Camaro owner records mechanics abusing car

[Bates]

Voice recording of the incident here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE4Dh_82kMM&feature=plcp

"When you own a sports car, you inevitably get a little paranoid about how it's treated when in the care of strangers. One South Carolina man was worried enough that when he took his 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS in for service at a Chevy dealer, he hid a voice recorder in the car. He was right to be worried: The recorder caught mechanics doing burnouts and discussing how to make the owner pay for a ruined clutch the car didn't have before coming in. Now the Internet Justice League has taken the wheel.William Clark says he took his Camaro to Best Chevrolet-Kia in Easley, S.C. for a clunking noise in the car's six-speed manual transmission. After a previous visit to a different dealer, his Camaro had died shortly after Clark retrieved it; while he suspected the staff at that dealership of joyriding, he had no proof at the time.

This time, the voice recorder hidden in the door pocket catches employees doing several burnouts and hard launches in the Camaro; Smith later says the techs drove it harder in 20 minutes than he had in three years. Once back in the shop, the mechanics realize the Camaro's clutch has been fried, and come up with a plan to blame the damage on Smith, saying to "write it up as him buying a (expletive) clutch," while saying another part failed under warranty so that General Motors would pay for its replacement.

Smith says he's taken his evidence to the dealer and Chevrolet customer service; the dealer offered to reassess the damage or take the Camaro as a trade-in on another car, but refused Smith's demand to buy the car back. Smith says Chevrolet customer service washed it hands of the problem, saying it was an issue between him and the dealer. As of the last update, the car's smoked clutch remains untouched.

Unfortunately for Smith, there's few other steps he can take that don't end in court. Dealers are regulated by states; Clark can file a complaint with South Carolina officials, but even with an audio recording the assessment of damage isn't so clear-cut as if the mechanics had wrecked it on a test drive. Instead, other Camaro owners have taken up the cause, posting Smith's video to the dealership's Facebook page and otherwise making noise about the problem.

You can hear the entire exchange, including the profanity, here. A lawyer for Best Chevrolet, in a request to Yahoo Autos to take down this story, told us in an email that the audio was "misleadingly edited." Clark has said the dealership has threatened to sue him over the audio, but has also spoken with him about buying the Camaro back. The dealership may soon learn that in the Internet era, one burnt clutch can create quite the stink.

UPDATE: General Motors says in a statement that if the recording is valid it does not condone the behavior described, and that it is "actively working closely with the dealer to resolve this situation to the customer's satisfaction."

http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoram...152707580.html

[Errly Dabbin]

I just saw this on my other forum... We were just talking about this in my automotive class the other day, and damn it happened... I would be piisssed.

[AutobahnRacer]

Can't trust anyone nowadays.

[TNTramair]

what a bunch of scumbag techs.

[mcperson2k]

When I was going to school in TN, I saw this A LOT. I couldn't tell you how many times we would walk past dealer garages, and see all kinds of cars, from minivans to a yaris, sliding around and doing burnouts on the smooth surface of the garage.

[Foolinaround]

I don't understand why its so hard to not drive in other customers cars like an asshole? As an advisor myself this makes me agitated; you wanna be able to trust your techs,then they do this ****.

[99corvette]

Posted this video the other day on another site I go on a lot. This has gone viral. From what I have heard is the owner made the video private due to the dealership agreeing to buy his car back, but now they changed their mind again. The original video is back up on youtube again.

[inteva6184]

If this sound clip is real those guys are about the dumbest sob's around. I find it hard to believe they killed a clutch in just 20 minutes of abuse unless it was already just about done.

[Bates]

Originally Posted by inteva6184

If this sound clip is real those guys are about the dumbest sob's around. I find it hard to believe they killed a clutch in just 20 minutes of abuse unless it was already just about done.

It's not that hard to kill a clutch if you know what you are doing lol.

[c7scayman]

I took my car to the body shop to fix a dent in rear bumper. I was rear ended at a red light.

