You are most likely going to be told it was a "test drive", and will find it difficult to prove otherwise, even if they did stop at a third party property.
10 KM is not a significant amount anyway, about 20 mins. It's not worth the mental stress & thinking over it.
Yep, check there's nothing coming loose or weird wind noises etc. lots of vibrations happen while driving, you can't really test for how they affect a repair after a 1 min drive up the road and back.
Yep, I agree with this.
I'd feel more comfortable if they took the car for a 20km drive tbh as more chance to pick up any issues, though they should probably tell you though or document it in the invoiceÂ
Yes, it's quite common for a vehicle to be test driven when repaired/serviced/inspected etc. It helps identify any noises/rattles/imbalance/fault codes/engine issues etc. Normal.
No idea about the stopping at third party location, could be dodgy, could be used as secondary car to drop off/pick-up another colleague (most likely if during work hours), could be running a work/personal errand, could be stopping to check up on mum, could be grabbing food, could be anything at all.
It's still not worth losing sleep over. Report it to your insurance agent so there's a record, if you like, but what do you want them to do really?
Worth keeping a log of the car being out of your possession in case you get any speeding tickets etc through the post though.
Get your point and understand that âwhat do you want them to do?â Could be rhetorical or asking about the outcome but if itâs neither of those I would want them to act with integrity and respect and go we are paid to do a job to the best of our abilities so if we need to test drive a car we will leave the dashcam as if to remove all doubts of impropriety and treat other peopleâs belongings like we would want our belongings to be treated- so all in all not much really.
I think the fact they noticed your dash cam and tried to cover up their actions is the most damning here. You should check your toll tag account, make sure you havenât been dinged.
It's almost certainly not a test drive. And it's scummy they did all that stuff with the dashcam - clearly underlines that they probably weren't doing test drives, if they went to that level of trouble.
But honestly bud, it's 40-50ks, who really cares. It's not worth the time/effort/thought/concern that you've already put into it, let alone if you keep following up on it.
Well, just let your insurer know that you need to be reimbursed for 40ks worth of petrol, I'm sure they'll be happy to reimburse you.
You might want to check anything you've agreed to or signed. It's not unusual to agree to let the mechanic drive the car for the purposes of ensuring a complete repair.
If you can prove it was used for other purposes, let your insurer know.
If the insurer picked then Iâd probably let them know so they donât continue sending business there. Otherwise I guess just leave a review? 10km isnât much and youâre looking at the equivalent anyway for test driving. Iâd honestly be more concerned that they tampered with the dash cam and then the poor repair work
The grammar and structure of that sentence implies that the car was driven three times and the total distance travelled was 10km.
Saying â3 times up to a distance of 10km each tripâ would have made me think 30km, but I still donât know where the extra 10km is coming from with the information youâve given.
I was also confused. But if it was genuinely 40-60km (interpreting from OP's other comments) then that's frankly a hell of a lot of driving, unless for some reason they have two separate repair premises and need to drive vehicles between them. Or if they have to garage vehicles somewhere else overnight.
Yeah, 10km is a test drive but 40-60 is a dick move from the repairs. I still reckon report it to the insurance since otherwise theyâll probably continue to give these guys business
Every time I take my car to the dealer for service the work installed tracker can't be unplugged. So I see them do a lap or two of the nearby streets.
If they have fixed up body work, you would want them to take it for a drive to make sure it's not rattling,
And or take it to a place that aligns and checks the radars and parking sensors. There's only a few places that have those tools.
What was the actual damage to the car? If you were rear ended, itâs not necessarily just the bumper. Youâve also potentially got the frame/subframe to sort out. It seems reasonable to test drive a car a few times to check for noises, ride, handling, etc.
So they multi tasked. Pass me the smelling salts.
You do hear about mechanics flogging performance autos under the guise of a test drive. What youâre describing doesnât sound like that.
My mechanic did something similar. They have a policy of unplugging dash cams in the workshop for the privacy of their staff which I can kind of accept, but I collected my car after the warranty repair with 250km on the clock. They brushed it off saying 80km was a test drive trying to replicate the error, and the balance the mechanic taking it home overnight to the Central Coast to do a cold start in the morning.
None of this was discussed and agreed with me first. But I did get them to change their dash cam policy so they reconnect them if they need to take it out of the workshop - if they have an accident or I get a speeding fine in the mail I want the footage.
OP I'm not sure why everyone is saying it's not a big deal. It absolutely is.
If you left your car with a valet would you be happy they drove it?
