Technician test driving for issues

Status
Not open for further replies.
R

Rp1990

Joined
Nov 5, 2009
Messages
782
Location
orlando,FL
Hello everyone hope everyone doing well,
I bought my 2020 Mercedes glb 250 4 matic in for vibration issue at 60-70 mph at Mercedes dealership and my service advisor told me tech will test drive the car for issues I was having. I’m just shock to see that he drove 29 miles to figure out the issues. He didn’t have to drive that far, he could have figure it out by taking the next exit. Is this normal or should I talk to service manager?
The reason I’m worry is because I don’t know how he drove the car.
Car had 169 miles when I left and now 198. How I know this is because I’m using Mercedes app.
 
Not normal where I work at. I work at a Toyota dealership our max is 5 miles we can go. We also have to follow a certain route it’s our test drive route.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JC1
Rohan said:
Hello everyone hope everyone doing well,
I bought my 2020 Mercedes glb 250 4 matic in for vibration issue at 60-70 mph at Mercedes dealership and my service advisor told me tech will test drive the car for issues I was having. I’m just shock to see that he drove 29 miles to figure out the issues. He didn’t have to drive that far, he could have figure it out by taking the next exit. Is this normal or should I talk to service manager?
The reason I’m worry is because I don’t know how he drove the car.
Car had 169 miles when I left and now 198. How I know this is because I’m using Mercedes app.
Click to expand...
Deleted, off topic rant let’s just say I think most dealers are scum bags.
 
So did it get fixed?

I bet he drove it from 60 to 70 mph, along with a little bit over to see if it came out of it.
 
If he drove it ~5 miles and found no issue, would you be here complaining too ? Maybe he didn't notice enough of a vibration so he kept trying to replicate your issue, then eventually did. Just because you say "he could have figure it out by taking the next exit" doesn't change anything. You know exactly what vibration "issue" is going on but it may seem relatively normal or not that bad to him.
 
I don't know what your dealers policy is, or how competent the Tech is...

I could see multiple test drives to try and pin down the issue.

Example: Go for a test ride. Balance wheel/tire assemblies, and go for another ride. That doesn't fix it, and move onto the next attempt with subsequent test ride. Etc.

So is the issue fixed? If so, what was the claimed problem and fix?
 
I'm older and tend to drive interesting vehicles. I've had a few experiences over the years with 'joy riding' at shops when there was no reason for it even to be driven. I avoid most shops, but always tell them what the odometer reading is when I leave the car. I know of a few cases where a wreak or mechanical damage was done with guys wanting to play with a performance car. Driveability issues will indicate test driving, but 29 miles seems excessive to me.
 
Call the dealer and ask if this is normal and if they can explain the amount of miles it was driven. My suspicion is also maybe multiple test drives after 1 or 2 failed attempts at resolving the problem.
 
So much fear about joy riding. Most techs I know own faster cars than most of the cars we work on, and I work at BMW. My own car is significantly faster than 95% of the cars I work on. We just want to get the job done, your car is not that special to us. The mileage driven really depends on the dealership. My previous dealership was right beside the highway, so test drives at highway speeds were easy. My current dealership, the closest highway to drive at highway speeds legally is 15 km away. Any “highway speed” test will incur significant mileage.
 
If you waited on the car at the dealership I wonder how many miles they would have drove it?
You are pretty lucky. A VW tech took my cousins car home for lunch to test drive it and on the way back totaled it.

The insurance pay out was less than they owed on the car loan. They are still fighting over that.
 
mightymousetech said:
So much fear about joy riding. Most techs I know own faster cars than most of the cars we work on, and I work at BMW. My own car is significantly faster than 95% of the cars I work on. We just want to get the job done, your car is not that special to us. The mileage driven really depends on the dealership. My previous dealership was right beside the highway, so test drives at highway speeds were easy. My current dealership, the closest highway to drive at highway speeds legally is 15 km away. Any “highway speed” test will incur significant mileage.
Click to expand...

This. The Tech could have simply been really listening to his car at different speeds and such. Wouldn’t take long to put some miles on it.

Think it should be fine.....
 
29 miles is a bit much for a vibration, IMO. I don't have any kind of test drive length or route restrictions at work, it's based on the tech's discretion. I can think of three scenarios where I'd MAYBE put 30 miles on a customer's car during a diagnosis: I've just done a MAJOR repair (eg. engine/trans replacement) and want to get everything up to temp so I can do a secondary check of all major systems, the customer has specifically stated that "noise ABC seems to happen only after XYZ amount of miles", or when I'm performing a full pre-purchase inspection.

