Merc manager joyride
Discussion
Another blow to Merc's image?
[quote=todays daily record]YOU LOT ARE JUST TAKING THE MERC Aug 9 2005
Millionaire blasts garage for 'joyride
By Victoria Bone
A MILLIONAIRE businessman was left fuming after a garage boss 'borrowed' his £120,000 Mercedes while it was in for repairs.
John Llewellyn, 51, became suspicious when his satellite tracking system told him his precious car was on the move instead of at the dealership.
He was astonished to discover that a senior manager at Mercedes had taken it out for a spin.
John, who lives near Monaco, said: 'I'm furious. The guy had basically gone for a joyride in my car.
'He told me he'd taken his kids to the cinema as a treat and then gone to the pub for a few hours. It's unbelievable John runs Revo250, a private sports car and yacht club in the south of France.
The former racing driver began receiving puzzling calls from his Navtrak system last Wednesday, which told him the car was no longer at the Mercedes HQ in Milton Keynes.
John said: 'At first it seemed to be moving around and then it was stationary for about three hours somewhere.'
The director of the garage admitted the car had been taken by a member of staff for a personal journey with one child but said this didn't amount to improper use.
John, who plans legal action, said: 'I was livid. What if there'd been an accident and the kid had been killed? Or what if one of them had thrown up in the back of it?
'I'm not really a child-person and the thought of a load of sticky fingers all over my car is horrible.'
Yesterday, a spokesman for Mercedes offered an apology but said they needed to make sure the car was fixed and the technical operations manager took it out.
He added: 'It wasn't a joyride. His daughter treated the car with the greatest respect and she was covered at all times by our insurance.'
Mercedes have waived the repair charges, fixed a dent, replaced alloy wheels and provided a valet service, all for free[/quote]
Even if a garage went for an unauthorised spin in any of my lowly cars, i'd be furious never mind something worth £100k + I wonder if the senior manager in question still has his job?
[quote=todays daily record]YOU LOT ARE JUST TAKING THE MERC Aug 9 2005
Millionaire blasts garage for 'joyride
By Victoria Bone
A MILLIONAIRE businessman was left fuming after a garage boss 'borrowed' his £120,000 Mercedes while it was in for repairs.
John Llewellyn, 51, became suspicious when his satellite tracking system told him his precious car was on the move instead of at the dealership.
He was astonished to discover that a senior manager at Mercedes had taken it out for a spin.
John, who lives near Monaco, said: 'I'm furious. The guy had basically gone for a joyride in my car.
'He told me he'd taken his kids to the cinema as a treat and then gone to the pub for a few hours. It's unbelievable John runs Revo250, a private sports car and yacht club in the south of France.
The former racing driver began receiving puzzling calls from his Navtrak system last Wednesday, which told him the car was no longer at the Mercedes HQ in Milton Keynes.
John said: 'At first it seemed to be moving around and then it was stationary for about three hours somewhere.'
The director of the garage admitted the car had been taken by a member of staff for a personal journey with one child but said this didn't amount to improper use.
John, who plans legal action, said: 'I was livid. What if there'd been an accident and the kid had been killed? Or what if one of them had thrown up in the back of it?
'I'm not really a child-person and the thought of a load of sticky fingers all over my car is horrible.'
Yesterday, a spokesman for Mercedes offered an apology but said they needed to make sure the car was fixed and the technical operations manager took it out.
He added: 'It wasn't a joyride. His daughter treated the car with the greatest respect and she was covered at all times by our insurance.'
Mercedes have waived the repair charges, fixed a dent, replaced alloy wheels and provided a valet service, all for free[/quote]
Even if a garage went for an unauthorised spin in any of my lowly cars, i'd be furious never mind something worth £100k + I wonder if the senior manager in question still has his job?
