[eluded]

It's for these reasons I always spell out expectations when I drop my car off including making sure it's noted when I signed a piece of paper. I don't really need them to drive the car at all actually. For everyone that says hey, have a beer and relax, seven out of 10 times that's exactly what you need, just have a beer and relax.... What about those other times one asks, well that's what the search function is for. I won't share my experience but it was pretty awful .....

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Its easy get the SA to sign off on the mileage in then check the mileage when you pick it up. Its there is much of a spread have the SA account for it. Check to see if there is indication of "test" mileage on you work order like drove car could not find the rattle.

Be a cold day in hell before some dip s**t at the dealer is going to run one of my cars outside of a legitimate test.

[WHL102]

I had a service manager take my car home a few times but it was DISCLOSED every single time. The car (2006 Hyundai Sonata) was overheating intermittently and they couldn't replicate while it was at the dealer.

I did not care as all I wanted was the problem to be fixed.

I can understand if OP went in to get a rattle fixed and they wanted to take accumulate some time on the road to make sure it was 100% fixed, BUT they absolutely should have disclosed that first.

Complain politely to the dealer and you'll probably get something out of this.

Drink beer, forget.

[_bdiddyb_]

I sent my wife to the doctor for a checkup. She was gone the whole day! She's home now, in perfect health - a bit loose, but she's not sick anymore. So i'm cool.

[pallymore]

thanks for all your inputs.

btw, a little bit more background - this rattling problem is consistent and has been going on for a while. I took it in last time (at the same dealership, a few weeks earlier) they opened the door panel and confirmed a rod inside the lock mechanism is broken and needs to be replaced. they didn't have the parts so they let me take the car back while they wait for the parts to arrive.

Yea later I thought they probably just wanted the foreman to take it to the road to make sure the rattle is fixed. thought that's still a bit hard to justify - I don't think they can/will take every car on a 60-90 miles ride for every simple problem fixed (like replacing a broken rod in the door panel) - even if they do, they definitely should inform the customer about it.

@BEAR-AvHistory mentioned about test miles on the invoice. I just looked, it does mention a test drive but it doesn't say how many miles - but I noticed something else - there is an in/out mileage on the header of the invoice, mine says: 32992/33001 - that's definitely not right. I pretty sure it has about 3309x miles on the car when I took it back - so that's about ~100 miles driven. too bad I didn't check the odometer at that time so I don't have anything to back that. just sent another email to the SA about this ... but I doubt he'll admit it since it has been 2 weeks since then.

to be honest, I'm not sure if I want to make a huge deal about this. I knew this dealer is probably one of the worst in my area, the only reason I go there is because they are very close to my office so I can dropoff/pick up my car easily. I guess next time I'd rather drive 50 miles to another much better rated dealership to get my oil changes.

[Lcfcno1fan]

Originally Posted by _bdiddyb_

I sent my wife to the doctor for a checkup. She was gone the whole day! She's home now, in perfect health - a bit loose, but she's not sick anymore. So i'm cool.

Did the Doctor take her home though ??

[bavarianride]

Originally Posted by pallymore

thanks for all your inputs.

btw, a little bit more background - this rattling problem is consistent and has been going on for a while. I took it in last time (at the same dealership, a few weeks earlier) they opened the door panel and confirmed a rod inside the lock mechanism is broken and needs to be replaced. they didn't have the parts so they let me take the car back while they wait for the parts to arrive.

Yea later I thought they probably just wanted the foreman to take it to the road to make sure the rattle is fixed. thought that's still a bit hard to justify - I don't think they can/will take every car on a 60-90 miles ride for every simple problem fixed (like replacing a broken rod in the door panel) - even if they do, they definitely should inform the customer about it.

@BEAR-AvHistory mentioned about test miles on the invoice. I just looked, it does mention a test drive but it doesn't say how many miles - but I noticed something else - there is an in/out mileage on the header of the invoice, mine says: 32992/33001 - that's definitely not right. I pretty sure it has about 3309x miles on the car when I took it back - so that's about ~100 miles driven. too bad I didn't check the odometer at that time so I don't have anything to back that. just sent another email to the SA about this ... but I doubt he'll admit it since it has been 2 weeks since then.

to be honest, I'm not sure if I want to make a huge deal about this. I knew this dealer is probably one of the worst in my area, the only reason I go there is because they are very close to my office so I can dropoff/pick up my car easily. I guess next time I'd rather drive 50 miles to another much better rated dealership to get my oil changes.