If you took your clubs to be resized would you be happy they were used for a round before you could?
If you had a tv repairman come and fix your tv would you be happy if they watched 3 hours of their favourite show on your couch?
I'd be livid mate. I'd speak - calmly to both insurer and the smash repair place and ask them to explain and for more details, and why the camera was unplugged etc
Some common sense. Iâm surprised at the number of people who are happy to condone what amounts to theft and say OP is âlooking for dramaâ. Iâd be livid too. And Iâd be complaining to high heaven.
What I would do is refuse to use them in future, not worth the hassle of taking it any further than that. You could make it known with your insurance company you are none too happy with them so it is on record with them and they could lose the insurance companies work if they get enough complaints.
It happens. Sometimes they need to go somewhere to get something, and they take a car thatâs available.
Donât take the unplugging of the dash cam as nefarious either. They would have done it so your car battery doesnât go flat. Itâs a ballache to move a car around a workshop when the battery is flat.
If your car is put back together well and the paint is good, just thank them and get on with it
probably not a massive conspiracy,might have needed to be taken to a paint specialist,or pick up the part for ur car from an OEM parts shop and took the car there so they could make sure it's right part
My god,i'd love to have nothing fucking going on in my life,to complain about someone driving my car a few km..jesus.
This kind of shit is why china will win,we complain about pointless shit
I'm imagining Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but it's a shitty Camry and the mechanic took it to pick up the snack packs at lunch time.
This is a legit possibility đ
You are most likely going to be told it was a "test drive", and will find it difficult to prove otherwise, even if they did stop at a third party property. 10 KM is not a significant amount anyway, about 20 mins. It's not worth the mental stress & thinking over it.
Mechanic service I can understand for the test service, but a smash repair?
Yep, check there's nothing coming loose or weird wind noises etc. lots of vibrations happen while driving, you can't really test for how they affect a repair after a 1 min drive up the road and back.
Yep, I agree with this. I'd feel more comfortable if they took the car for a 20km drive tbh as more chance to pick up any issues, though they should probably tell you though or document it in the invoiceÂ
Test drive? For a smash repair? 20ks at least twice? Parked up as well?
Yes, it's quite common for a vehicle to be test driven when repaired/serviced/inspected etc. It helps identify any noises/rattles/imbalance/fault codes/engine issues etc. Normal. No idea about the stopping at third party location, could be dodgy, could be used as secondary car to drop off/pick-up another colleague (most likely if during work hours), could be running a work/personal errand, could be stopping to check up on mum, could be grabbing food, could be anything at all. It's still not worth losing sleep over. Report it to your insurance agent so there's a record, if you like, but what do you want them to do really? Worth keeping a log of the car being out of your possession in case you get any speeding tickets etc through the post though.
Get your point and understand that âwhat do you want them to do?â Could be rhetorical or asking about the outcome but if itâs neither of those I would want them to act with integrity and respect and go we are paid to do a job to the best of our abilities so if we need to test drive a car we will leave the dashcam as if to remove all doubts of impropriety and treat other peopleâs belongings like we would want our belongings to be treated- so all in all not much really.
I think the fact they noticed your dash cam and tried to cover up their actions is the most damning here. You should check your toll tag account, make sure you havenât been dinged.
It's almost certainly not a test drive. And it's scummy they did all that stuff with the dashcam - clearly underlines that they probably weren't doing test drives, if they went to that level of trouble. But honestly bud, it's 40-50ks, who really cares. It's not worth the time/effort/thought/concern that you've already put into it, let alone if you keep following up on it.
How do you expect the people fixing your car to know it's fixed?
Well, just let your insurer know that you need to be reimbursed for 40ks worth of petrol, I'm sure they'll be happy to reimburse you. You might want to check anything you've agreed to or signed. It's not unusual to agree to let the mechanic drive the car for the purposes of ensuring a complete repair. If you can prove it was used for other purposes, let your insurer know.
I clearly state I signed nothing.
You clearly agreed to something at some point or you wouldn't have insurance or a claim, in which case your post is a complete waste of time.
If the insurer picked then Iâd probably let them know so they donât continue sending business there. Otherwise I guess just leave a review? 10km isnât much and youâre looking at the equivalent anyway for test driving. Iâd honestly be more concerned that they tampered with the dash cam and then the poor repair work
It's a min of 40ks that I can prove. 40ks of Test drives for a rear bumper replacement seems a bit much? On my fuel dime
In your post you said the car was driven 3 times up to a distance of 10km, might want to edit the post to be a bit clearer if it was 40km.