My Dad had one of the very first Alfasuds in the country (the car I learned to drive in!!) One weekend, while the car was at the garage for a sevice, Dad & I went out for a blatt in Mum's Mini Cooper. I remember vividly Dad chasing down a Lotus Cortina. He was doing a good job of keeping up and explaining to me what a great car the Lotus was and telling me stories about Jim Clark, when all of a sudden a bright orange, Alfasud went flying past both us and the Lotus. Yep it was Dad's new car.
He had words with the service manger on Monday morning, only to be told that the Alfa was being "extensively" roadtested.
We never used that particular garage again.
He had words with the service manger on Monday morning, only to be told that the Alfa was being "extensively" roadtested.
We never used that particular garage again.
I guess it all depends on how much you trust your garage...
Our family's garage have one customer who dropped off his 360 Modena with us one evening off just for an MOT the next day, with the instructions that it's best to drive it very early in the morning when there's noone else around
.
Likewise another customer was perfectly happy for me (aged only 22) to drive their 996 a fair distance to have tyres fitted since it had the 18" super-wide optional wheels that our equipment wouldn't do.
Yet I can remember one customer getting narked about us road testing their E-reg MR2 for less than a mile - which was in to be treated for a misfire??? And old ladies often worry about the "youth" delivering their Nissan Micra automatic.
[boastful]Usually explaining that you are Autocar young driver of the year shuts them up
[/boastful]
Russell
'86 190E, '62 Elan
Our family's garage have one customer who dropped off his 360 Modena with us one evening off just for an MOT the next day, with the instructions that it's best to drive it very early in the morning when there's noone else around
. Likewise another customer was perfectly happy for me (aged only 22) to drive their 996 a fair distance to have tyres fitted since it had the 18" super-wide optional wheels that our equipment wouldn't do.
Yet I can remember one customer getting narked about us road testing their E-reg MR2 for less than a mile - which was in to be treated for a misfire??? And old ladies often worry about the "youth" delivering their Nissan Micra automatic.
[boastful]Usually explaining that you are Autocar young driver of the year shuts them up
[/boastful] Russell
'86 190E, '62 Elan
This is f
disgraceful. If it was a road test then why was it not done in work hours? What part of a road test requires the vehicle to be parked up for 3 hours?
I've also had this with my W124. It was in for some work and a few days later my wife found a lipstick in back of the car. Not hers and, err, not mine. Never got them to admit that someone had used it for a jolly but I never used that garage again.
disgraceful. If it was a road test then why was it not done in work hours? What part of a road test requires the vehicle to be parked up for 3 hours? I've also had this with my W124. It was in for some work and a few days later my wife found a lipstick in back of the car. Not hers and, err, not mine. Never got them to admit that someone had used it for a jolly but I never used that garage again.
MILF said:
Volvo.
Had to laught at that one. Lipstick in back of car & you blame the garage ? & the other half believed you !!
Excuse number 137 "I dont know whose knickers they are in the back the car my love, but I did take the car into the garage for a valet last week".
Good job she trusts me implicitly.All well and good for Mercedes to waive all repair charges, etc... but I get the impression from the Merc rep's statement that it's perfectly normal and acceptable for their managers to take customer's cars for family days out. Disgraceful!
I can only imagine the PR disaster if the manager had had a prang in it.
Flashbacks to the car park scene from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" anyone?
I can only imagine the PR disaster if the manager had had a prang in it.
Flashbacks to the car park scene from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" anyone?
T5-R said:
All well and good for Mercedes to waive all repair charges, etc... but I get the impression from the Merc rep's statement that it's perfectly normal and acceptable for their managers to take customer's cars for family days out. Disgraceful!
Typical arrogant merc bastards, I'd think that a charge of TWOC should be due, as a road test probably couldn't/shouldn't be done by a sales guy... I know if somebody took my car out for a jolly I'd have their guts!! A proper road test however could be anything up to 50km and at proper autobahn speeds as well!
