2005 Mustang GT Stolen from Ford Dealership

[Rockriguez]

Please tell me your opinions on this matter.

I took in my 2005 GT to get the strut checked out last night (Tuesday) and left it there at the dealership. Today my wife gets a call and the servie manager tells her that my car was taken by one of their employees after I dropped it off and he was caught doing 85+ by the local police at around 1 in the morning. He put over 60 miles on my car between 7pm and 1pm when he was caught. The service manager tells my wife that they will clean my car and fill it up with gas to make up for it. I call him and tell him I want and extended warranty to 5 year/60,000 and also $1000 to cover my clutch and wear and tear on my tires. The service manager loses his mind and tells me that I am taking advantage of them and that he will refer this to "their" corporate attorney for review and call me tomorrow morning.


What would one of you do in my situation? Should I asked for more? Was I wrong in asking for the warranty and $1000?

Thanks

 

[351CJ]

While I admire your dealer for letting you know what happened before you found out yourself, a wash and a tank of gas is totally inadequate compensation for the damage this Bozo may have caused.

Asking for an extended warranty is justified. Unless you paid over sticker, the extra $1000 is a bit much.

 

[RIPPINGT02]

Hell No!!! I dont have any sympathy for theifs, give them hell. Good luck, let me kn

Please tell me your opinions on this matter.

I took in my 2005 GT to get the strut checked out last night (Tuesday) and left it there at the dealership. Today my wife gets a call and the servie manager tells her that my car was taken by one of their employees after I dropped it off and he was caught doing 85+ by the local police at around 1 in the morning. He put over 60 miles on my car between 7pm and 1pm when he was caught. The service manager tells my wife that they will clean my car and fill it up with gas to make up for it. I call him and tell him I want and extended warranty to 5 year/60,000 and also $1000 to cover my clutch and wear and tear on my tires. The service manager loses his mind and tells me that I am taking advantage of them and that he will refer this to "their" corporate attorney for review and call me tomorrow morning.


What would one of you do in my situation? Should I asked for more? Was I wrong in asking for the warranty and $1000?

Thanks

i think you are doing the right thing give them hell.

 

[Rockriguez]

I am asking for the $1000 for wear and tear on my clutch and tires since they are not covered by warranty and for the stress they have caused me. Picture your pride and joy being driven by some punk ass kid for 60 miles smoking the tires and hauling ass around town. The 60 miles was all city driving. This is how I look at it.

 

[NoCalSeahawkFan]

If that was my car, I would have that POS arrested and tell the dealer to put new tires on it also.

That is Grand Theft Auto. Time to call a lawer.

 

[cdemot02]

No offense, but it just sounds like a SUE happy mentality. I'm sure the dealer has fired the guy, and is pressing charges. You are putting to much blame on the dealer.

 

[GTJade]

No offense, but it just sounds like a SUE happy mentality. I'm sure the dealer has fired the guy, and is pressing charges. You are putting to much blame on the dealer.

And rightly so. It is the dealer's responsibility...the liability falls to the dealer. With regard to whether the guy was fired and charges were pressed - you can't be "sure" of anything. Sorry, but I beg to differ with you on this one.

 

[Rockriguez]

I think if I was in a sue happy mentality I would be telling them to give me a new car or an outrageous amount of money. All I want is my car to be covered for 60,000 miles just incase there is damage from hot rodding my car for 60 miles and to cover my clutch incase it goes out since the warranty won't cover a clutch. I have purchased my Harley Davidson F-150, 2004 Focus, 2005 Focus, 2005 Mustang GT and 2005 Escape from them. If they tell me tomorrow that they aren't giving me **** then I might have to get a lawyer involved.

 

[GTJade]

I think if I was in a sue happy mentality I would be telling them to give me a new car or an outrageous amount of money. All I want is my car to be covered for 60,000 miles just incase there is damage from hot rodding my car for 60 miles and to cover my clutch incase it goes out since the warranty won't cover a clutch. I have purchased my Harley Davidson F-150, 2004 Focus, 2005 Focus, 2005 Mustang GT and 2005 Escape from them. If they tell me tomorrow that they aren't giving me **** then I might have to get a lawyer involved.

What happened was completely unacceptable...what they offered to compensate for it - an insult. I'd give them an opportunity to make it right and be prepared to take them to task...if you need to involve an attorney, so be it.

 

[PolkThug]

First, I would call the police and get this additional information on record ASAP (yeah, I know he got a speeding ticket, but your car wasn't reported stolen at the time). The dealership was negligent, period.

The dealership will probably try to drag this out as long as they can. Don't let them. Demand the extended warranty, nothing less.

If their lawyer actually does call you the next day (which I doubt) and tries to say that they can't help you, tell them "Well, looks like I'll have to get my lawyer involved now, I know for a fact that the dealership was negligent with my property."

