Dealer Joyride in my 1LE

[BMR Sales]

Originally Posted by Dogmeat

OH....I Disagree....they offered a "Certificate" ONLY good at THEIR dealer, NOT even the same as CASH!!

the OP said they offered a $100 Visa Gift Card

[BMR Sales]

Originally Posted by SS Performance

Some years ago I had my 02 SS Camaro at a local dealership for warrantee work. I was diving my other car to the store about lunch time and saw my car parked at a local bar. I went inside and saw 2 mechanics sitting at the bar drinking some beers. So I went home got my spare keys went back to the bar and took my car. By about 5 PM I hadn't heard from the dealership so I called them. They told me they were still working on it and needed to keep it overnight! I let this ride and called them the next day. They said they were having trouble finding it, it might have been stolen off their lot but weren't sure. When I told them I had taken the car the previous day from a bar they went off on me saying they had to test drive the car. They never did try to explain their obvious lying to me about where the car was.


I NEVER trust dealerships!

in this Case, I would have blocked the car in at the Bar & called the Police

[DSEowner]

I use Hendrick Chevrolet in Cary NC where I can go out and watch my car every second. Albeit it's behind a small wall (insurance reasons) but I am literally 3 feet from my car. No one touches my car without me being eyes on.

[Batmanntexas]

For all you NC folks, I'm just outside of the Sanford area....and my garage is always open.

[SSMY1LE]

I had the exact same thing happen when I took mine in for its first "free" oil change. Happened to see the tech all giddy skipping out of the service area to bring my car in. I thought it was strange so went out to watch. He jumps in and then takes off out of the dealership property onto the main road. All I can hear is the roar from the NPP exhaust as he goes through the gears. I can hear the entire loop he does on the roads around me. Comes flying onto the property and right into the garage. I was there to meet him as he opened the door to get out. I was furious and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck ready to drop him. I thought better of it and let him go as the service manager came in to see what the commotion was.
I explained what I had just witnessed and the tech tried to say that it was normal to test drive the cars before servicing. Luckily the manager didn't back him up on that and told him he needed to apologize to me and then gather his things and leave as he was now fired !! The manger quickly got another tech to do the oil change as he escorted the dipsh#t out. He then gave me a couple more free oil changes and said if there is anything wrong with the car then they would look after it.

Nice that they looked after the customer but this really should never happen.
I know its just a Camaro but ..... its my Camaro !!

[sixty9fordkiller]

is it possible via hp tuners to set the rev limiter to 2500rpms when taking it in for service?

[acammer]

Originally Posted by sixty9fordkiller

is it possible via hp tuners to set the rev limiter to 2500rpms when taking it in for service?

Sure is. I pretty much never leave my car with anyone that doesn't have my trust, but if I had to, you can bet I'd be flashing on a very sedate valet-mode tune.

[sixty9fordkiller]

im getting ready to buy the hptuners suite and thats one of the things on my list of things to do once i got it

[Moto-Mojo]

I took my car in once because the climate temperature gauge was wacky. Went for a walk around the automall and saw my car going by at warp speed. Guess he was trying to generate enough friction with the air to test the gauge.

[SS Performance]

Originally Posted by sixty9fordkiller

im getting ready to buy the hptuners suite and thats one of the things on my list of things to do once i got it

The problem with this is first they will diagnose the rev limit as a problem, second it's standard procedure at dealerships to up load the latest update to the computers. This could cause a conflict with a custom tune.

[hammdo]

This is one of the reasons I drive to GPI (Gwatney Chevrolet) for any type of work that I don’t do myself. It’s a haul but, I trust them. ADM is the other shop I trust.

-Don

[silversleeper]

Originally Posted by hammdo

This is one of the reasons I drive to GPI (Gwatney Chevrolet) for any type of work that I don’t do myself. It’s a haul but, I trust them. ADM is the other shop I trust.

-Don

It's worth if for a shop that doesn't beat on your car and does good work. Can't say how many times I've gotten my car back with parts not even put back together or stripped threads or incorrectly re-installed.

Originally Posted by 152LTRockin

Well most people don't realize when you sign for the car to be worked on at the dealer you are agreeing to allow them to DRIVE ON YOUR INSURANCE! Yes you are liable if anything goes wrong out on the road. I ALWAYS state clearly on the on the dotted line no one can drive my car. If it needs a test drive I ABSOLUTELY MUST GO ALONG. If they disagree I find another dealer.

I ran a Chevy service dept for years,you can't imagine the idiots we had to hire and the BS that went on. It was disgusting. We had quite a few problems especially with performance cars. We had a idiot mechanic drive a customers new Corvette, loose it and drive through a yard knock down mail boxes and a fence. Car was near totaled. The dealership was off the hook though because the customer signed the service agreement!

I found out the same thing as the OP the hard way too. I stated the same as he did, do NOT drive the vehicle except into and out of the bay.
They did an extended joy ride and the lot attendant even commented the Camaro was much faster than he expected
The service manager simply said I signed the release and couldn't give a.f. that I said no joyrides. In effect they said abusive joyrides were a perk they allow the mechanics on customer cars, but not their own new cars for sale.
I did not bring my car back to them and told friends not to take their cars there and didn't buy the new Camaro I intended to buy from them.
I tend away from new performance cars with warranties now in large part due to this common problem. If I must take it there I'll try to create some valet tune with HPtuners.
The OPs complaint likely doesn't require a test drive by their own service manual flow chart. The manual is huge and taking the time to find it and post it won't help anyway because they don't give a.f. and it isn't in court where the proof would make a difference with a judge.