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Autoshop Workers Take Customer’s Car on Secret Joyride…but This Recording Captured It All

Oct. 10, 2012 9:41am Liz Klimas

S.C. Man Records Chevrolet Dealership Joyride of His Camaro in for Repairs

William Clark's Camaro (Image: YouTube screenshot)

The YouTube user William Clark, a South Carolina man who owns a 2010 Chevy Camaro, asks if you have “ever felt cheated, lied to, put upon, and taken advantage of” at a car dealership or auto repair shop? He felt he had been burned by a dealer making repairs on his car in the past, but had no proof.

The last time he had to take his sports car into the shop though, he installed a recording device. And while you may think this paranoid, even with his previous history of feeling cheated, after listening to the audio, you’ll find he was completely justified.

Clark explains that he brought his Camaro to the Best Chevrolet-Kia in Easley, S.C., after he began to hear gears of the vehicle grinding at parking lot speeds and up to 35 miles per hour.

The audio he recorded during the time the vehicle was out of his hand reveals not only that his car was taken for a joyride by service center workers, but also that they had devised a scheme for how they would charge him and General Motors for the clutch they themselves had damaged.

He writes:

I made it clear what the symptoms were. Yet the Service Manager and his crew took the car for a twenty minute, tire squealing, drive it like you stole it, all out thrashing. They Launched the car over and over again. They did high speed low gear decelereactions.

Clark said the level to which they drove the car was harder in 20 minutes than he had driven it in his years of ownership.

Listen to what he recorded, which he distilled to less than five minutes of audio (Warning: Some strong language):

Clark says he took the evidence to the dealer’s fixed operations director, who didn’t acknowledge wrongdoing, but said he would take a look at the car, potentially make the repairs for free and suggested a possible trade in.

“He is trying to sell me a car because mine is DAMAGED now!!” Clark wrote. “They burned the clutch up, then tried to sell me a clutch, and then two days later bill GM for the same work. Then the Fixed Operations Director tried to sell me a car and convince me that HIS mechanics actions were acceptable trouble shooting practice. He had ample opportunity to do the honorable, decent thing.”

Clark took his issue all the way to the Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center (CAC), who told him it was a dealership problem.

Yahoo!’s Auto blog reports being contacted by a lawyer from the dealership who said the video was “misleadingly edited.” Clark himself has been threatened with a lawsuit over the recording. Yahoo! contacted General Motors, which not only confirmed that the audio was authentic but also said it was ”actively working closely with the dealer to resolve this situation to the customer’s satisfaction.”

Clark suggests the dealership purchase his vehicle, make the repairs and sell it themselves.

Read Clark’s full account in his video description here.

This isn’t the first time we’ve brought you evidence of sports cars being taken for an illegal spin. Earlier this year, TheBlaze reported about an undercover investigation conducted by a Florida news station that showed a long-term parking lot owner was abusing cars left in his possession.

Update: The audio was deleted from YouTube for an unknown reason.

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Comments (82)

thegreatcarnac
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 11:51am
GM should have failed, declared bankruptcy, rearrange their system and their union contracts, and started over again …just like Romney said. If they had done that they would be on the road to recovery by now. At this time, they still owe millions and the unions basically run the place. GM will eventually get worse because the unions will not police themselves. Remember….unless they change and get out from under obama and the unions,….GM will fail again.

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- turkey13
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 12:19pm
  A Buick was my last GM car. It spent so much time in the shop I finally made sure I had no more than 1/4 tank because they would joy ride. I really blew my cork when it had been in shop for 3 days. I didin’t notice gas gauge for some reason but made it a half mile up this big hill I had to go up to go home and I ran out. I left my wife and walked back to shop and chewed out the service MGR. He got gas & took me back to the car where he got chewed by my wife, after she found all the cups and trash where the guys went to eat and just through it in the floor and left it there. I changed to Fords and that is all I have bought since 1981. This has never happened to these cars and I know they have to test drive but haven’t notice any trash or gas used.
  
