What to do about dealer joy ride?

shoegazer

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I expected a lot worse before I saw/heard the video. That being said; I'm OCD af and don't like anyone even changing my seat position. My personal and non-professional opinion is that your car is fine. I was actually impressed with the tech's driving otherwise. They even slowed for the entrance back into the parking lot.

So far as it being 'warned up' and all... I'm amazed how I can leave my Civic in the cold for hours, start it, and actually feel (some) heat from the vents. That doesn't mean that yours was or was not up to temp. I'm just saying that I noticed a difference between this gen and my RSX so far as that's concerned. I'm hoping that there was enough oil pressure/heat to handle the high RPM.

I guess it's like if someone hugged my girlfriend and grabbed her ass while doing so. I'd be pissed and stuff. But life's too short for that shit to live in my head. But also... fuck that guy and don't ever touch my girlfriend again. And learn some goddamn common courtesy.

Lastly... understood re: not trying to get anyone fired. You can hope that the tech has learned the lesson. And hopefully the Riot Act has been read by the Service Manager. But we don't always get the justice that we want. We're only responsible for the input. The outcome is beyond our control, Daniel Son.
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cptnrhino

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I just brought my 2019 FK8 in for a 1-year service (oil change, brake service, state inspection), and made sure to check the mileage in+out, and it was only a difference of 1 mile. I thought "ok good, probably ticked over from them driving it around the building to park when they were done with it". After I got back home I checked the dash cam footage, and my heart sank. After I dropped the car off, they let it sit for 30 minutes, then turned it on, pulled out of the dealer, floored it to redline in 1st and 2nd gear, turned around, floored it again, and returned to the dealer to start working on it.

I can't see any rationalization for needing to warm the car up or drive it hard for any other reason than a joy ride. Am I overreacting? Or should I call the service manager and complain?

EDITS AND VIDEO BELOW: Since this thread kinda blew up I'm editing the OP with all the extra info that's come up in the thread so those seeing this later can find everything in one place. I didn't mean for this to get this crazy, but I'm gonna leave the thread open for discussion if people want.

This all happened at Ide Honda in Rochester NY.

I called the service adviser I worked with, she talked to the technician who claimed they drove it out of the dealer for the state inspection. Then the adviser passed me up to the service manager. He apologized and gave me $50 credit towards any future service and asked me to send him the video so he can talk to the technician (claiming he has no tolerance for that kind of stuff). I also made sure to say that I don't want anyone to get fired over this, but it shouldn't be acceptable behavior, especially for a "special" car that I bought from that same dealer.

At around the 1 minute mark in the video he leaves the dealer and redlines it in second, accelerating to 58mph in a 40mph zone, then just before the 2 minute mark he turns around and revs it again (though not quite to redline). 2nd gear redlines at ~56, so in order to get the 58 he most definitely bounced off the redline, and you can hear it briefly in the video.

Around the 30 second mark you can hear him put the car into +R mode, and then hit it again so it beeps 3 times saying it's already in +R mode, which is DEFINITELY not something that would need to be done for an inspection. And at ~1:35 you can hear him play with the sport mode selector again and wiggle the steering wheel to try out the steering stiffness.

The scraping sound at 1:55 I think is my snow brush sliding on the back seat rubber floor mat. The rattling you can hear during the 2 pulls is most likely the dashcam/cord rattling in place.

He did not let the car get up to temperature before redlining it (it was 30-35F at that time, and the engine was stone cold when he pulls out of the spot).

I understand that no harm was caused in what he did, it's a Type R that is meant to redline on a track constantly, but it shows a lack of respect for other people's vehicles. Redlining before the car is up to temp is something I have NEVER done, so seeing someone else do it to my car feels bad.

I agree that the term "joyride" may be a bit overkill for this scenario, but it was definitely more than a standard "warm the car up before working on it" trip. And there is absolutely no excuse for speeding almost 20 over the limit in the cold and rain.

The state inspection (New York) basically just checks to make sure the car is operational and won't fall apart on the road and endanger others. Pretty much the only thing in the description of the inspection I could find that would require driving the car on the road is hitting the brakes and making sure the car doesn't pull to the side. Redlining it and playing with the driving modes are 100% not part of the inspection.

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Well I’m glad it seems like it all worked out. I’ll never understand messing with someone else’s car like that. I do nys inspections and I won’t even move their seat let alone put it at redline. I’m sure that tech got a pretty good talking to.
 
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blackhawk867

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He pulled 2nd gear up to redline at 58 mph... Where are you getting 45 from?

And the bigger issues are him doing 58 in a 40 in the cold and rain before letting the car warm up.
 

ExileAeterna

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I had a friend who's dealer did this but much more extreme (went on the highway and was doing pulls on a brand new car). The tech was fired and the owner recieved a free 7 year warranty. That $50 is crap and they know it too. This was only a little and on a much more broken in car so your car is fine, but the recklessness is still there. Your service that day should have been free.
 


