Well IF there was any damage (clutch burned, rims damaged, paint scratched, etc.) and the op didn't have the proof, they would deny it (like the manager did).

Bottom line, rules are rules - you can't take customers' cars for joy rides, damages or not. If you break the rules, you should be punished. Simple.

I thought I read everything on this thread, but missed the post about the service manager giving the instructions to do this. Gotta change my earlier post to reprimanding the service manager, not the techs.

Reminds me of the scene in Ferris Bueller where they leave the Ferrari GT California in the parking garage and the two attendants take it for a joy ride.

I guess other shops have their "road tests" all wrong then. :rolleyes:

Chances are, this may be one of the morons in the pic. lol.

:icon18: :tup: :bowrofl:

And they didn't seem to care if your doors got dinged by a careless parker.:mad:

guys guys guys, slow down, i cant type that fast to update my iggylist. :icon17:

they must have wanted to do a REAL WORLD test with burger buying and all. :D :wtf2:

How anyone can justify a non-owner driving the car w/o permission from said owner is beyond me.

Y'all's crazy if you think it was okay for them to do that.

$5k beater or $40k Z, doesn't matter. I drive it, you don't unless I've given you permission.

/thread

[QUOTE=Magic Bus;2306644]Hey Ziggyman, you did this before, huh? :icon17:

I did valet parking for a time. :icon17:

I should have been tarred and feathered!

you are an idiot... :facepalm:

xSlayerx is on the ignore List.....He joins the forum just to cry like a whining crybaby ?


Iroinic to say the least...

I am sure the Administrator showed him the door.....That is what I love about this place.....The administrators clean the drain ...

I may be niaeve here and correct me if I am wrong but when you take a vehicle to be serviced isn't it implied you are giving them permission to drive the vehicle to test it? In my mind how else will you or the techs know that the problem has been resolved once said problem is "fixed"? The fact that they did a food run is unacceptable and can not be argued, but if they were infact instructed to do so the blame falls on the manager, not the techs.

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Exactly. How do they know if they fixed a problem that occurs under hard acceleration unless they go open it up a little? The food is still not cool, though.

No, I'm not giving them permission to drive my car when I take it in. If they say they need to test drive it, then I will give them permission to do so and advise them to keep it on side streets. There's no reason that they'd need to drive it for even one mile. And never any reason to "open it up" as you're saying.

They should never be doing "hard acceleration", I don't care what the problem is. Call me and have me do it. I don't want anyone "driving" my car.

Why would a company even take the risk of monetary loss and/or a lawsuit (should their be an accident, damage, etc.) in doing something this?

I'd contact the GM of the dealershit... Service manager needs to be fired... As well as the service techs, and or a swift but gentle kick in the balls, lol
You NEED to contact corporate. Hell, call me, I'll call them for you

At Lexus for my ISF's (non existent problems, just wanted a free rental) they immediately said that they'd bring a service tech out to sit in the car with me so he could "hear" the problems, lol

This would be nice, but I don't see a tech stopping a job to call the owner to have them come back and test the car with the tech riding shotgun. Dealerships have to do this all the time, and it's usually not a problem. If there's an accident, they have insurance.

I had a look at this thread... honestly man, i wouldn't play games with the service department and get into a pissing match if it bothers you (which it damn well should). They do this all the time, and will continue to do so. These guys will laugh in your face and I doubt anyone will give a crap. Suggestion is you lawyer up, or have a friend with a law office send them a nice letter advising them of what happened, they may suddenly be interested in "service".

**Then I read the rest. Glad you had it resolved. Those guys are a bunch of tools. I had so many problems dealing with Nissan service in the past, I won't trust them outside of warranty repair work or something.

For me it depends on the problem you take it in for...If you say it ticks when it idles, they should not have to do any hard acceleration..But if I take it in and say it makes this noise at 6500 RPM, I would expect them to drive it hard to listen to it...

The food though I think is a little strange....I have a 2009 with Leather and 6500 Miles...It smells brand new, and I expect it to stay that way...No fast food smells in my car..

But as far as a test drive, I personally am OK with the Mechanic testing it as long as it is the Certified Mechanic and not some Oil change rookie.

When I took My Z/28 in for major Pro Touring upgrades, the Owner who is the Head Mechanic had full permission to take out my 400HP Hot Rod to check the new Suspension and Brakes Parts. But in 30 years of Owning that car only three people have driven it other than me....All ASE Certified Mechanics...All for mechanical work...The engine bulider, the driveline specialist and now the suspension and brake specialist.

Well, if they're still in the diagnosing phase, they didn't need to stop a damn thing.
The service advisor should go on a ride along or have a tech do it when you come in and say your problem is under hard acceleration.