  Report this comment
- PlowMan
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:37pm
  Truer words were never spoken. I agree that we would be seeing a great car company right now if GM was allowed to fail. Heck, take a look at the past in the automotive and agriculture industry. It is littered with “great” companies that couldn’t survive for one reason or another. Are we better off today without them? You bet we are, because we learned from their mistakes. I feel sorry for the folks that are directly involved in a business that collapses but often times the employees are better off too.
  
  Report this comment
- chummycat
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 2:12pm
  I think the bailout of GM was fraud!! The company got taxpayer money the unions got bailed out and turned over a nice contribution to the dems. He should have been impeached for ALL the crap he’s pulled over the last four years.
  
  Report this comment
- anolesman1
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 2:20pm
  What bothers me, it’s the American Taxpayer that Obama comitted all of us to keep GM going and then he claims how he saved GM.
  
  Report this comment
- rookorami
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 4:34pm
  I agree, I used to really like GM trucks, however after the bailout I vowed to never buy another GM product. Instead I went with another manufacturer who leveraged their brand and did what any responsible business does. Vote with your dollar,
  
  Report this comment
- bgotts27
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 5:31pm
  But Obama SAVED GM (and got Bin Laden)!
  
  Just ask him; he will be all to happy to remind you of how great a job he is doing for “us.”
  
  Report this comment
COFemale
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 11:44am
it isn’t just GM, all dealership maintenance areas will try to rip you off, women especially. Everytime I took my truck when it was new for an oil change, they came up with $300 to $1000 of repair needed. I looked at them and said no just want the oil change. Everything they said needed changing to this day 14 years later is still the original equipment. They make their money on unneeded repairs. This is why I never take my car into dealerships.

Finding a reputable car repair service is getting harder and harder today. This is why I try to do my own repairs. Can you imagine how much I’d be charged for putting a new light bulb in my headlights? I usually buy my own filter right before I go get an oil change. If I could I’d do my own oil change. When my belts went bad, I had my male friend help me change them.

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- mr. parker
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 12:49pm
  This is why I tell kids who like cars and are mechanically inclined to try and get into auto body or mechanics.
  They can take courses at some community colleges or work for someone. They can eventually open up their own business and become successful, especially since a lot of kids don’t want to get their hands dirty.
  The gender studies majors can work as servers when the mechanic comes in with his wife and orders dinner.
  
  Report this comment
- corbecket
  Posted on October 11, 2012 at 12:28am
  @cofemale
  
  Unfortunately, it’s not just the classic US car manufacturers that have this “rape and pillage” approach to servicing cars. Even Toyota, which may actually be more “American” in the parts count, than GM has the same problems.
  
  We have a Toyota Prius (no we’re not Donks), and lost anti-skid mode on our braking. Took it in to the Toyota dealer in Denver, sat for six hours while they had their way with it, got charged $230 bucks for initial evaluation, and were then told that we’d have to bring it back to have the whole danged main computer changed out to the tune of $2,800. I did ask if they had checked the speed sensors on the individual wheels, and was assured that they had done that. The “service” manager had such an honest look on his face too. Spooky honest.
  
  I promptly took the Prius to an independent maintenance facility. They really did hook the sensors up to a scope, and discovered that the left front wheel’s speed sensor was inop (as I suspected). The sensor was replaced, and the total bill came to $200 (vs. $2800).
  
  I often wonder whether the Denver dealer was purely incompetent, or a conniving liar. I concluded that they were too well trained to have missed an easy diagnosis like that one. I believe the former possibility.
  
  Find a good independent (non-dealer) maintenance facility for all of your after warranty needs. I believe you will get much better, and more honest service, by avoiding the dealer’s service department.
  
  Report this comment
GrumpyCat
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 11:37am
Dealer owes the man a comparable 2013 model at no charge.

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OpenTheDoor
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 11:33am
His problem started when he bought a Government Motors car.
Can’t fix stupid.

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- OniKaze
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 2:45pm
  I agree… Just cause a car looks nice, doesn’t mean its worth buying when its made by a company that is KNOWN for putting out nothing but junk… GM and ALL of its products are garbage, and the people making them should be slightly ashamed of themselves for their contributions…
  
  Obama DID NOT “save” GM… The American taxpayer had money stolen from them by GM and their government buddies..
  