When my M5 was in for a warranty job with BMW my girlfriend got a call from the mechanic on the carphone! He had tried to call his mate but used the speed-dial instead!
The same visit saw them use the car for 6 miles and return 8mpg!!! I know they had to test it but I'd argue that the revs which would produce 8mpg (I got 6mpg on a trackday) werent appropriate in such a short distance (ie unless they were running it before they took it out, which I doubt, the engine wouldnt have been anywhere near warm).
The same visit saw them use the car for 6 miles and return 8mpg!!! I know they had to test it but I'd argue that the revs which would produce 8mpg (I got 6mpg on a trackday) werent appropriate in such a short distance (ie unless they were running it before they took it out, which I doubt, the engine wouldnt have been anywhere near warm).
A old friend of mine was a mechanic and routinely took cars out for "test" drives... He said it was the done thing where he worked.
The story gets more interesting when a arsey business man came in with his spanking new volvo with instructions he'd taken a mileage reading. Well to my friend this was a challenge... As well as being a mechanic he was a total boy racer chav, XR2i's, RS Turbo's, XR4i's.. anything that was ford and easy to mod. As you can imagine he liked to wheel spin and fancied himself as an expert. So when the owner had left he backed the car out the garage rev'd the crap out of the engine (with all his co-mates cheering him on) and released the cluth... backing the car straight into a wall and ruining the rear end... stupid git hadnt realised the car was in reverse still.
Needless to say i am no longer in contact with the lad and think he works in the catering industry now.
The story gets more interesting when a arsey business man came in with his spanking new volvo with instructions he'd taken a mileage reading. Well to my friend this was a challenge... As well as being a mechanic he was a total boy racer chav, XR2i's, RS Turbo's, XR4i's.. anything that was ford and easy to mod. As you can imagine he liked to wheel spin and fancied himself as an expert. So when the owner had left he backed the car out the garage rev'd the crap out of the engine (with all his co-mates cheering him on) and released the cluth... backing the car straight into a wall and ruining the rear end... stupid git hadnt realised the car was in reverse still.
Needless to say i am no longer in contact with the lad and think he works in the catering industry now.
Driving cars you are not supposed to can sometimes go wrong! Years ago an acquaitance(read to55er) of mine used to work for Henlys near Staples corner, who at the time were a large Leyland dealer. He was young and therefore not covered to drive under their trader’s policy so he was restricted to cleaning and shunting cars about on their property. I knew that, most people that knew him knew that but he would not admit to it regardless. Needless to say, down the pub and his story was that he pretty much had the run of the place. After a while the stories were getting bigger and the doubts of the listeners were increasing at a similar pace. He could see that he was not going to get away with this much longer so he would have to do something to convince everbody.
He devised a cunning plan where he would bring home a Triumph Stag which was a bit different in those days one night to back up his stories. So, one day after he had cleaned one he put it back on the front, priced up and left the keys in it. Later that night he went back peeled the price off and drove it home and then on to the pub. That was it, the lads had to back down, he really did have the run of the place and many drinks followed for having doubted him. By kicking out time he was a little worse for wear but to try and top the evening he said he would drop a few of the lads off. When they had been all dropped off he headed back to Henlys no doubt with a mission accomplised type grin on his face. Unfortunately, whilst grinning he did not see the red light or the Police car he broad sided whilst drunk driving with no insurance.
Henlys sacked him, the Police took him to Sketchleys and everyone pi55ed themselves laughing. So, if you are reading this Mike Gould from Barnet I hope you are keeping well
He devised a cunning plan where he would bring home a Triumph Stag which was a bit different in those days one night to back up his stories. So, one day after he had cleaned one he put it back on the front, priced up and left the keys in it. Later that night he went back peeled the price off and drove it home and then on to the pub. That was it, the lads had to back down, he really did have the run of the place and many drinks followed for having doubted him. By kicking out time he was a little worse for wear but to try and top the evening he said he would drop a few of the lads off. When they had been all dropped off he headed back to Henlys no doubt with a mission accomplised type grin on his face. Unfortunately, whilst grinning he did not see the red light or the Police car he broad sided whilst drunk driving with no insurance.
