With nearly 500 horsepower on tap, the temptation to push the limit in the C8 Corvette Stingray is strong. Unfortunately, one GM dealer tech gave in to that temptation by street racing in a customer’s C8 Corvette Stingray.
Per a recent post to social media, user tastysauce explains that they brought their brand-new C8 Corvette Stingray to a dealer for an engine issue. The new Chevy Corvette owner captured the issue in a brief video, as seen below:
According to the social media posts, the issue turned out to be a loose spark plug. No big deal, and an easy fix. However, the GM dealer technician that performed the repair ended up taking the customer’s C8 Corvette Stingray for an “extended test drive,” even going so far as to engage in a street race with a Dodge Charger on the highway. Unbeknownst to the tech, the whole thing was captured on the Performance Data Recorder.
The PDR footage was later posted to social media, giving the world a front-seat view to the tech’s poor decision making. Clocking in at about 19-and-a-half minutes, the video documents the C8 Corvette Stingray speeding and accelerating hard, weaving through traffic and hitting triple-digit speeds on several occasions. Around the 10:50 mark, the C8 Corvette Stingray comes up on a Dodge Charger on a crowded freeway, and before long, the two idiots start slicing through traffic, at one point hitting 148 mph (according to the owner, the PDR data readout was in fact 147.6 mph).
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about a GM tech pulling some shady stunts in a customer’s C8 Corvette Stingray only to be outed by the Performance Data Recorder. In a previous video posted to YouTube by user Jaysmizle, the GM tech in question accelerated up to 104 mph.
Check out the PDR video below:
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Comments
They’re mechanics not brain surgeons. Jackass.
Woah, woah, chill man, lets not get into all these curseing and stuff…
Guess it’s OK cause it’s not your car.
More guts than brains.
“It works!”
These mechanics will never get to experience what it’s like to drive a corvette. Even if they saved up for college and obtained a degree in Finance they would still have to go through the struggles of getting a job rn, and then at that still make just as much if not $10k more than what they were doing at the shop. Can you blame the temptation? GM should give mechanics a track day to thank them for their service. This would lessen the chances of them doing this
Umm…mechanics in NY/NJ make $75k – $100k a year. They can afford a C8. They do this because they have zero respect for customers or their vehicles.
The median Corvette buyer’s income is $214k, so they’re off by half.
Cool part about averages is they are averages with numbers above and below them.
I’ve never made anywhere close to the median income you quoted above, $214k, not even on a household level. I guess 3 years ago in July 2018 I shouldn’t have bought that 2018 Z06/Z07 that I still own, my 3rd Vette. SMH
Just because you can buy it, doesn’t mean you can afford it.
I know a kid who bought a 50k vet while still living with his parents. He makes 45k a year, yet he brags about how he can afford a vette.
If you really are making 50-70kish a year and buying a 80k vette, then you are an idiot with money.
Why are you so triggered? Tired of driving your boring Prius your wife made you buy? Did I ask you to pay for my cars or anything else I have? BTW, the car is a mass produced Chevy not a 6 or 7-figure Ferrari, Lambo, McLaren, Pagani, Bugatti, Koenigsegg etc… You act like a Vette is some kind of unobtainable object. Lol
I bought my first Vette when I was 30 & my 2nd one when I was 31 & still single. I didn’t buy the current one until I was 49. Many Vette enthusiasts bought their first one at a far younger age than me.
Who said my wife & I only make $50-$70K/year? All I said is I don’t earn close to the median income posted earlier (who knows if that figure is even accurate). In fact, my salary is ZERO DOLLARS/year. We’re DINKS (dual-income no kids) & I’m self employed. I’ve never paid myself a salary so I don’t pay any FICA deductions & as a consequence (and since I’m also the employer) I also don’t pay the employer portion of the FICA deductions either. My business gross is basically my net. Lol.
I also have write-offs that I use to offset a good chunk of what my business earns (the business is unrelated to the write-offs) so my tax liability is next to nothing every year too. It’s nice to have a wife who is an accountant who does our taxes. Don’t assume you know anything about me.
John….Sounds like you’re just jealous.
Ummm, after you pay some of the highest federal, state, city income taxes, property taxes and sales taxes, $75k – $100k is not much. Oh you want kids, a family, college, and a house? In one of the hottest markets? And save for retirement?
Umm….
And that’s why the lawsuits must fly.
Only way to teach these corrupt dealer techs.
There job is to fix the car, not act like a 12 year old playing GTA 5. We aren’t talking about a quick wot run from a stop light to 60.
Anything short of him losing his job is completely unacceptable.