  Obama is a failure….
  GM is a Failure….
  And thanks to Obama, AMERICA is becoming a failure….
  
  This must end.. And with some luck, enough of the American people will wake up long enough to begin to “solve” the problem of America’s failures…
  
  Report this comment
- devildogger
  Posted on October 11, 2012 at 12:41am
  Don’t forget about all the bondholders that had their equity STOLEN from them. I bet some of them were GM retirees who worked their whole lives for that one company, and to have the agreement broken for bondholders and retirees is inexcusable.
  
  Report this comment
WatchingThePuppetShow
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 11:32am
Hey anyone needing a job in S.C. – I believe there are going to be some positions opening up REAL soon.

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watashbuddyfriend
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 11:29am
Ok, let me see the rest of the story….

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WashingtonIsMyHero
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 11:03am
Lying crooks in the auto repair business, what a surprise! Were those mechanics in a union? We wouldn’t want them to get fired for despicable behavior.

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schroeder123
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:52am
This would make me angry. The dealer ship should be put out of business. GM Thanks Obamamama.

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bikerdogred1
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:51am
Another good reason not to buy a GM product.

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- thx1138v2
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 2:21pm
  Actually, it’s a good reason to do your own maintenance. My 94 GMC half ton is tsill running great. Minimum maintenance of stuff that normally wears out. I did have to get a rebuilt automatic transmission at 208k miles. I looked at doing it myself but the specialized tools would have been about half the cost of having it done professionally. So i took it to a shop that does competition transmissions and asked then to rebuild it to specs. Cost me a little more but I’ll probably get another 200k out of it.
  
  And it’s not just GM and it’s not just dealerships. The crooked mechanics take advantage of peoples’ ignorance. I had a good honest mechanic for about 10 years but he retired. So DIY.
  
  Stay away from Chinese parts also. First replacement Chinese water pump was at 120k miles. It last about 20k miles. I replaced it with American made and it’s still on the truck.
  
  Report this comment
RANGER1965
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:49am
This story is about to go mainstream. When that happens what little expense in satisfying an angry customer will PALE! in comparison to the loss of revenue from people no longer going to the dealership, and no longer using that shop.

Stop defending the mechanics!!! When you’re wrong your wrong! When you’re caught, your caught! Trying to spin it any furthur just makes it worse!

If I was the owner of the dealership I would clean house, and get rid of all the mechanics involved. Then I would bend over BACKWARDS!!! to please this guy. I would take his car back and give him a new one free of charge. I would personally go to his house and apologize.

This is how an honorable man settles a dispute when he has wronged another.

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- FightingBear
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 12:22pm
  You are absolutely correct…there is no other option other than whast you stated.
  
  Of course we live in a world where the dealer will try to screw him again. They will file a lawsuit claiming that it was illegal to record them without notifying them first.
  
  Report this comment
term limits for congress
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:49am
Took my Olds to a Chevy dealer for a repair – got a blown engine out of it. I was told, “a engine can blow at any time – you can’t prove we did it.” Then told me, ” you’re just like every other American – want someone else to take responsibility for your actions.” I had the car towed to another mechanic. The dealer charged me for parts (original repair) that they did not install and allowed bits of gasket to get in the oil pan, which clogged the oil filter. I ended up getting my money back ($1200) plus the parts required to fix my car from the dealer. Major jerks! Gwatney Chevrolet.

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- term limits for congress
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 11:05am
  And, that was my last GM vehicle.
  
  Report this comment
- chips1
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 11:43am
  Same with Dodge. Got price of $600, then after the work it was just under $1,000. I showed them the written price they quoted and they brought it down to just over $750. Real crooks.
  
  Report this comment
- NeoFan
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 3:34pm
  @Chips1. The same thing just happened to me at Ken Garff in Salt Lake City. They gave me a 470 dollar estimate and charged me just under 1000 dollars
  two hours later. They even charged me for diagnosing a problem that they failed to fix.
  After my complaint I was offered no reduction in the bill.
  
  Report this comment
floridareader
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:42am
This wasn’t planned. It was a spontaneous act. Blame Ferris Bueller, the movie.

