Joy Riding Mechanics

vengeance52

Saw this on pistonheads and thought id share. Scumbags

From : www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24225746-5007132,00.html

A CAR service turned to heartbreak for Colin Chaffen when his beloved Holden Monaro was written off by two joy-riding mechanics.

Residents in May's Hill were shocked when the $45,000 V8 jumped a gutter and spun through a fence.

The mechanics, from Heartland Holden in Parramatta, then drove the damaged car several kilometres back to the workshop.

A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said the car only narrowly missed his house.

"I was sitting on the lounge when I heard this huge bang," he said.

"I thought it had gone straight into the house. I rushed to the window and saw them take off really quick. I only just had time to get their rego."

The car's owner, Colin Chaffen, a self-confessed "car fanatic", was in tears when he returned to the workshop to discover ten's of thousands of dollars worth of damage to his impeccably maintained vehicle.

"My car was my pride and joy. There wasn't a scratch on it," Mr Chaffen said.

"I had put $60,000 into that car and these guys only had it for 15 minutes and they wrote it off. It makes you wonder how many other cars they have taken out for joy-rides."

The Daily Telegraph has learned that the incident was not a one off, with a former Heartland Holden employee blowing the whistle on mistreatment of customers' cars.

"They're hoons," the mechanic, who asked to remain anonymous, said.

"Whenever a nice car came in they were all itching to take it for a drive.

"I saw them do burn-outs, speed and drive erratically on test drives, and their attitude was 'it's not my car'."

Mr Chaffen's anger was made worse because the service was only booked after Heartland Holden wrote a letter threatening to void his warranty unless his car was urgently taken to one of their service centres. He had also been assured that there was no need for the vehicle to leave the workshop.

Mr Chaffen's poor treatment continued, with management from Heartland Holden unable to explain the cause of the accident and what action, if any, had been taken against the mechanics.

"They have just told me a lot of lies. At first it had been side-swiped, then they had swerved to miss a car, and finally they said they had tried to dodge a runaway dog," he said.

But the worst was still to come, with Heartland Holden's insurer then refusing to pay the insured value of the car, offering Mr Chaffen almost $10,000 less than its agreed value.

Late yesterday, following inquiries by The Daily Telegraph, Heartland Holden agreed to pay Mr Chaffen the full value of his car.

Heartland Group CFO Neal Duggin refused to answer question from the The Daily Telegraph regarding the accident, including if other customer cars had been involved in accidents while being driven by employees.

"Any time a vehicle is on the road it is at risk of being involved in an accident." Mr Duggin said in a statement.

A police investigation continues.

Volvoboy

Back in the day when i was a panel beater, i worked mainly in dealerships, the behaviour was like the same as your post.

J-turns
Handbreakers
burnouts. and the like was a common occurance.

I did it myself:o

From a Punto to a Lexus.

No repremands were ever given or threatend, never took it off the garage forecourts either.

/confessions of a ex-panelbeater

zero19

****...I guess you'll get idiots everywhere though. This is why i only let people i know and trust work on my car.

markos79

zero19 wrote: »

****...I guess you'll get idiots everywhere though. This is why i only let people i know and trust work on my car.

well said zero.

Run_to_da_hills

Long time since i heard the Auzzy word "Hoon" mentioned, a better word than joyridiers. It would make someone want to remain with their car while its being serviced. I knew a bike shop that wrote off a customers sports bike when an employee took it out for a sunday spin.

Tannylan

zero19 wrote: »

****...I guess you'll get idiots everywhere though. This is why i only let people i know and trust work on my car.

+1

vengeance52

Guy i use to work with had a tracker in his car, and rang the garage when it was in for a service and asked why his car was 30miles away from the garage. he was told a pack of bull so he never went back. (after gettin his car back)

My mechanic is my cousin, so ill trust him, but im now weary leaving my car in someone else's hands, esp after watchin ferris buellers day off the other evening

Rowley Birkin QC

Ever so slightly off topic but has anyone seen a Monaro/VXR in Ireland?

Thought I saw one outside Borrisokane but it turned out to be a Holden UTE, at least it was antipodean, my spotters eye isn't out too much!

vengeance52

well i was planning to buy one, and i work in the south and live in the north, but due to the depreciation on my current car, and havin sod all money, its put on hold for now.

A prob was finding somewhere north or south to service the car.

L1011

I'm still paranoid enough to check the clock / reset the trip computer when I leave a car off, worst its ever been up was 3 miles, and considering it was in for serious suspension work, I'd expect that for testing. Not much of a concern with my current car of it being 'tested' like in the article as its a slowcoach but the one I've on order is about 85% faster...

VH

vengeance52 wrote: »

A prob was finding somewhere north or south to service the car.

only speculating but i would have thought that car would be no worse than a vectra when it came to servicing - its plain and simple brawn due to cc rather than a technologically advanced car

pity you didnt get it tho - they're some machine

woop

theres a youtube video of this being done to garda cars hand brake turns etc
cant find it now damn
def in a garage aswell




Ive heard theres a vxr8 in meath

Andrewf20

Yep, a red VXR8 spotted a few fimes in Ratoath.