Besides, corvettes are definitely obtainable for an experienced dealership mechanic that’s good at his job and has financial discipline. But if they weren’t, it’s not a valid excuse.
I would also think the Stealership should have to provide some compensation for the wear and tear placed upon the car. Lets also not forget that the dealer employees are privy to the deeper employee discounts. I doubt the mechanic would actually want one of those cars, but he could certainly afford it.
The C8 Corvette does not qualify for Employee discounts of any kind.
A good dealership mechanic could easily afford a 2 year old vette. My brother in law made nearly 200k in the 80s as a Corvette tech in a suburban dealership, but he was pretty awesome. He always crushed the shop rate.
I’d be more pissed about him blowing out my speakers with that crap music.
The Cadillac ct5 v blackwing reached 152mph in the Virginia raceway in the straight.
Dumb comment Mo. These fools were on the street not a raceway. Caddy 0-60 is only 3.7. Embarrassingly slow these days.
3.7 is embarrassingly slow these days? No, no it’s not. It’s near the limit of a front engine rwd car. Traction limited I’m sure.
I imagine your Toyota Corolla is faster than the CT5 V Blackwing.
I have a Porsche Turbo S that does 0-60 in 2.7
Yes I know the Plaid is faster. But it ain’t a Porsche.
And your Porsche ain’t a tire-shredding Caddy with a stick shift and roaring V8, showboat!
To correct you the automatic goes 3.4 seconds 0-60 and 152 mph on the racetrack is still faster then 149mph the m8 grandcoupe achieved idiot, get your head straight before you talk nonsense.
Did he get a trophy?
Fifteen years ago I worked swing shift, at the end of a secluded cul-de-sac, about an 1/8 mile from a Chevy dealer. Every night when they removed the corvettes off of the front lot to safely secure them in the back. ironically so they would not get damaged the dealership salesman would bring them down to the cul-de-sac and drag race them back to the dealer. Those guys beat the crap out of those cars. This went on every single night for weeks. I wouldn’t be surprised if several new corvette owners drove out of that dealership with blue clutch plates, blue flywheels and bald rear tires.
What a Dbag, OTOH he’s simulating what 50yr old D’ette drivers do..😉🙃😉
they generally do not actually, but if they did, it would be their car to do so in. not some guy who should not be driving it anyway. On top of being fired this video should be supplied tot he police to have the guy ticketed and arrested for public nuisance, endangering the public, damaging property and perhaps grand theft auto as he was not authorized to drive this car for this period of time doing the crap he did.
Were I the owner of this car, I would engage a lawyer and sue for a free replacement car. Or, lacking that, free repair and maintenance for 10 years/ 250,000 miles.
I’m sure a lawyer would be happy to spend more than the price of car making ridiculous requests.
It would be hard for me to leave my vette anywhere to be worked on. Of course it’s a 1990 ZR-1, so I’m sure the dealership wouldn’t have a clue how to work on an LT5. I do all my work myself. Feel bad for the owner of the C8, probably didn’t hurt the car but that’s not the point. Know your mechanic, options are limited though. Test drives are an important part of some repairs but this ain’t no test drive.
Good luck. You won’t get quite this compensation but this is probably enough for the mechanic to lose his job, spend some time in jail and pay some fines. The owner of the car is entitled to an extended warranty and some free maintenance for sure.
Would you really want to take your car back to that dealership for maintenance?
Ha, this owner is now legend at that dealership. They won’t forget about him and his datalogger anytime soon.
Update, that is EXACTLY what the dealership offered him, a $0 trade on his abused 2021 corvette for a brand new 2022 corvette…
Fremont California 😂
And still can’t run down the mopar.
On every straight he catches up very quickly!
It’s a “supercar” it was meant to be driven…not parked in a garage and rubbed on. You were born with something to rub on
I was going to say have a SI model on the hood, probably not today unless you want a new hood and fenders.
Oh, so that’s who that idiot was trying to catch up with my Charger! Never did pass me though 😂
Just kidding, I don’t even live in Jersey!
This didn’t happen in Jersey. It occurred in Fremont, CA.
If the problem was fixed so what it’s under warranty and the dealer has insurance. The car was built for speed . . Put your big boy pants on stop crying
1. Respect other people’s property. It’s wasn’t his car to take out & play boy racer.
2. They’re not on a track or some empty stretch of road. They’re weaving in & out of traffic at dangerous speeds. He could have easily crashed, destroyed the C8, injured himself, injured others etc…What kind of liability do you think the dealership he works for would have faced if he had hit another car & injured or killed someone?