My SA usually reads the key first before writing up the work order, that printout contains the mileage at the time the key is read, so if that can be retrieved from the SA it would be clear what's the mileage when car was dropped off.

[joz]

Personally I think communication is key. If a dealer wants to double check everything and runs it past the customer then it should be ok. It should be up to the customers discretion.

That being said, with my car I don't think I would let the dealer send it home with a tech unless I knew them to some degree. Too many young idiots out there that want to use customer cars for joy rides. If it's my car I should have full discretion on how it is test driven and serviced. Just like you can't change parts out before clearing cost with me you shouldn't be using it as a free perk for your employees.

A few years back a family member had their car totalled after a tech rear ended someone when they decided to use our car to go club hopping. Not a pleasant call to receive at 3am from the police. On top of that there were criminal charges for the driver for reckless etc. The dealer had the audacity to try and negotiate for split coverage with our insurance when we initially met the next morning. Thankfully once it got to owner level they quickly handled it and actually replaced it with a new vehicle. They knew the risk to business and bad publicity. This was at Lexus and the car was only ~6 months old.

[jtolen]

Its typically not a normal practice, however it does happen. Most of the time its when a CEL needs to be repeated for proper diagnosis and it can be repeated just by driving around the lot.

There was a pretty big incident involving a Subaru tech who took a WRX home, hit a deer...etc. Lets just say things hit the fan and it wasnt good for anyone.

[zinner]

I love all the posts that take, the dealership employee infrequently takes customer cars home to help diagnose or confirm the customer issue is resolved to...

They give the car to the the lot guy who Ferris Buellers it all day.

If something happens to the precious car while in the dealers care, they pay to remediate the situation.

[Big Nodge]

Obviously completely unacceptable without the owner's permission.

[abhibrandy1]

This is not acceptable & definately not without your consent. It great that you have proof to back your claim. You should definately pursue this!

[goj]

This is not ok.

[Beek]

OP, How many times to dealer for this same issue? If you take your car into a dealer multiple times for a diagnostic problem like a rattle you should expect they will drive it and that may include home and/or overnight. I won't argue whether that is right or not for them to do but for several reasons it is a fact. Anyone who is not comfortable with this needs to speak clearly and concisely to the dealership about what your concerns and expectations are.

[Beek]

And if they damage my car I'm going to be the same amount of pissed off whether it happened at 11 am a block from the dealership or midnight in the parking lot of the strip club, makes no difference to me. But that's just me I guess, to each their own.

[AMDG]

Originally Posted by Beek

OP, How many times to dealer for this same issue? If you take your car into a dealer multiple times for a diagnostic problem like a rattle you should expect they will drive it and that may include home and/or overnight. I won't argue whether that is right or not for them to do but for several reasons it is a fact. Anyone who is not comfortable with this needs to speak clearly and concisely to the dealership about what your concerns and expectations are.

Quite the opposite, the onus is on the dealership to establish the parameters of what would be necessary to any diagnosis while the vehicle is in the care of the dealership. In other words, if it becomes reasonably necessary to have an employee take the car home, get authorization from the customer, preferably in writing. Under no circumstance should authorization be assumed.

[anotheran]

I would expect the mechanics to take the car out for a drive to verify/confirm hard to fix issues. But an overnight commute home for over 20 miles, I'd be OK IF they asked me first with "I'm going to take the car home to [make sure we fixed the issue][identify the issue you reported] are you OK with that?"

It's just a matter of expectation. Some people here say it's normal while others say it's not.

[RAK92]

Originally Posted by anotheran

I would expect the mechanics to take the car out for a drive to verify/confirm hard to fix issues. But an overnight commute home for over 20 miles, I'd be OK IF they asked me first with "I'm going to take the car home to [make sure we fixed the issue][identify the issue you reported] are you OK with that?"

It's just a matter of expectation. Some people here say it's normal while others say it's not.

I agree - but I'd also ask where is "home" and just "where" will my car be parked all night.