Is it normal ...

For a garage to drive your car while it's in for repair? And for the mechanic to keep it overnight?

Just curious.

Voodoomelon

Unfortunately yes.

In regards overnight, they keep the car as long as it takes to repair, completely dependant on the issue.

Atomic Pineapple

Deleted User wrote: »

For a garage to drive your car while it's in for repair? And for the mechanic to keep it overnight?

Just curious.

Yes it's normal to drive the car if they need to make sure all is OK after the repair, not quite clear by what the mechanic keeping it overnight means?

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

.................And for the mechanic to keep it overnight?

............

As in drive it home and use it for social and domestic ?

Ardennes1944

Surely not?

Well see that's the thing. I just got an eflow
charge in the post for last Tuesday at 8 in the morning. So I rang the garage, who said oh yeh it was paid on Friday, I asked why it was being driven and was told that it would have to be taken for a good long run to make sure the new gearbox was ok. So I asked was it normal to test drive it at 8 in the morning and was told the mechanic had it at home overnight so I said fair enough, not sure if it was normal.

Then I copped that my gearbox was only fixed Thursday into Friday morning so it was bull about them checking the new gearbox. I just wasn't sure if that was the norm.

Buffman

Is this about the Automatic gearbox on your Saab OP? If so, then yes, an extended test drive would be normal.

Atomic Pineapple

Wouldn't suspect that as being normal, surely it should have been left at the garage?

tossy

Perfectly normal,as for driving it home one of two scenarios.

A. the mechanic is very diligent and brought it home to monitor the repairs over night.

B. He couldn't care less and grabbed the keys of the first car he saw/or was drooling over your car all day and couldn't wait to take it for a rip home and show the boys.

Only you can decide

Voodoomelon

In my experience, and from what i've heard, many mechanics take the piss and use the cars to run their own errands in customers cars.

My mothers car was in a main dealers for gear engagement difficulties when cold, and there was €10 worth of petrol used in one day. My odometer read 11 miles higher after having rear control arms replaced, and my father once spotted his mechanic out in the car when it was in for a service. And that's just family cars.

Should have clarified that I would expect them to test it but I mean before it's even fixed.

Buffman

Deleted User wrote: »

Then I copped that my gearbox was only fixed Thursday into Friday morning so it was bull about them checking the new gearbox. I just wasn't sure if that was the norm.

It's possible that he had the car to diagnose the problem which might not present itself on a short spin.

From your other thread my take on it is you dropped the car in on Friday, he only looks at it on Monday and brings it for a drive home to find the problem. He uses the toll on Tuesday on the way into work, and the problem is diagnosed. You get the call on Tuesday morning telling you about the problem.

Anyway, once they pay the tolls and fix the car and didn't use all my fuel I'd be happy enough. Did you get it back yet?

tossy

tossy wrote: »

B. He couldn't care less and grabbed the keys of the first car he saw/or was drooling over your car all day and couldn't wait to take it for a rip home and show the boys.

Well he certainly wouldn't have been drooling over mine! But I reckon he must've taken it for himself. Sure the part wasn't due in til Tuesday or Wednesday!!

Anyway, he's obviously not the brightest, if he'd paid the toll straight away I'd never have known.

No harm done anyway but must remember to check the mileage before and after in future

Edit: @buffman nah, they knew what the problem was on the Friday and said it would take 3days to get the part in. They knew damn well what was wrong with it. But as I say, no harm done!

Got it back and totally in love

George Dalton

It is often necessary to take an extended test drive in a car as part of diagnosing a fault that is intermittent or making sure that such a fault is actually cured.

It makes more sense for both me and the customer if I take the car home with me rather than taking the car out for an hour in the middle of the day where I then lose part of my working day where I could be more productive and end up having to bill the customer at the full hourly rate for driving their car. Not ideal for either party. So the upshot is I often take a customer's car home with me.

The important thing is firstly to let the customer know in advance what you are doing and clear it with them. And also to pay any tolls you incur and try not to pick up any speeding or parking fines along the way

C Eng

I was in a Peugeot garage a few years ago and I witnessed a customer arrive to collect new car puchase only to find one of the mechanics has taken it out to collect their lunch on the chipper run just before car salesman is about to do handover.

