Dealer takes AMG Merc for joyride to Cinema
Discussion
apologies if this was spotted earlier in the week and posted.....this was taken from a tabloid so apologies for the highly informative and no doubt accurate portrayl of the matter.
A garage boss "borrowed" a tycoon's £120,000 Mercedes to go on a jaunt with his daughter after it was left in for repairs.
Millionaire John Llewellyn, 51, became suspicious when his tracking device told him his precious car was on the move instead of at the dealership.
He then learned a senior manager had taken the vehicle for a spin. John said: "I'm furious. The guy went for a joyride in my car. He told me he'd taken his kid to the cinema as a treat, then gone to the pub for a few hours. It's unbelievable."
Despite receiving an apology, he now plans to take legal action.
The former racing driver took his powerful CL55 AMG to the Mercedes dealer while on a visit to Britain from his home in Monaco. Back in the Mediterranean principality, his satellite tracker system came to life and told him all was not well.
John said: "I was getting calls every 15 minutes. At first the car seemed to be moving. Then it was stationary for about three hours somewhere. So I called the garage for an explanation."
The dealership in Milton Keynes, Bucks, admitted the car was taken by a staff member for a personal journey, but insisted this was not improper use.
John said: "I was livid. He took it without my permission, so how can they it wasn't improper? Anything could have happened. What if there'd been an accident and this child had been killed?
"Or what if the kid had thrown up in the back? I'm not a child-person and the thought of sticky fingers all over my car is horrible. The garage said it didn't matter because they were insured. But that's not the point."
Mercedes said yesterday they had apologised and waived repair charges. They had also fixed a dent in the bodywork, replaced alloy wheels and given the car a full valet - all free.
The firm said: "The car had a starting problem. To ensure it was fixed properly we had to see how it would cope after being stationary for two hours.
"The technical operations manager decided to do this in his own time.
"So he took his daughter in the car to the cinema then tested the starting system when he came out. It wasn't a joyride. His daughter treated the car with the greatest respect and was covered by our insurance at all times.
"The dealership should have made more effort to get in touch with Mr Llewellyn. But they believed he was on a cruise and couldn't be contacted."
John runs Revo250, a multi-million pound private members sports car and yacht club in the south of France.
Members pay £10,000-£30,000 a year to drive supercars and sail fabulous yachts.
A garage boss "borrowed" a tycoon's £120,000 Mercedes to go on a jaunt with his daughter after it was left in for repairs.
Millionaire John Llewellyn, 51, became suspicious when his tracking device told him his precious car was on the move instead of at the dealership.
He then learned a senior manager had taken the vehicle for a spin. John said: "I'm furious. The guy went for a joyride in my car. He told me he'd taken his kid to the cinema as a treat, then gone to the pub for a few hours. It's unbelievable."
Despite receiving an apology, he now plans to take legal action.
The former racing driver took his powerful CL55 AMG to the Mercedes dealer while on a visit to Britain from his home in Monaco. Back in the Mediterranean principality, his satellite tracker system came to life and told him all was not well.
John said: "I was getting calls every 15 minutes. At first the car seemed to be moving. Then it was stationary for about three hours somewhere. So I called the garage for an explanation."
The dealership in Milton Keynes, Bucks, admitted the car was taken by a staff member for a personal journey, but insisted this was not improper use.
John said: "I was livid. He took it without my permission, so how can they it wasn't improper? Anything could have happened. What if there'd been an accident and this child had been killed?
"Or what if the kid had thrown up in the back? I'm not a child-person and the thought of sticky fingers all over my car is horrible. The garage said it didn't matter because they were insured. But that's not the point."
Mercedes said yesterday they had apologised and waived repair charges. They had also fixed a dent in the bodywork, replaced alloy wheels and given the car a full valet - all free.
The firm said: "The car had a starting problem. To ensure it was fixed properly we had to see how it would cope after being stationary for two hours.
