting."

I have to take my car in for its 30K service but I dont want them to touch my wheels, brakes (rotors, or pads, fluid), air filter (CAI), or Oil. I will not give them the special device that you need for my wheels.

I would do the service myself but they have to lube stuff up, and I dont know what they have to do.

 

[theGeneral]

if you take your car in for servicing, how do you stop the staff from taking it for a joy ride?

there've been a couple of posts lately with pics of cars that had been dropped off for some minor body work or an oil change, and the staff crashed the cars out while out on a joy ride. the last time my car was in for servicing, i got it back with 50 unexplained kilometers.

any ideas how to stop it? all i can think of is, buy a locking gas cap and take the car into the shop when the "empty gas" lite is on. at least it'll keep any joy ride to a minimum, cause they'll be afraid of running out of gas.

any other ideas? thx

I would LOVE if the shop crashed my car! I would sick my lawyer on them so fast!

Can you say new car?

 

[chrisjw85]

My mazda service rep guy always goes out and checks the mileage when I bring in my car then he writes it down on a piece of paper that says how many miles and also says it as he's giving me the paper. Then he'll tell me if the car needs to be driven or not. Seems their very respectfull here. Unless their rolling back the odometer every time.

 

[TXMazdaSpeeder]

My mazda service rep guy always goes out and checks the mileage when I bring in my car then he writes it down on a piece of paper that says how many miles and also says it as he's giving me the paper. Then he'll tell me if the car needs to be driven or not. Seems their very respectfull here. Unless their rolling back the odometer every time.

hard to roll back a digital odometer when the mileage is saved in the ecu....



i took my z28 in for new tires and ended up going home with an assault charge being filed against me..... story to come......


i take it in for new tires and they say ok, it'll be done in an hour, so my dad and i went to lunch down the street, as were leaving i see a whit ez28 driving down the road, and i go "hey that looks like min..... IT IS!!!!" so me and my dad jump in his corvette and follow, the guy drove it 45 ******* miles before he realized we were behind him then he made a u turn and hauled ass back to the tire shop, he was sliding my car sideways around every turn and doing burnouts from every light, i got back and the new tires were already at 75% tread, i was pissed and told the manager hes putting another set of tires on it and im gonna breath down his neck while he does it, he refused and said its not his problem, i ended up letting my adrenaline get ahold of me and grabbed his shirt collar and started screaming at him, needless to say i got another set of tires and $45 in gas money for my troubles. i cant stand why people cant respect others cars.

 

[ahb11m]

hard to roll back a digital odometer when the mileage is saved in the ecu....

especially when you are mazda and have the tools to do it....

 

[DBR]

funny this post got resurrected from the dead. continues to be a concern of mine, every time the car goes in for servicing or body work. i bought a locking gas cap. i also stick a piece of masking tape by the odometer with the mileage written on it in big letters, so everyone knows i'm checking it when i pick up the car.

the car also has a standalone computer, so the fuel cutoff can be custom programmed (eg 3000 rpm), but haven't bothered so far.