Henlys sacked him, the Police took him to Sketchleys and everyone pi55ed themselves laughing. So, if you are reading this Mike Gould from Barnet I hope you are keeping well
Few years ago I took my RSi in to have the sump gasket done. Got a call from a mate that night calling me a miserable git for not waiving to him when I went flashing past him earlier that day.
A few questions later and it turned out the grease monkey had fixed the problem and taken it for a test drive to check all was well. No problem with that. I was a bit more concerned though that he’d overtaken my mate like he was standing still (he said he was doing about 80ish at the time on a single carriage road,) it was about 2 miles away from the dealership so that car was unlikely to have been warmed before thrashing, and in the words of my mate the guy was driving like a
A few questions later and it turned out the grease monkey had fixed the problem and taken it for a test drive to check all was well. No problem with that. I was a bit more concerned though that he’d overtaken my mate like he was standing still (he said he was doing about 80ish at the time on a single carriage road,) it was about 2 miles away from the dealership so that car was unlikely to have been warmed before thrashing, and in the words of my mate the guy was driving like a
Hates_ said:
Thank god I have an adjustable rev-limiter. Any time my car goes in anywhere I don't know, I set it to 4k revs and hide the box.
garage said:
Yeah, we couldn't get it to go over 4krpm, so we've stripped the engine down and rebuilt it. It's still not working though. That'll be £1500 please sir
my mate has a bodyshop. he had an audi quattro in for a small dent. it was a trade job worth about £70. this was quite a few years ago, by the way.
it was the rarer sport type iirc with the shorter wheelbase. anyway one of his workers decided to take it for a spin.... he ended up making it even shorter...
upshot was my mate had to repair both cars, luckily the owner of the quattro was on holiday. he didnt claim off his insurance as it was expensive enough at the time. he never told me what happened to the young lad though
it was the rarer sport type iirc with the shorter wheelbase. anyway one of his workers decided to take it for a spin.... he ended up making it even shorter...
upshot was my mate had to repair both cars, luckily the owner of the quattro was on holiday. he didnt claim off his insurance as it was expensive enough at the time. he never told me what happened to the young lad though
In my younger days I owned a Fiat Uno Turbo. There was a small outfit that from the comfort of their own homes did tuning etc for Uno Turbos. I left the car with them on a Saturday. The car was registered to my parent's address in manchester as I was still a student (I was at Uni in London). On the Saturday afternoon I got a worried call from my father-the police had been in touch to say that the car had been involved in an "incident" and they wanted the owner to attend a police station in Kent to see a CID officer... They wouldnt say anything further not even when the "incident" had happened....
So I rushed down to the station. The CID officer looked very puzzled..he explained that the car's driver had indecently exposed himself to some old ladies that morning-their description of the driver (and his backside!)was a white male
Definately not me then! Turns out one of the guys had gone out to get some parts for the car and the old dears wouldnt let them into traffic and so they decied to "vent" their anger! I certainly vented mine!
So I rushed down to the station. The CID officer looked very puzzled..he explained that the car's driver had indecently exposed himself to some old ladies that morning-their description of the driver (and his backside!)was a white male
Definately not me then! Turns out one of the guys had gone out to get some parts for the car and the old dears wouldnt let them into traffic and so they decied to "vent" their anger! I certainly vented mine! 
My mates best freinds mothers brother who once had a car..........
I remember when I was a lowely mechanic taking a customers car for a drive because they had a complaint of lack of power. Quick whip around the block and a bootfull of throttle and the car revved to a maximum 4800rpm then was completely flat i.e no power. On the gentle drive back it was quite obvious the catalyst had broken up and was blocking the exhaust. When I got back I was met by the customer who started shouting and screaming at me for "Thrashing" her car. I soon educated her that if I where to experience a lack of power that I had to use some to get the fault to occur. Im sure customers think we have crystals balls in our toolboxes that tell us what wrong or going to go wrong with cars.
