car dealerships driving your car

[MrDudeMan]

We've had threads on insurance company devices being plugged into cars before and I'm not attempting to resurrect that discussion. I am a huge fan of the devices; They save me tons of money because I drive like a well adjusted adult and I don't give two shits if they log information about where I go and how fast I get there. With that said, here's my story:

I'm fine doing car maintenance myself, but dealership coupons make it a waste of my time for the difference of a few dollars when it comes to simple stuff like oil changes and tire rotations. Anyways, I went to a Honda dealership in Frisco, TX yesterday for an oil change. There were approximately 5 billion people there, but everything seemed to be flowing smoothly.

As I pulled into the enormous porte cochere, a guy walked up and handed me a clipboard that I needed to complete. After that was all handled, I got my kids out of the car, handed him the keys, and started walking toward the waiting room. I remembered that I just started using the Nationwide MySmartRide device and it dings you if you drive like a retard, which I assume every mechanic does in the cars they're servicing. Therefore, I turned around and very nicely asked that whoever drives my car start and stop slowly because the car is recording that type of stuff. He assured me that it wouldn't be a problem, which, for some stupid reason, I believed even though my gut told me I should unplug the device. This was at 10:51 AM.

At 11:31 AM, I got the car back and everything was great; the car was washed, the inside had been vacuumed, and the oil filter was actually changed (yes, I put a mark on it before I left my house). When I got home, this is what I found:

Initially, I only noticed the hard braking event at 11:06 AM, which obviously I didn't do because the car wasn't in my possession. However, I also noticed that they drove the car 10 miles and went almost 50 mph. In 1,200 miles of driving over nine weeks, I've accumulated exactly zero high-risk events and these guys managed to outdo me in 20 minutes. Clearly they left the parking lot and ran some errands because the dealership service garage is about 80 feet away from the the drop off location.

There's no data between 11:16 AM and 11:22 AM because the car was sitting still. Presumably, the oil was being changed. At 11:23 AM, the car started logging again, but the max speed was 15 mph and the distance was 0.068 miles. At 11:31 AM, I got the car and that's also when the log resumed.

I asked Nationwide if they'll throw out the event because I can prove that I wasn't driving the car. My agent said he would try and that it may actually work because I have a timestamped receipt. I'm not holding my breath and it's not a big deal anyway because the rest of my logs are perfect, so I'll probably get the max discount.

I'm going to the dealership tomorrow morning to ask what they were doing with my car for 20 minutes and why it went 10 miles when it should have gone about 80 feet.

 

[rsbennett00]

Wow that's messed up. I'm very curious to know what they say.

 

[Fern]

Did you post that so you could work in the term "porte cochere"?



Fern

 

[brainhulk]

You messed up when you asked them to drive the car carefully and said you were recording. You probably asked in a condescending manner also

 

[MrDudeMan]

Did you post that so you could work in the term "porte cochere"?



Fern

You know it. Actually, I posted to see if someone could offer a reasonable explanation for the distance driven before I go to the dealership tomorrow. I don't think one exists, but I thought I should double check.

 

[purbeast0]

haha wow so starting and stopping fast is considered bad for insurance? that is retarded.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Probably standard protocol of checking out the car and dude probably went to McDonald's. Definitely not something worth fighting over imo.

 

[lxskllr]

Probably standard protocol of checking out the car and dude probably went to McDonald's. Definitely not something worth fighting over imo.

Ten miles is a long way to check an oil change :^D

I do agree with you though. I wouldn't worry about it, but it may affect my chances of using them again.

 

[ImpulsE69]

They ran out of oil filters and had to run to Wal Mart.

 

[MrDudeMan]

haha wow so starting and stopping fast is considered bad for insurance? that is retarded.

You realize insurance companies have some of the most complex and accurate statistical models, right? It's the entire point of their business. I don't care one way or another because I drive at safe speeds and I don't brake or accelerate hard. The explanation on the website is:

Hard braking means forcing the vehicle to suddenly stop or decelerate in excess of 7.7 mph per second. Safe drivers will see very few instances of hard braking. Some drivers speed toward stop lights, then have to slam on the brakes. Other drivers tailgate then brake hard when the driver ahead of them slows down. Doing this more than the average driver can increase your chance of an accident.