"The technical operations manager decided to do this in his own time.
"So he took his daughter in the car to the cinema then tested the starting system when he came out. It wasn't a joyride. His daughter treated the car with the greatest respect and was covered by our insurance at all times.
"The dealership should have made more effort to get in touch with Mr Llewellyn. But they believed he was on a cruise and couldn't be contacted."
John runs Revo250, a multi-million pound private members sports car and yacht club in the south of France.
Members pay £10,000-£30,000 a year to drive supercars and sail fabulous yachts.
Bit OTT from both sides I think.
Dealer should have known better, but have apologised and given new wheels (can't be bloody cheap), and serviced and valeted it.
Lessons learnt, and the owner has made some thunder and made his point!
Dealer could have driven the car down the road and then back to the dealership again and turned it off. Or even started it stationary for a while, then turned it off for two hours!
Clearly an excuse for a spin methinks.
Damn garages, always check the odometer and tell them if it has more than 0.5 miles on it then you'll not be paying the bill. If it "has" to have any miles on it request a full explanation for them!
That'd put em off joyrides under the name of "checking the starter"
Dave
Dealer should have known better, but have apologised and given new wheels (can't be bloody cheap), and serviced and valeted it.
Lessons learnt, and the owner has made some thunder and made his point!
Dealer could have driven the car down the road and then back to the dealership again and turned it off. Or even started it stationary for a while, then turned it off for two hours!
Clearly an excuse for a spin methinks.
Damn garages, always check the odometer and tell them if it has more than 0.5 miles on it then you'll not be paying the bill. If it "has" to have any miles on it request a full explanation for them!
That'd put em off joyrides under the name of "checking the starter"
Dave
Sounds like the guys got it made. Millionaire, former racing driver, home in Monaco, yada yada yada....
Dealer's also made good I think.
What more does the guy want ? maybe he should quit f
g moaning and be thankful for his lot.
no I'm not jealous
Dealer's also made good I think.
Dealer said:
Mercedes said yesterday they had apologised and waived repair charges. They had also fixed a dent in the bodywork, replaced alloy wheels and given the car a full valet - all free.
What more does the guy want ? maybe he should quit f
g moaning and be thankful for his lot. no I'm not jealous
What's the 'guy's rich so why should he moan' socialist crap all about.
It's a bloody diabolical liberty to take a customer car out for a family outing. A quick spin by a mechanic to check all in order without ending in the river (was that an NSX?) but otherwise it's your car and they haven't asked permission. It's TWOCing.
It's a bloody diabolical liberty to take a customer car out for a family outing. A quick spin by a mechanic to check all in order without ending in the river (was that an NSX?) but otherwise it's your car and they haven't asked permission. It's TWOCing.
planetdave said:
What's the 'guy's rich so why should he moan' socialist crap all about.
It's a bloody diabolical liberty to take a customer car out for a family outing. A quick spin by a mechanic to check all in order without ending in the river (was that an NSX?) but otherwise it's your car and they haven't asked permission. It's TWOCing.
I agree. Totally out of order IMO. I fail to see how a personal journey in a customer's car can be justified.
silversun said:Agreed again, but liberties are taken in many ways including what's often seen as an 'acceptable' test drive. Does a service manager really think they will detect subtle differences that the owner wouldn't, or that the owner wouldn't detect major problems equally well? I've had 'test drives' of one car that included two passengers - why? It was obvious from the fresh oily boot prints on the back carpet as well as the passenger footwell
What's the 'guy's rich so why should he moan' socialist crap all about. It's a bloody diabolical liberty to take a customer car out for a family outing. A quick spin by a mechanic to check all in order without ending in the river (was that an NSX?) but otherwise it's your car and they haven't asked permission. It's TWOCing.
Just the kind of service you'd expect from a Porsche main dealer. Clearly that wasn't necessary, someone went for a test thrash, found the car a bit different and then decided to show their mates.
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