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BookMDanno
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:40am
I stopped doing business with a new car dealership in St Peters MO when–on 2 separate occasions–I heard long, loud, squealing of tires coming from cars being driven from the service area to the parking lot. This could be more common than we realize.

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ChiefGeorge
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:38am
Even when you’ve got the proof they say they’ve done nothing wrong.

I saw a local film crew follow a guy who took a customers New Vette for a joy ride, to the Homedepot to load it with wood and so on, when they confronted him over it, he denied it. Even on film sir, we have it! Nope, it wasn’t me. We’ve turned into a generation of liars, cheats and thieves. You used to be able to trust your local merchants because their businesses depended on it, now its not about trust and a good reputation anymore, its about credentials which don’t really mean squat if you can’t trust them to give you a good quality product or service. As for that car, the stress of extreme wear and tear on the motor cannot truly be measured unless you pull that motor and rip it apart and inspect every cylinder, cam, lifter, crankshaft for wear beyond what it should be in comparable street driven cars of like mileage. I feel for the guy and hope they give him a trade on a brand new Camaro SS.

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- addie
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 12:42pm
  When businesses know the government will bail them out why bother with customer service? Just like Romney said in the debate on the dodd frank bill. Those banks “too big to fall” can now do no wrong because they know the government will bail them out.
  
  Report this comment
- HI_Don
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 9:58pm
  If it was a reputable dealer with any brains, they wouldn’t just fix the car, they wouldn’t just replace the car wit the same model year, they wouldn’t just make him a deal on a new car – I would pick the top of the line Camaro (well I’d actually rather have the Mustang or the Challenger but…) fully loaded and I would give it to him writing off whatever he had left on his old loan and the new car free of charge. Then I would fire every mechanic involved in the issue. The dealer can write off the loss anyway and there would have been no better publicity available money could buy. A statement that you take the customer seriously. You run a legitimate establishment. Instead he will suffer an unmeasurable amount of negative advertisement trying to justify what is unjustifiable.
  
  Penny smart and dollar stupid~
  
  Report this comment
aquablue
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:27am
I drive an old car and when I took it in for general maintenence, I couldn’t get rid of them.
Dealerships like Best Chevrolet-Kia in Easley, S.C., BEWARE.

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FightingBear
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:24am
I hope the Blaze does a follow-up on this situation to let us know how it was handled internally (culprits fired, culprits promoted to managers, etc …) and what reparations they made to William Clark.

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- woodyee
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:35am
  They’re government workers, aren’t they? Maybe not. If not, they’re covered by the Gaybama umbrella.
  
  Report this comment
cessna152
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:23am
What a surprise… Chevy! This is what Government run motors is all about. Freaking spoiled brats afraid to work and ready to screw anyone that has “more” than they do. Screw Chevy, GM and any government subsidized goods.

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woodyee
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:22am
Hoo-boy…wonder what the DA would think about this if the owner would think to get his own attorney? I’m just sooooo glad I found a good mechanic…my family has been using him since – over 20yrs.

Here’s another way to look at this story – GM car. $40,000. Clutch couldn’t handle a 20 minute joy ride – and the drivers weren’t thieves. “Gaybama Motors – guaranteed to run 20 minutes, or your next one is – fixed!”

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Ted Zeppelin
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:20am
This is what yuo get for buying from a tax payer subsidised failing business.
GM, it’s dealers and employees have the same attitude as street walker on the south side of Chicago. They just don’t give a **** for nothin’.

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cessna152
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:19am
They should make a movie about this and call it “Clark Bueller’s day off”.

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hi
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:12am
I paid $800 for Lo Jack and left the car in the shop for it to be installed. I called Lo Jack a while later to see if it was installed and it was not.

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Detroit paperboy
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:05am
Blame Bush………..

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Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 9:57am
Was a Time if someone did that with a horse,you could just Get John Wayne on their Anus.

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Landon410
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 9:55am
thats why i drive an 11 year old POS and not a new sports car…. yep, this is why

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- Smokey_Bojangles
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 9:59am
  If I was rich off of welfare like Big Bird,I would get a 2012 Chevy Camaro. Get It Elmo Red or Cookie Monster Blue!
  
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Angel_light
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 9:48am
this makes me worry about my car.

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