A woman who dropped her car off at the dealership for service later caught a worker on the road with it. Viewers weighed in to reassure her that it was likely a routine test drive and not a joyride. Or was it?
TikTok user @peace2080 posted the video, which has since amassed 1.2 million views, on March 15. In the video, @peace2080 drives down a road. The text overlay reads, “POV: Dealership says they’re ‘fixing’ your car but you see it on the road AND they tell you to pick it up at 5pm. ??!”
As she drives behind the vehicle, you can hear the moment @peace2080 confirms it is indeed hers. “Yeah, that is. Yup. Because I left the rooftop a little bit open,” she says.
The video has also accumulated more than 700 comments. The majority of commenters said this is likely a road test to ensure that the car is running smoothly again after the repairs.
“Dealerships/mechanics will do a road test. In my experience working with dealers, they’ll do a 20 mile road test. 10 to and 10 back, to verify the repair. I promise they aren’t on their way to sbux,” wrote one user. She responded, “Thanks for this ! Im a first time buyer and I was like wtf are they doing.”
@peace2080 ♬ original sound – irisojeda
A second user confirmed, “Dad owns a mechanic shop and I help work there, if you bring your car in for a problem they drive it to figure the problem out or see if they got the problem to go away before they give it back.”
A third user said, “My friends family got their car fixed, dealer got into a wreck during the test drive. They got a brand new car out of it.”
However, not everyone agreed it was necessarily a simple road test.
One user said, “This happened to me! Dealership employee kept and drove my car for a week (300 miles). Found out they went to a bar and were out in a different city at midnight with someone else in my car!!”
A second user stated, “I used to work at a dealer.. and mechanics would take customer’s car to lunch.”
A third user said, “My mechanic went to McDonald’s for a test ride after fixing it. Brought me back a Big Mac.”
Last year, a man caught a mechanic taking his BMW on a joyride on dashcam. He watched as the worker eventually reached speeds in excess of 100 mph and caused a wreck. If you do suspect joyriding on the part of your mechanic, car enthusiast website Jalopnik advises to first address it with the dealer and give them a chance to make it right.
The Daily Dot reached out to @peace2080 via TikTok direct message for comment.
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Source: https://www.dailydot.com/news/dealership-car-on-road/