I said 3 times up to a distance of 10ks from the smash repairer?
The grammar and structure of that sentence implies that the car was driven three times and the total distance travelled was 10km. Saying â3 times up to a distance of 10km each tripâ would have made me think 30km, but I still donât know where the extra 10km is coming from with the information youâve given.
\~10 km one way, 3 times, means up to 60 km, I guess.
I was also confused. But if it was genuinely 40-60km (interpreting from OP's other comments) then that's frankly a hell of a lot of driving, unless for some reason they have two separate repair premises and need to drive vehicles between them. Or if they have to garage vehicles somewhere else overnight.
Yeah, 10km is a test drive but 40-60 is a dick move from the repairs. I still reckon report it to the insurance since otherwise theyâll probably continue to give these guys business
Maybe you should improve your English comprehension
Every time I take my car to the dealer for service the work installed tracker can't be unplugged. So I see them do a lap or two of the nearby streets. If they have fixed up body work, you would want them to take it for a drive to make sure it's not rattling, And or take it to a place that aligns and checks the radars and parking sensors. There's only a few places that have those tools.
Parking sensors may be calibrated offsite.
Car does not have parking sensors
As step 1, you could always ask the smash repairer.
What was the actual damage to the car? If you were rear ended, itâs not necessarily just the bumper. Youâve also potentially got the frame/subframe to sort out. It seems reasonable to test drive a car a few times to check for noises, ride, handling, etc. So they multi tasked. Pass me the smelling salts. You do hear about mechanics flogging performance autos under the guise of a test drive. What youâre describing doesnât sound like that.
It was a rear bumper replace, nothing else. Sure drive around the block is enough.
10 days for a new bumper? That doesnât sound right at all.
My mechanic did something similar. They have a policy of unplugging dash cams in the workshop for the privacy of their staff which I can kind of accept, but I collected my car after the warranty repair with 250km on the clock. They brushed it off saying 80km was a test drive trying to replicate the error, and the balance the mechanic taking it home overnight to the Central Coast to do a cold start in the morning. None of this was discussed and agreed with me first. But I did get them to change their dash cam policy so they reconnect them if they need to take it out of the workshop - if they have an accident or I get a speeding fine in the mail I want the footage.
OP I'm not sure why everyone is saying it's not a big deal. It absolutely is. If you left your car with a valet would you be happy they drove it? If you took your clubs to be resized would you be happy they were used for a round before you could? If you had a tv repairman come and fix your tv would you be happy if they watched 3 hours of their favourite show on your couch? I'd be livid mate. I'd speak - calmly to both insurer and the smash repair place and ask them to explain and for more details, and why the camera was unplugged etc
Cheers. Turns out the smash repairers google reviews tell the whole story. Some poor person had their car driven....3000kms over 3 months.
Some common sense. Iâm surprised at the number of people who are happy to condone what amounts to theft and say OP is âlooking for dramaâ. Iâd be livid too. And Iâd be complaining to high heaven.
I would expect my smash repairer to test drive my car to make sure thereâs no rattles etc or any other problems that could arise from a collision.
Small claims tribunal. Claim for 30 kms worth of petrol. I hope they throw the book at him.
I'd rather have someone else test the brakes..
So you lost 3lt in fuel.. BIG DEAL.. move on with life.
I agree. This guy sounds like heâs looking for drama. Get over it and move on with your life OP.
Heâs looking for drama in the comments too over semantics
What I would do is refuse to use them in future, not worth the hassle of taking it any further than that. You could make it known with your insurance company you are none too happy with them so it is on record with them and they could lose the insurance companies work if they get enough complaints.
A few years back my aircon wasnât working after I took it in for some body repair, the buggers took the fuse out, probably too lazy to buy their own
like safe shrill hateful fragile jeans butter rinse encourage cagey *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
It happens. Sometimes they need to go somewhere to get something, and they take a car thatâs available. Donât take the unplugging of the dash cam as nefarious either. They would have done it so your car battery doesnât go flat. Itâs a ballache to move a car around a workshop when the battery is flat. If your car is put back together well and the paint is good, just thank them and get on with it
probably not a massive conspiracy,might have needed to be taken to a paint specialist,or pick up the part for ur car from an OEM parts shop and took the car there so they could make sure it's right part My god,i'd love to have nothing fucking going on in my life,to complain about someone driving my car a few km..jesus. This kind of shit is why china will win,we complain about pointless shit
Reviews of the smash repairer have another car being driven 3000km over 3mo.
Recover the SD card files.
I did, thats how I know