My standard test drive route is about 1 mile. A couple blocks in the city to the freeway entrance, a 2 minute run to the next exit, and I loop back. I can learn everything I need to within that drive.

With regards to the joy riding, that depends on your definition. If it's a tech putting a few too many unnecessary miles on your car given the stated issue, I suppose that could be considered joy riding. I, personally, would have no issue with that. Now, if your idea of joy riding is some lube tech taking it out and dropping the hammer on it for 30 miles I wouldn't be too worried. No one is trying to drag race a 200 horse small SUV on a test drive. I'd be more worried about a tech tossing around a Miata than a GLB.

I'm quite sure you and your vehicle will be fine, and wouldn't press the issue. I'm curious, however: you didn't mention if the problem was resolved. 30 miles added to a vehicle that isn't repaired is one thing, 30 miles on a vehicle that was repaired to your satisfaction is another.
 
mightymousetech said:
So much fear about joy riding. Most techs I know own faster cars than most of the cars we work on, and I work at BMW. My own car is significantly faster than 95% of the cars I work on. We just want to get the job done, your car is not that special to us. The mileage driven really depends on the dealership. My previous dealership was right beside the highway, so test drives at highway speeds were easy. My current dealership, the closest highway to drive at highway speeds legally is 15 km away. Any “highway speed” test will incur significant mileage.
Click to expand...
As a former tech I have driven didn't mileage for different problems but customer always knew. Late 90s Supra turbo clutch comes mind. Customer had 3 clutches in short order then I got it. Never could get it to act up until I talked to customer who was over 50 and a lawyer.
Many city miles then customer descriped how to act up then I was able to fix it perfect. Drove so many sports cars that people wanted to drive but my driving record as well as age played into it. Actually hated expensive sport cars as customer was always more picky
 
My Turbo Volvo Wagon had a blown leaking shock under warranty. They kept it over a weekend and put 80 miles on it. I freeked, but they explained, “we have to break in new shocks”. And I explained, “I’m not as stupid as I look”!
 
mightymousetech said:
In that case, we just put in $20 and add it to the customers invoice.
Click to expand...

Same for me, but we call the customer for approval before hand. You'd be amazed how many people drop off their car, approve $90 in diagnostic time, yet have a problem with us having to get fuel in the car so we can actually do our job THAT THEY APPROVED.

Reminds me of a story: one particularly difficult customer had their mid-90's Volvo towed in for a stalled in flight issue. Luckily, they admitted that the fuel gauge didn't work, however they "always reset the trip meter, and always filled up at 150-200 miles". I'm sure you all can see where this is going... it was out of gas. We put maybe $8 worth in it, just to get it running, and informed the customer. They LOST it.

Every textbook response you would expect, we got. "There's no way it was out of gas, I had at least 30 miles left". "You're trying to rip me off (regarding the diagnostic fee), I'm not paying just to put gas in it". "You just don't want to take the time to look at it properly, I'll just take it somewhere else". Needless to say, after that they were no longer customers, nor were they wanted. Cost of doing business, I suppose.

ammolab said:
My Turbo Volvo Wagon had a blown leaking shock under warranty. They kept it over a weekend and put 80 miles on it. I freeked, but they explained, “we have to break in new shocks”. And I explained, “I’m not as stupid as I look”!
Click to expand...

That's a funny one. Break in shocks? I'm pretty sure the customer can do that...

However, a couple years ago I did rear shocks on some Volvo wagon, I don't remember what model, and one of the brand new KYB shocks blew on my initial test drive. 80 miles? Of course not. But I was sure glad I noticed the puddle of hydraulic fluid under the car when I got back! I would have hated to release the car back to the customer like that.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

M104
Are you also cursed with the same problem with every car you own?
2 3
Replies
50
Views
1K
zzyzzx
TiGeo
Child #3 graduated from the KCE manual transmission driving school
2
Replies
21
Views
910
TiGeo
racer12306
Frustrating Dealer Experience
2 3 4
Replies
77
Views
4K
OVERKILL
bubbanik
Kia went "kiaboom"....well almost
2 3 4
Replies
68
Views
5K
Leroybrown
Wylie6G72
'98 Taurus cooling issue mystery
Replies
7
Views
273
repairman54
Back
Top Bottom