Mechanic using my car for personal use?

[NMB]

So hypothetical situation, say I went to go and pick up my car park plipper which I left in my E30 when I dropped it off with my mechanic only to find when I unlock the car, I find empty beer cans rolling around on the floor of the car along with other items that don't belong to me and the radio tuned into a station I don't listen to what do I do and how do I handle the issue?

A purely hypothetical situation of course.

NB

[magpie]

liberty!

[Elecblondie]

Did you record the mileage before handing it over?

[SUMPCRACKER]

Always write down your mileage, and let them see you do it.
I never drive a customers car without them in it to avoid any nasty theorys.

[bodger]

give them their beer cans back

[NMB]

Sadly it has had the dash replaced so that theory is out of the window.

NB

[djk]

How do you handle the issue? Stamp your feet and shout a lot in the first instance I imagine!

[skipunda]

i'm with bodger on this. go back now and hide one under the seat, then re-find said can on the day.

[fuzzy]

i note the times dropped off and the times picked up just in case a speeding or parking ticket turns up and also the mileage . theyll claim its been because of a roadtest.
start using another garage if theyre leaving beer cans on the floor.

[SUMPCRACKER]

Tell the garage you have recieved a camera fine at high speed on the date they had the car, see how the react.

[magpie]

i do my own work and stay while it's mot'd.

as i'd never be happy with finding anything like this.

[Elecblondie]

i do my own work and stay while it's mot'd.

as i'd never be happy with finding anything like this.

Not an option for everyone though, I doubt I'll be able to continue doing all the work on my car when I stop being a student.

[magpie]

a reputable garage.

[fuzzy]

i do my own work and stay while it's mot'd.

as i'd never be happy with finding anything like this.

if i did that the mechanic would be charging me rent. i stuck a van in for an mot mid march and hes about to look at it for the first time tomorrow.

[Bump]

I once found a couple of rented videos under the passenger seat when I got my car back. They went in a skip. Utter ****s.

[NMB]

I used to do all my work myself including rebuilding two Nortons and a Land Rover Series 1 but unfortunately a full time job put a stop to that.

NB

[SLIMADI]

Recycle the beer cans and re tune the radio job done, oh and you might wont to change your mechanic

[andyp]

it would be time to change mechanics imo

[DRIFTBOY]

Empty beer cans in a customers' car! ?

I'd not be going there again!


When I got a month ban for speeding (75 in a 30 at about 1:30am) in my Capri 2.8i, about twelve years ago, there was a guy about an inch behind me in a turbocharged Sierra XR4x4.
When the police asked if it was his car he said "No, it's a customers'!"

[poolnoodle]

I take mine to local BMW Autohaus - when the mechanic needs to go shopping I figure he takes the 2009 M3 or fully loaded 7 series before he considers my old thing!!

[Rich_W]

Beer cans?

you think he's been out drinking in your car?

I smell a rat tbh

[gareth]

i know a chap who used to work for a honda main dealer. aparrently they once had a NSX in for a service and a set of new tyres.
when the owner collected it he had a look and noticed the fuel light was on and it had another 50 miles on the clock. he then went out to the tyre skip and found his tyres (being a NSX, it's not likely they'll have two sets in the skip at any time) totally bald and shredded. further investiation showed several sets of fat black lines up the road outside and donut marks in the turning opposite

while the management were out, the mechanics and a few of the sales staff had decided to all have a go in it and thought the owner wouldn't know as he was collecting a car with fresh tyres!

UTTER W4NKERS!!!!!

for that reason, i never leave my car with anyone other than a local specialist who i totally trust. also he drives a E34 M5 and rallycrosses a BDA powered Gartrac RWD mk3 escort, so my car is boring in comparison!

[M3Jim]

That sucks, I'd definitely being havin some harsh words! Could have left you some full ones

[Benho]

[325sideways]

My mate got the sack from ford when a customer court him thrashing his escort cosworth down the road. I would try and find a good garage you can trust there hard to find but there is still some good people out there who will respect your car. If i found beer cans in my car id tell them to FU** OFF but thats me

[NMB]

I've spoken to them and the boss is calling me back today to have a chat. It's incredibly annoying because a good garage is hard to find and I have been reasonably impressed with their work.

NB

[dazleeds]

quick word with said mechanic, and if the answers dont relieve my stress

a right hook should do the job

[oakey]

I know someone who took his car to the carwash for a full interior/exterior clean. When he returned the Kosovans had plowed it head on into a wall in the same car park where the car wash was
He got £300 a month of them for the next few years so he did pretty well out of it as it was a 1.4 corsa 'sport'

[madaboutthe30]

He got £300 a month of them for the next few years so he did pretty well out of it as it was a 1.4 corsa 'sport'

Thats pritty good, you'd think they would have made a runner for it!

[Felix79]

I am lucky that my old man has known two ex BMW mechanics for years so when I got my cars last year they were able to do all the work needed and I was able to trust them. Even when I spoke to North Oxford garage ( my local BMW dealership ) they reconmend these guys to me so it must reflect on how good they are. Also when they had just done £430 worth of work on my car , I didn't have all the money on one card so they just went , take the car and drop the money off sometime next week. Also another positive sign is you see loads of different types of intresting cars there ( it's a tiny place too ) which reflect people trust them.

They had actually had a skyline in there which they were doing a ton of work on as the owner had left it in the Nissian dealership and they had gone out and threashed the nutts off it and ruined the wheels , pranged the back end.

To your orginal post I would challange the garage about it and would threaten getting the police involed as it's techincally TWOCK'ing. Also like others have said I would reconsider using them again.