I asked for specific details from my agent and he said the people who fall into the above categories (hard brakers/accelerators) have roughly 4x as many accidents as those who don't. You can think it's retarded I guess, but it's data that has no agenda.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Ten miles is a long way to check an oil change :^D

I do agree with you though. I wouldn't worry about it, but it may affect my chances of using them again.

10 miles is way, way beyond a reasonable threshold. It's just a car, but I treat it very well because I keep my cars for a long time. My last car was 7 years old when I sold it (had to get something that would fit kids better) and I got 82% of the original purchase price because it was pristine. Some asshole driving it around for fun doesn't work for me and there's no way anyone should expect that to happen during an oil change, at least to this degree. I've never thought about it in the past, but having irrefutable data makes it more annoying.

Edit: Also, they drove the car before the oil was changed. The car was driven a few hundred feet after the oil was changed and before it was in my possession.

 

[MrDudeMan]

You messed up when you asked them to drive the car carefully and said you were recording. You probably asked in a condescending manner also

Thanks for playing, but no. I told the guy my car is recording everything because it uses the data to calculate an insurance discount, so I would really appreciate if whoever drives the car would baby it. I also apologized for asking them to do something like that in the spirit of not being an annoying customer. He responded with, "No problem. We've had that request before and I'll make sure it's not a problem. The garage is just over there [points to garage implying the drive is very short]."

 

[boomerang]

If I took my car in for an oil change and they drove it 10 miles in the process I would be pounding on the desk of the highest authority at the dealership and that would be before I contacted the manufacturer.

There is no reason whatsoever for the car to be driven any further than to the service bay and back into the writeup bay. If it has to be parked in between while waiting for a bay to open up it's obviously not going to be accumulating any miles. You change the oil and when it's started afterwards if there are no leaks, the job is done. No need to put miles on the car.

Most of the posters so far have not even bothered to take the time to read what the OP wrote. But that hasn't stopped them from making inane comments based on what they assumed he wrote. The miles were put on the car prior to any work being done on it.

 

[Jimzz]

Probably standard protocol of checking out the car and dude probably went to McDonald's. Definitely not something worth fighting over imo.

No that is not standard protocol. He came in for a oil change, there no reason to take a test drive for only a oil change; let alone 10miles after or before the work.

And yes I would have an issue with it. In my case I have a dash camera so more to upload if the dealer wanted to be a ass about it.

 

[Markbnj]

Ten miles is a long way to check an oil change :^D

I do agree with you though. I wouldn't worry about it, but it may affect my chances of using them again.

Yeah, for a repair it wouldn't get my attention, but there is no reason to drive a car after changing the oil. I would take it up with the dealership service manager. No way I would let it slide. I don't take my vehicles to the dealership for maintenance or out-of-warranty work for this and many other reasons. I've had way more poor experiences than excellent ones.

 

[brainhulk]

Thanks for playing, but no. I told the guy my car is recording everything because it uses the data to calculate an insurance discount, so I would really appreciate if whoever drives the car would baby it. I also apologized for asking them to do something like that in the spirit of not being an annoying customer. He responded with, "No problem. We've had that request before and I'll make sure it's not a problem. The garage is just over there [points to garage implying the drive is very short]."

Im not saying it's right what they did, just the why. You have to understand the mindset of the people working these places. They deal with demanding pricks all day and they grow tired of it. Anytime someone asks to treat them special, they think to themselves "get the fuck outa here, fuck that imma do what I do". what do you expect out of low wage workers?

 

[MrDudeMan]

Im not saying it's right what they did, just the why. You have to understand the mindset of the people working these places. They deal with demanding pricks all day and they grow tired of it. Anytime someone asks to treat them special, they think to themselves "get the fuck outa here, fuck that imma do what I do". what do you expect out of low wage workers?

I understand what you're saying and that's why I tried to be careful with my wording and tone when I made the request. I also apologized, like I said in another post, specifically to try to make him not feel the way you described. I figured I made a request with a valid underlying purpose other than "because I think I'm special" so he would hopefully recognize that. He seemed to respond positively, but I doubt the next guy was made aware of the request. In hindsight, I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything different. This isn't the whole issue, though.

 

[WilliamM2]

Your insurance company considers hard braking at 22 mph a "high-risk event"? If a child or dog runs into the road are you supposed to run him over? If you hit the kid without braking hard, will your premium stay the same?

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

No that is not standard protocol. He came in for a oil change, there no reason to take a test drive for only a oil change; let alone 10miles after or before the work.