THAT's my issue. Not the risk of totaling it or anything

Then they had better not be doing any hard acceleration in my car. Otherwise, I'll bitch up a storm and demand compensation.

That's just how it is. There's no reason for them to ever do it without me present or with my permission, unless they're going to pay me for the wear and tear they're going to put on my car and tires.

I agree, but I've just given up on the world working like it should. Most people either don't know or care the techs drive their cars when they get dropped off for work. The dealer would rather run the risk of getting caught making a burger run than require a lot of owner involvement in the repair process and have people bitch about the hassle of getting the car fixed.

I've got a top-notch tech at my local dealer who I specifically instruct to go out, run through a few gears and let me know if everything feels right. He's driven a lot more turbo Zs than I have, and he put the kit on for me. He's also the only one who touches the car when it's at the dealer.

If it's someone I know, then that's a different story.

With my SRT, I personally knew the SRT tech at the local Dodge dealer and never had this issue.

But I have zero, absolutely zero trust in the Valley Nissan dealers after my search for the Z and the lies and general lack of knowledge they had, so I'm going to be even more cautious.

Hell, I don't even let my best of friends drive my car.

I hear you on your personal choice as you have that right. I am not trying to argue the point.:tiphat::tup:

But honestly "hard acceleration"...I do it all the time...With the VDC on there is no tire wear and these cars are damn sure ready and willing to go to redline and they actually love it...

But again to me it should only be done by a Qualified mechanic only if the problem is at the higher RPM's...If the problem is not related to hard driving , then the mechanic should only do what is needed to diagnose the problem...

I mean if I take my Z/28 in for checking the suspension and brakes, I don't expect the guy to do a 4000RPM clutch dump....But I trust my Muscle car mechanic more than someone I do not know at Nissan...Heck if he wants to do a 4000RPM clutch dump, i want to either do it for him, or be a passenger on that Joy ride..:tiphat:

They know me at the dealer. My car stays in the Customer Service entrance when the work is completed per the Service Manager instructions.

That is because an incident with a Tech parking my car, after that I had a good talk with him and now is almost red carpet when I go to the dealer.

AMEN brother....All the above :tiphat:

I've got one or two buddies who are welcome to drive the car. They haven't taken me up on the offer. I'm kinda disappointed. I want to ride shotgun for once. Cars always seem so much faster from the passenger seat.

You guys said it...It is all about the quality of the Tech you get..

Before retiring I used to be a Tech at a company with 25 employees....Myself and about 7 other guys really cared about what we were doing and had the experience and knowledge and work ethic to perform quality work.....You would not get that with many of the other techs...Same is true with mechanics, Contractors, Painters, laywers, ect....

Turbo Z ? If you were in the bay area, I would be your friend and take you up on it...:driving::tup:

Does the VDC even work with that much HP, or does it just roast the tires anyways ?

I'm not sure. It stays off if the roads are dry.

You are one sick man......Well Done.....:driving::eek:

I grew up on High Horsepower and no VDC....You steer with both the steering wheel and the gas pedal...

Also keep the passenger window clean, because you will be looking out it sometimes to see where you are going..:tiphat::icon18:

Vdc is for bad weather. Your right foot works just fine for traction control.

sometimes diagnostic driving is required.. however, that should be disclosed from the moment they talk to you

Yep, but we're old. We learned on a stick with out all the assists. We had work ethics and cared about what we were doing, as you said.

It's a different world!

Ya brother I hear you...A few of the young techs were young and were right at the top work ethic wise, but yes most were too busy texting or hung over, and just did not care....

Sagging pants, saggy work....:tiphat:

While the quality of the tech is important, it's not the only factors. If I were the service manager, I would be firing these two because the pose an INSURANCE LIABILITY. sure, the techs are insured in case something happens on a diagnosis drive. They are NOT insured to take the customers car to lunch. So if something had happened in that parking lot, it'd be on the dealership to pay for damages. I'd fire their asses just for that.

You guys seriously crack me up.. Dealerships have insurance to cover damage liability etc.. If you are so afraid of someone touching or "driving" your car then I suggest you do ALL your work on your own, and just chalk up the warranty as a loss. Because in all honesty you are being a bit rediculous. I expect, rather insist that they check and make sure the problem the car is there for has been corrected. If my car was not test driven I would be concerned, how they would know if the problem has been resolved. I'm a marine mechanic, and work on naval vessels. I will tell you this, all of the work that I and my co-workers do is tested to VERIFY that the problems has been resolved, and that everything functions as it should.. If you are unwilling to allow the techs to do their jobs and to verify it functions properly, then do not take it to them and waste their time, not to mention yours... I would expect that would be pretty valuable

Exactly. Of course, the key to this is a good dealership and a good tech. A crappy dealer letting the oil change monkey test drive the car is unacceptable.