3. It sounds like you have the maturity level of a 10 year old & no respect for other people’s property.
4. I bet if this had been your car & some tech did the same thing you would be all pissed off about it.
I truly hope the dealership fired this ass hat! If they didn’t GM should step in and sanction the dealership.
Steve, The mechanic needs the bigger pants. He was wearing those of a seventh grade brat. If it’s not your car (or anything else) you don’t have the right to mess with it. Simple huh?
This is one of my worst nightmares happening when you take your car in for service at the dealership. The mechanic should be fired and the owner should get free service for 5 years 60,000 miles at the dealership of their choice as I would not go back there. The Mechanic was driving so recklessly that he could’ve easily caused a wreck and killed someone and caused the dealership to be sued. Just immature asinine behavior by the mechanic. Glad the owner had the recorder on.
hope the dealer fired his ass. Wish I would have been there with my patrol car, we would see how that would have been handled for both, More violations than speeding. Bye Bye license.
I would show up to the dealership with the police just so I could see them arrest this a-hole.
– Reckless driving – 23103VC
– Street Racing – 23109VC
– Speeding above 100mph – 22348b
As someone who has had their vehicle abused in this manner I would do everything I could to punish this person.
He should be fired and referenced so he can’t get a job on the East Coast.
Some of y’all are just being plain ignorant. I hope you realize you don’t need to make 214k a year to afford a 750k vehicle. I’m also a mechanic. But I don’t work on cars I work on very heavy industrial equipment. And let’s just say I make more than most people with a 10 year degree and I only have a 2 year degree. Lastly. The c8 Corvette is a midlife crisis by gm. Takes a well known muscle car and turns it into a mid engine car more comparable to a super car. For around the same price you can get a rs6, Gtr, or a LFA and they actually are capable of being tuned. Not all mechanics are bad, but most auto mechanics when given a fast car what do you thinks gonna happen. Don’t go to a dealer unless you have to. I prefer having a local auto mech that isn’t part of a chain.
A LFA is around $400k
And, what would happen if that joker wadded that car? A GM tech wadded a customers car at another dealer. The management told the customer “We’re not responsible.”.
As someone who works for a reputable dealership, I hope that most of you understand that this is a case of a bad apple. We know that customers and owners of these cars specifically are nervous about these things happening, so we treat every performance car with kid gloves. Anyone who so much as revs an engine at my store is liable to be reprimanded and written up.
not all dealerships have this issue, it is far from common. We have a team here, two lube techs, two main shop techs and one dedicated advisor. the keys only leave the lot with the tech and the advisor in the vehicle, neither will risk the damage to the car our our reputation for a joy ride. we have stepped in when a C7 was driven down and dirt road and used to jump start motorcycle by another local dealer. GM stepped in when the youtube hits bounced off the stratosphere over night.
I’ve worked at Mazda, Ford, Caddy, Pontiac, Chevy and GMC dealers, there have been ass hats and pros at every shop. just like at the burger joint or office yall work at, I’m sure there are coworkers you wouldn’t trust if you were a client.
he will be fired, then subsequently rehired by another shop down the street(such was the case in the ordeal we stepped in to fix). because techs are hard to find and cant be built over night, thanks to the “you don’t want to work with your hands, you want crippling college debt” parents of the 90s and 00s
the owner will get a maintenance plan, and some tires and possibly some coin if the lawyer pushes hard…but that’s about it. build a reputation and defend it and this will never be a worry. as a client build a relationship with your advisor and service manager and this will never cost you a nights sleep. as a tech dont be an ass hat
I defended the tech that went 100mph in a previous incident. That was on an empty road and since he was testing for an intermittent problem, I gave him a pass. Seriously GM should consider replacing this one, or at least coming to an agreement with the customer for damages. That’s a beating.
I wonder if that was another technician “testing” in the car he was racing.
These guys can’t resist the temptation. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t even take my car to the dealership for routine maintenance anymore; I have an Indy mechanic to do stuff like oil changes. The guys at the dealership are worse than groupies. I swear it’s like Chevy techs invented the word excuse or something because every time I am at the dealer there’s a new one for keeping my car overnight
Sue the dealership and the mechanic.
I can’t afford a C8. I am however qualified to work as a technician at my local Chevy dealer. Hmmmmm….
I haven’t seen anybody mention sandblast and stone chips to the paint up front. There’s a lot of dust, dirt and grit on the highway that gets kicked up by all the traffic. Threading the needle at high speeds running in, through and around traffic magnifies the impact of blasting damage to the car’s paint.