Dealership Employees Joyride In Customer’s C7 Corvette Z06: Video
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The owner of a 2016 Chevy Corvette Z06 says that two dealer mechanics took his car on two different joyrides after he brought the vehicle in for service. The joyrides were captured on the vehicle’s dashcam, and the footage was later posted to social media. The dealer says that corrective action has been taken, but did not provide details.
According to a report from Greensboro, North Carolina CBS affiliate WFMY News 2, John Parrish brought his Corvette Z06 to Modern Chevrolet of Burlington, but was startled to discover dashcam footage that apparently shows technicians taking the sports car for a high-speed run through the local streets.
“I mean, this car is not cheap by any means,” Parrish told WFMY News 2. “I’ve worked hard to pay for it and to see somebody treating it like that when they were supposed to just fix a problem and give it back just made me feel disrespected.”
Parrish posted a video to social media calling out Modern Chevrolet and explaining the experience that he had with the service department. According to Parrish, the dealer had his car for four full weeks, only to fix a bad injector. After looking through the dashcam footage, the owner discovered that one dealer mechanic took the car for a test drive, only to pick up an unidentified woman. The mechanic then lays into the throttle and starts speeding through the local streets.
The video goes on show another mechanic take the car for a test drive, once again supposedly speeding through local roads.
WFMY News 2 emailed Modern Chevrolet about the video. The dealer responded that it was “aware of the video,” and that it had “investigated all the facts, been in personal contact with the customer, and taken prompt and appropriate corrective action,” adding that it would make no further comment on the matter.
According to Parrish, the corrective action was to replace a component on the Corvette Z06 that was damaged during service. The component was reportedly not damaged during the joyride.
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The same exact thing happened to my cousin back in 2002. He had bought a brand new ’02 WS6 and took it in for routine service at the dealership. When he picked it up, he noticed several more miles on it and burnt rubber underneath the wheel wells. He confronted the GM of the dealership with the evidence. Luckily it was a standup dealer. They gave him a ton of free services, including other free dealership items AND they fired the jack@ss that beat on his car!
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
This happened to my ATS-V last month.
The dealership didn’t believe me until I presented the data from the OnStar app.
We all know that these cars are built to go fast, but show some damn respect for other people’s belongings.
Firing is not enough punishment. The offending employees should have their wages withheld to cover the “unauthorized rental”. Customer sets the rates after the fact.
I’ve seen many articles like this over the years. It’s nothing new. We did it when I had my hot rod shop. The owners didn’t care because we were “test driving” to check it out. But when it’s done without the owner knowing then that’s azz kicking time.
Service Manager and the two stooges needed to be fired on the spot. Happen to me years ago when I went to get my car from a radio installer only to see my car doing burn-out and donuts. So I had the guy arrested for auto theft and sued the radio installed for damages. The court was not very kind to either individual. No long after that and some TV coverage. The company went out of business. Happy ending.
I know a way to fix these kinds of problems. Standard should be dealer is on the hook to supply the customer a replacement new Cx Z06 spec’ed out the way the customer wants. After that happens a couple of times, I think it would end forever at all dealerships. Consequences.
Punish the owner of the dealership because a low-level “oil change boy” decided to take a customer’s car for a joyride and beat the tar out of it? That would solve nothing. Sure, the oil change boy would get fired, but the owner would be on the hook for a new ~$90k car and not the disrespectful kid. Some kid making $12 per hour doesn’t have that kind of money.
Yes, because the owner hired the oil change kid. And at my dealership, no one makes 12 bucks an hour, not even the porters.
You want somebody else to pay because a low level employee with no pride or respect for other peoples’ property chose to damage someone’s vehicle? Using your logic, why stop at beating on a vehicle? Maybe hold the owner responsible if an employee assaults a customer?
Best of luck to you, man.
So buy back a car because it was beat on for a short time as it was designed to be beat on? Yeah, way excessive. I wouldn’t be happy, but some free stuff/money and services (you know the next services will be well watched and not happen again) would be sufficient. If it was wrecked, that is ground for replacement, not a joy ride. Can already tell the type of person you are.
This would never happen if it were an ev:) so there good for something lol
Why wouldn’t it happen with an EV? My understanding is an EV has full torque at 0 speed so it could easily do burnouts.
I mean technically its possible, but who would want too? What good is squealing tires if there’s not a good sounding ice tearing them up? Ever watched and ev dragster at the strip? That is the saddest most pathetic thing ever. If you were to close your eyes you would never know when it took off:(
The same thing happened with my Geo Metro. The mechanic was drag racing it against motorized wheel chairs. What really made me mad was that he kept losing.
Typical dealership. Wouldn’t you think the employees would be schooled on this prior to pissing off a customer. Poor response by the dealer as usual. “Appropriate action”. What’s that.
Dumb ass General mgr. Look at the bad public relations this created.
I do not know if it would stick but I would charge GRAND THEFT CHARGES! That little prick should be fired and jailed.
DON – Depends on what the drivers/employees look like if you catch my drift.
mine are camera wired too. when i have it in for service that requires road testing i always pull the footage. so far normal actual test drives. one mechanic was actually talking to himself at times and cracked me up what he said… he was having a bad day/week/month/year/life but did a good job pulling the steering rack regardless.
Do you have to tell them they’re being recorded?
Sometimes, when the customer complains of performance problems you have to take the car out and put it through its paces to duplicate the problem and after repairs to make sure it’s fixed.
None of which requires to stop and pick a random woman up.
Don’t they know they are being recorded? I worked at a auto top-end shop and it does happen. Seen it myself.
I would suggest the dealerships have policies that no low paid employee drives a high end car off the lot, supervisors should always keep an eye out for miss handling. Mechanics do need to test drive for obvious reasons, once again have a policy on high end cars and performance cars the service manager rides along. They should have limits to what they do with the car after all there are traffic laws.
To compound the aggravation, the dealership’s solution to the joyriding was to replace at no-charge, the part they broke while “servicing” the Z06.
Google “Modern Chevrolet, Burlington NC” and take a look at the google reviews. There are quite a few people posting about this story and the response to each one is that “Our team has acknowledged this review”. Arrogant Indifference is the vibe you get from these smug a-wipes responding to each “under 5 star review”.
The solution to Chevy owners around Burlington, NC? Avoid these people at all costs.