Ive also had people complain that during a roadtest one of my mechaincs was seen weeving around on the road, braking hard and accelerating fast. As far as im concerned when a car is serviced it is roadtested to make sure it drives and handles as it should do, sometimes faults only occur if a car is driven hard, sometimes people dont even know they had a fault bacause they have never before accelerated around a corner and heard their CV joints clicking, engine mount broken etc. etc. Most people accept this when it is explained to them. Dont get me wrong it is no licence to burn rubber or drive like an idiot im just saying that during a roadtest you should at least try to recreate different types of driving. You pay for your roadtest so whats the point of the skilled mechanic driving it like a granny and trying not to find faults. Im no big head but ive driven thousands and thousands of cars and 90% of the diagnosis is usually done during the roadtest it's not just a jolly!!
Just recently we had a nissan bluebird auto in that an old boy had owned since new and had only done 12500 miles in 14 years! The kickdown mechanism did not work and the gearbox slipped in 3rd. The guy never knew this was a problem or ever had a problem driving it due to he had never pushed the throttle that far or rarely ever went fast enough to get into 3rd. The old boy was very impressed we had found the problem and we adjusted the kickdown as part of the service but he decided to leave the gearbox as it is. We would never have found this if we hadnt given it some throttle and tried to hit the kickdown and he could have gone to another garage who would have called us cowboys for missing such faults!
The first article is mitigated but when people start mentioning I once had a mate down the pub blah blah blah you have to wonder. Sorry I dont mean to wind people up I just want to try and give both sides of the story!
I remember when I was a lowely mechanic taking a customers car for a drive because they had a complaint of lack of power. Quick whip around the block and a bootfull of throttle and the car revved to a maximum 4800rpm then was completely flat i.e no power. On the gentle drive back it was quite obvious the catalyst had broken up and was blocking the exhaust. When I got back I was met by the customer who started shouting and screaming at me for "Thrashing" her car. I soon educated her that if I where to experience a lack of power that I had to use some to get the fault to occur. Im sure customers think we have crystals balls in our toolboxes that tell us what wrong or going to go wrong with cars.
Ive also had people complain that during a roadtest one of my mechaincs was seen weeving around on the road, braking hard and accelerating fast. As far as im concerned when a car is serviced it is roadtested to make sure it drives and handles as it should do, sometimes faults only occur if a car is driven hard, sometimes people dont even know they had a fault bacause they have never before accelerated around a corner and heard their CV joints clicking, engine mount broken etc. etc. Most people accept this when it is explained to them. Dont get me wrong it is no licence to burn rubber or drive like an idiot im just saying that during a roadtest you should at least try to recreate different types of driving. You pay for your roadtest so whats the point of the skilled mechanic driving it like a granny and trying not to find faults. Im no big head but ive driven thousands and thousands of cars and 90% of the diagnosis is usually done during the roadtest it's not just a jolly!!
Just recently we had a nissan bluebird auto in that an old boy had owned since new and had only done 12500 miles in 14 years! The kickdown mechanism did not work and the gearbox slipped in 3rd. The guy never knew this was a problem or ever had a problem driving it due to he had never pushed the throttle that far or rarely ever went fast enough to get into 3rd. The old boy was very impressed we had found the problem and we adjusted the kickdown as part of the service but he decided to leave the gearbox as it is. We would never have found this if we hadnt given it some throttle and tried to hit the kickdown and he could have gone to another garage who would have called us cowboys for missing such faults!
The first article is mitigated but when people start mentioning I once had a mate down the pub blah blah blah you have to wonder. Sorry I dont mean to wind people up I just want to try and give both sides of the story!
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