TypeR(black)

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You did the right thing by complaining about how they mistreated your vehicle. Shred makes a very good point, the service guy was very reckless, gross negligence, and increased the chances of damaging your vehicle on a wet road. That service guy is a liability to the dealership. If it were me, I would follow up with management and find out what action they have taken, in order to prevent this from occurring again. I would also get the service guy's name, and be sure that he never touches your vehicle again, if you were to bring it back for service. 03/02/20 HP
 
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blackhawk867

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Seriously? I'm the troll? Look in the bottom left, the speed CLEARLY updates to 58. The dashcam speed updates slightly slower because it's GPS based, not speedometer based. So it says 58 after he's already shifted up, but he 100% peaked at 58mph. You can hear it bounce off the redline right as he shifts up. And then he hits the brakes and coasts up the hill, which is why he doesn't catch the car in front.
Honda Civic 10th gen What to do about dealer joy ride? upload_2020-3-3_10-41-24
 

DatBoiRic

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Do us all a favor and just stop responding on this thread, you have provided nothing of value to this conversation haha.


And Sam, that shit sucks. There's 0 reason for a tech to speed in your car during a routine service stop, END OF CASE.
I hope IDE makes up for it.
 

TypeR(black)

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I don't let anyone drive my car because it has a manual gear box, which means that they can mess up my transmission if they screw up and grind the synchro. 03/03/20 HP
 

FC3L15B7

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I just brought my 2019 FK8 in for a 1-year service (oil change, brake service, state inspection), and made sure to check the mileage in+out, and it was only a difference of 1 mile. I thought "ok good, probably ticked over from them driving it around the building to park when they were done with it". After I got back home I checked the dash cam footage, and my heart sank. After I dropped the car off, they let it sit for 30 minutes, then turned it on, pulled out of the dealer, floored it to redline in 1st and 2nd gear, turned around, floored it again, and returned to the dealer to start working on it.

I can't see any rationalization for needing to warm the car up or drive it hard for any other reason than a joy ride. Am I overreacting? Or should I call the service manager and complain?

EDITS AND VIDEO BELOW: Since this thread kinda blew up I'm editing the OP with all the extra info that's come up in the thread so those seeing this later can find everything in one place. I didn't mean for this to get this crazy, but I'm gonna leave the thread open for discussion if people want.

This all happened at Ide Honda in Rochester NY.

I called the service adviser I worked with, she talked to the technician who claimed they drove it out of the dealer for the state inspection. Then the adviser passed me up to the service manager. He apologized and gave me $50 credit towards any future service and asked me to send him the video so he can talk to the technician (claiming he has no tolerance for that kind of stuff). I also made sure to say that I don't want anyone to get fired over this, but it shouldn't be acceptable behavior, especially for a "special" car that I bought from that same dealer.

At around the 1 minute mark in the video he leaves the dealer and redlines it in second, accelerating to 58mph in a 40mph zone, then just before the 2 minute mark he turns around and revs it again (though not quite to redline). 2nd gear redlines at ~56, so in order to get the 58 he most definitely bounced off the redline, and you can hear it briefly in the video.

Around the 30 second mark you can hear him put the car into +R mode, and then hit it again so it beeps 3 times saying it's already in +R mode, which is DEFINITELY not something that would need to be done for an inspection. And at ~1:35 you can hear him play with the sport mode selector again and wiggle the steering wheel to try out the steering stiffness.

The scraping sound at 1:55 I think is my snow brush sliding on the back seat rubber floor mat. The rattling you can hear during the 2 pulls is most likely the dashcam/cord rattling in place.

He did not let the car get up to temperature before redlining it (it was 30-35F at that time, and the engine was stone cold when he pulls out of the spot).

I understand that no harm was caused in what he did, it's a Type R that is meant to redline on a track constantly, but it shows a lack of respect for other people's vehicles. Redlining before the car is up to temp is something I have NEVER done, so seeing someone else do it to my car feels bad.

I agree that the term "joyride" may be a bit overkill for this scenario, but it was definitely more than a standard "warm the car up before working on it" trip. And there is absolutely no excuse for speeding almost 20 over the limit in the cold and rain.

The state inspection (New York) basically just checks to make sure the car is operational and won't fall apart on the road and endanger others. Pretty much the only thing in the description of the inspection I could find that would require driving the car on the road is hitting the brakes and making sure the car doesn't pull to the side. Redlining it and playing with the driving modes are 100% not part of the inspection.

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Seems to me he redlined it once - the second time was around 4500 rpm. In all seriousness, if that's all they did, I wouldn't be concerned. If it was sitting there for 30-minutes, the oil is still well circulating on start up. I wouldn't say you're overreacting, but I wouldn't be worried. My buddy brought a brand new 2001 Celica GT-S 6-speed to my house from the dealership he was a mechanic at... It still had the protective plastic on the hood and he was redlining it.. so were the other techs, apparently, and it wasn't even sold, broken in, etc. Consider yourself lucky. ;)
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