Man....I'd be Soooooooo Pissed!

http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/camaro-owner-records-mechanics-abusing-car-scheming-damages-152707580.html
:z oom:
Camaro owner records mechanics abusing car, scheming to get damages paid for:
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.

 

That's it. I'm tired on constantly hearing things like this and freaking out. I'm buying a go pro and a ton of memory cards and I'm going to mount it on the rear window everytime I take my car in for service. I'm going to let them know it's there too, obviously as they can see it. I'll be able to see EVERYTHING.

 

Wow! This made it over here, too! Honestly, I think a new car is asking a little much. Maybe replace the clutch assembly, replace the rear tires, clean it up, and give him a tank of premium. Don't get me wrong, I would be absolutely furious if that were my car no doubt, but I really have a hard time believing the owner has never driven the car like that before. I suppose he might as well shoot for the moon and get whatever he can get though. They do need to fire at least the driver since in the audio it sounds like he's known for driving vehicles like that. Also, how many people does it take to diagnoise a transmission noise that is actually NORMAL?!

 

I love my indi shop. I play golf with them and go out for dinner and drinks with them. If you walk in you are taken into the shop and shown what is being done. Old parts and new parts. Service writer writes the car miles down infront of you. THey are very professional and well educated on anything European. I use them even for my CPO work.

 

I do all my own work unless it is impossible. I don't trust anyone. If I do need work I usually bring them the part ie the head, the block, diff or the tranmission etc.

I agree with 91RS, fix the clutch, some new tyres, throw in some other stuff for free to say sorry and call it a day. I guess it goes to show how immoral people can be. They know they are wrong, they have the evidence and still they choose to shaft someone rather than make it right.

 

Man just another reason I am glad my MB dealership is like 2nd family too me.

 

I think you are a bit lenient on them! Owning the car gives you the right to do anything you like to it, nobody else has the right to abuse it like that.

It is like saying someone had somebody's wife giver him oral but it's ok, "I have a hard time believing the husband has never done something like that before!" heheh :-) At least how is I see it, I might be a bit sensitive about how my car is treated :-)

 

The guy that owns the camaro should have been handed a club and the guys that took the joy ride should have been turned into pinata's!