I hate it when you happen to see someone from garage driving your car in a way that you would not treat it yourself. No respect for customers car is one thing that drives me mad.

My other experience of this is when my car had to go in to main dealer for warranty work, and came back half a tank of fuel later with sweet wrappers from their children in the back and mud from football boots.

And no, they didnt replace the fuel they used either :mad:

It seems to be a hit and miss policy in each garage as to what the policy is with using customers car for private use.

C Eng

C Eng wrote: »

I was in a Peugeot garage .

A peugeot garage you say?
Wonder if it's the same garage! The one my car was in is a Saab and peugot dealer.

No mucky boots or sweet wrappers. Two marks on the car I hadn't noticed before, but I doubt they did it. I'd say I just hadn't looked at it properly when I got it.

Pretty sure the fuel level was the same aswell.

phasers

I know a guy who owns a garage and he doesn't even own his own car, he just always drives a customer's car from the garage. It's pretty common I think.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

That great george, I once had a major dealer take my car for a 900 mile drive and go scuba diving in it for the weekend. Paired their phone to my bluetooth, left their diving gear in the boot and then deny it. I can assume they are just super diligent and trying to save me money.

Marcel Nice Kelp

Marcel Nice Kelp wrote: »

I once had a major dealer take my car for a 900 mile drive and go scuba diving in it for the weekend. .

:eek: was there flood damage?

dr.fuzzenstein

Seems to be normal enough:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mechanic-crashes-300000-ferrari-f40-185519

Voodoomelon

Marcel Nice Kelp wrote: »

That great george, I once had a major dealer take my car for a 900 mile drive and go scuba diving in it for the weekend. Paired their phone to my bluetooth, left their diving gear in the boot and then deny it. I can assume they are just super diligent and trying to save me money.

I thought you were being sarcastic, is this for real? Which car was it at the time? What happened upon you mentioning it?

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Yep that happened, It was my wifes car, don't want to go into the details as I agreed with the dealer not to name and shame. This wasn't some fly by night shower either.

Marcusm

Deleted User wrote: »

Well see that's the thing. I just got an eflow
charge in the post for last Tuesday at 8 in the morning. So I rang the garage, who said oh yeh it was paid on Friday, I asked why it was being driven and was told that it would have to be taken for a good long run to make sure the new gearbox was ok. So I asked was it normal to test drive it at 8 in the morning and was told the mechanic had it at home overnight so I said fair enough, not sure if it was normal.

Then I copped that my gearbox was only fixed Thursday into Friday morning so it was bull about them checking the new gearbox. I just wasn't sure if that was the norm.

THis is perfectly normal if you're intent on committing an offence under s112 Road Traffic Act 1961. Perhaps point this out to the garage owner. It might be quite normal to run in a gear box but I very much doubt that the car was insured while it was outside the mechanic's house so an issue could have arisen.

If someone did this to me, they would be sorry.

Fiona

Yes my old mechanic would have driven my car, not sure if he took it home or not but I trusted him so I would have been happy for him if he did so as long as it was given back to me with no dings and the same amount of petrol in it that it had when it was handed over

Guy:Incognito

Marcel Nice Kelp wrote: »

That great george, I once had a major dealer take my car for a 900 mile drive and go scuba diving in it for the weekend. Paired their phone to my bluetooth, left their diving gear in the boot and then deny it. I can assume they are just super diligent and trying to save me money.

I assume you've gotten decent use of your new scuba gear?

****ed if I'd be giving it back to him after that.

Limbo123

I left my car with a very well known garage in Liffey valley for a repair under warranty. They had it for a few days. When I collected it, I drove 10 mins down the road and realised the problem was still there. Rang them to be told they were certain the problem had been sorted as one of their mechanics had taken it home overnight. F@@king cheek if you ask me. If the Garda had phoned me and asked where my car was, I would've told them it was at the garage. If I was told it was elsewhere, I'd report it as stolen and push for a prosecution!
You hand the car over for it to be repaired and to some extent, expect the car to be driven around local roads in order to test. You don't expect the car to be parked up anywhere other than the secured garage you left it at!!!