When I picked up my car a few days later, the body shop specialist said "This is a fast car. The exhaust sounds great. I drove it around when I was running errands."

He basically confessed to me that he took a joy ride in my car. I didn't know how to react in that situation. I let it go since he charged me 1/3 the cost of other body shops.

[Bates]

Originally Posted by c7scayman

I took my car to the body shop to fix a dent in rear bumper. I was rear ended at a red light.

When I picked up my car a few days later, the body shop specialist said "This is a fast car. The exhaust sounds great. I drove it around when I was running errands."

He basically confessed to me that he took a joy ride in my car. I didn't know how to react in that situation. I let it go since he charged me 1/3 the cost of other body shops.

As far as I know that is standard practice for a mechanic. Driving it around town (not beating on it) is a great way to make sure the car is running properly. Sometimes a quick trip around the block after fixing a car isn't always going to be enough to make sure everything is okay and safe. My mechanic takes cars on the highway after certain jobs because you just need to test the car at higher speeds.

[Mr.2jz-GE]

Hire professionals not idiots. That's why I am scared to go to dealerships.. Yay for knowing how to work on your own car :D

[AutobahnRacer]

@2JZ Noooo ****tt.

[99corvette]

The guy says he went through all 6 gears without using the clutch.

[c7scayman]

Originally Posted by Bates

As far as I know that is standard practice for a mechanic. Driving it around town (not beating on it) is a great way to make sure the car is running properly. Sometimes a quick trip around the block after fixing a car isn't always going to be enough to make sure everything is okay and safe. My mechanic takes cars on the highway after certain jobs because you just need to test the car at higher speeds.

But this guy was not a mechanic. This was a body shop. He just popped out a dent and repainted the rear bumper. He had no business driving my car.

[SHOdude]

found another like since the OP's seems to be taken down, this is disgraceful the only way you should EVER launch a customers car is if its built for racing and ment to launch and the complaint is about the launch itself, even at that you should rip the diff apart first and if nothing seems wrong after a visual inspection take it for a test. thats horse **** I'd take it out of their salary, but what can you really expect when dealer ships would rather hire the jackass straight out of UTI rather then a seasoned tech just because they can pay them less...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRJsjrz6Duo

[WolfsFang]

when i went to do a timing belt on my evo i got it back with 150+ miles on it. Started screaming at the techs so they gave me 1/2 off. Then my car started to run lean as soon as i turned it on in their parking lot. Fuel pumped died and then they stripped bolts changing the fuel pump. So i just kept yelling at them and i got the fuel tank for free

[EvlEgl]

My father works for Land Rover...And it's common practice for him to take home a customers car for the night...But to ensure the problem he was working on was fixed. Usually he takes them home if they throw CEL's or are "Making" Noises...But he always treats it like his own car and takes care of them and makes sure he does his best to not harm it in anyway.

He has only ever had one accident in his 30 Plus years of being a Mechanic. And he got T boned by a Girl who ran a stop sign back in 87'.

But this behavior with the camaro, I told my dad about it and it made his blood boil...he said the only cars you beat on are the ones that haven't been bought yet...They had a whole lot full of camaro's to test drive if they wanted...why **** with a customers pride and joy?

And it just goes to show you how ****ty dealerships can be...To not compensate this guy and to try and wash there hands of it without fixing it...Oh I'd be ****ing HOT!!

[WolfsFang]

Originally Posted by EvlEgl

he said the only cars you beat on are the ones that haven't been bought yet...

thats basically the same **** as what these techs did to the camaro. Someone is going to buy those cars and they might have problems down the road due to this. The ONLY car you beat on are your own and rentals.

[AutobahnRacer]

Originally Posted by WolfsFang

thats basically the same **** as what these techs did to the camaro. Someone is going to buy those cars and they might have problems down the road due to this. The ONLY car you beat on are your own and rentals.

Well it was a constructive post until the last part lol