And yes I would have an issue with it. In my case I have a dash camera so more to upload if the dealer wanted to be a ass about it.

Being at a dealership it wouldn't surprise me for them to claim they were checking the vehicle out. I'm sure they just wanted to pick up lunch and put the miles on it that way. Either way I'm picking my battles more selectively these days and this isn't one I'd fight.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Your insurance company considers hard braking at 22 mph a "high-risk event"? If a child or dog runs into the road are you supposed to run him over? If you hit the kid without braking hard, will your premium stay the same?

Hard braking means forcing the vehicle to suddenly stop or decelerate in excess of 7.7 mph per second. Safe drivers will see very few instances of hard braking. Some drivers speed toward stop lights, then have to slam on the brakes. Other drivers tailgate then brake hard when the driver ahead of them slows down. Doing this more than the average driver can increase your chance of an accident.

You get an 'allowance' based on the average number of events by an average driver specifically for situations like the one you described. At this point in the process, my 'allowance' is 4 events and I have 1. That's why I'm not going to make a big deal out of it with the insurance company. i still asked for it to be removed, though, because I may end up needing that headroom in the next 3 months.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Being at a dealership it wouldn't surprise me for them to claim they were checking the vehicle out. I'm sure they just wanted to pick up lunch and put the miles on it that way. Either way I'm picking my battles more selectively these days and this isn't one I'd fight.

You're decision not to make a stink about something like this doesn't mean you're taking the high road. There's no justifiable reason for them to have driven the car anywhere near that many miles. You're still missing a key point: the miles were put on the car before the oil was changed.

I would be more understanding if they had replaced the engine and needed to test it, but we're talking about an oil change.

 

[Thebobo]

Eons ago use to work in cadillac dealership and we would jokey cars in and out of the service bay to the storage lot. If it was nice car we might take it for a tour, take a toke, drive buy the gas station down the street where a bunch of my friends worked. Maybe doing 360 burnouts at the station.

 

[Humpy]

There's no justifiable reason for them to have driven the car anywhere near that many miles. You're still missing a key point: the miles were put on the car before the oil was changed.

"Sir, as part of the high standard of sevice provided by our factory trained technicians we make sure to test drive every vehicle to bring the engine up to normal operating temperature before replacing vital fluids. This guarantees that more of the engine damaging contaminants are drained away before being replaced with the premium lubricants we provide. Additionally, as part of our commitment to serving our valued customers, we perform a multi-point inspection during the test drive to ensure the continued high performance of your vehicles steering, acceleration and braking systems. We assure you that all of the work our technicians performed exceeded industry standards and will extend the life of your investment."

 

[Elixer]

Hmm, they could have had it on a roller brake tester (ha!), or, they just needed lunch.
I wonder if you have GPS history, and you could map out where they went ?

 

[Jeff7]

haha wow so starting and stopping fast is considered bad for insurance? that is retarded.

You realize insurance companies have some of the most complex and accurate statistical models, right? It's the entire point of their business. I don't care one way or another because I drive at safe speeds and I don't brake or accelerate hard. The explanation on the website is:

Hard braking means forcing the vehicle to suddenly stop or decelerate in excess of 7.7 mph per second. Safe drivers will see very few instances of hard braking. Some drivers speed toward stop lights, then have to slam on the brakes. Other drivers tailgate then brake hard when the driver ahead of them slows down. Doing this more than the average driver can increase your chance of an accident.

I asked for specific details from my agent and he said the people who fall into the above categories (hard brakers/accelerators) have roughly 4x as many accidents as those who don't. You can think it's retarded I guess, but it's data that has no agenda.

That is a rather specific number, too. 7.7mph.
Good cutoff point. I guess 7.6 wasn't statistically significant?


They're protecting their investment, and they want to be sure that you aren't going to do anything crazy, like make use of the service you're paying them for.


It gets kind of weird when a company can say "There's a 98% chance that you're going to do X," and then they try to make sure that your behavior will fall into that model, and make money off it if they can. It can get creepy pretty quickly.

Your insurance company considers hard braking at 22 mph a "high-risk event"? If a child or dog runs into the road are you supposed to run him over? If you hit the kid without braking hard, will your premium stay the same?

- You're driving in an area that is at an elevated risk of an accident. You should choose a route that has less risk of resulting in a liability claim.
- You were driving too fast near a view-obstructing hedge, and failed to anticipate an unlikely event.

</insurance company response>