 

[cdemot02]

No offense you are asking the dealer for 2grand because of one bad employee that they probably fired. That is a little outrageous. They should compensate you, free tune up, oil changes, etc... But 2grand is excessive.

 

[Blk'05]

Unless you paid over sticker, the extra $1000 is a bit much.

Bit much my a$$....take him for all hes got.

 

[CaptainSaveAHoe]

Forget the money, steal the managers car for a night and see how he likes it...Do some doughnuts in the dealership parking lot with it, burnouts, whatever...high speed chases look pretty interesting on Spike TV. Try and make it on and give a shout out to me as they put you in the cop car
--Sorry for the tangent, thinking out loud...

 

[EarlB]

Hell your request was totally valid if you ask me. I'd tell the service manager to talk to his attorney all he wants. You just talked to the police and profered grand theft auto charges against the dealership. It was stolen by one of their authorized personell while under their care - theft is theft.

What do you think would happen if you took one of their cars on a "test drive" that ended up lasting several hours and 60+ miles? You'd go to jail.

Earl

Please tell me your opinions on this matter.

I took in my 2005 GT to get the strut checked out last night (Tuesday) and left it there at the dealership. Today my wife gets a call and the servie manager tells her that my car was taken by one of their employees after I dropped it off and he was caught doing 85+ by the local police at around 1 in the morning. He put over 60 miles on my car between 7pm and 1pm when he was caught. The service manager tells my wife that they will clean my car and fill it up with gas to make up for it. I call him and tell him I want and extended warranty to 5 year/60,000 and also $1000 to cover my clutch and wear and tear on my tires. The service manager loses his mind and tells me that I am taking advantage of them and that he will refer this to "their" corporate attorney for review and call me tomorrow morning.


What would one of you do in my situation? Should I asked for more? Was I wrong in asking for the warranty and $1000?

Thanks

 

[cdemot02]

First of all you have absolutely no proof of physical damage so that would not hold up in the courts or etc... Pain and suffering most jurors would laugh at for this case. The dealership needs to do more than a carwash and gas, but 2grand is too much. Depending on how many miles you have on your car they should swap your tires with one off the lot, free oil changes, or etc...

 

[OBleedingMe]

A tank of gas and cleaning your car is a joke. So is a "free tune up" (spark plugs and air filter, what a joke) or a "free oil change." You should probably change your own oil anyway... I wouldn't trust those bastards to come within half a mile of my car.

They definitely should give you the extended warranty and replace your clutch NOW. As for the tires, you can check the wear on them... if they are extreme, you should have those replaced as well. I'd start snapping pictures right now.

If they are non-compliant and you really think it's worth it (I would), get a lawyer and go after them. You'll have to have a certified mechanic pull apart your clutch and check for any signs of undue wear. He should check to see if the flywheel has been warped and any other possible damage to the drivetrain. The computer in your Mustang keeps a record of how many times the rev limiter has been bumped. This is usually used to as an excuse to get of warranty work, but this will work in your favor if there are a bunch of closely spaced rev limiter bumps at the time your car was in their care. They KNOW they are in deep trouble and are liable. That is why he acted so defensive and brought up the attorney. He's trying to intimidate and scare you off. Don't fall for it!

For the time the car is out of commision for the inspection, you can sue for lost wages and punitive/negligence damages as well. If all they will offer you is $20 worth of compensation, then don't let anyone on this forum make you feel bad about playing hard ball. You are not "sue happy." They are trying to take you for a sucker. Your car has been stolen by an employee of an establishment that assumed responsibility for your car for the duration it was there. It's the dealership's job to protect your car and make sure it's in responsible hands. It's great if they fired him, but that does not reimburse you. It does absolutely zero for YOU. They are liable for damages while your vehicle is in their care.

There's a legal/insurance term for handling a hot car like an '05 Mustang GT. It's called "extraordinary care." When a dealership, body shop or repair shop has a wanted or very valuable car in their care, they are to take precautionary measures to insure that nothing happens to it. That means locking it up at night and leaving it indoors, making sure to give the keys over to only the most trusted staff members, only driving it for absolutely necessary test drives, and keep the keys in a secure area. They obviously failed in these endeavors and are liable. Let them know that. The fact that no one knew your car was missing for what had to be an hour and a half speaks volumes of how well they keep tabs on their customer's cars.

A bit of advice: The more you drive the car, the weaker your case will be. If the dealership will not comply, STOP driving your car until you get that car THOROUGHLY inspected by an independent mechanic for damage (I'm sure he'll find abnormal clutch wear at the very least)! Keep it as close to the mileage it was when your car was stolen.

 

[SVTdriver]

I fail to see where juries are laughing at pain and suffering. I mean they award a lot of money for it. You only need to look at mcdonald's and Domino's before that. It would also be way law makers are talking about limiting damages in malpractice suits. And while sure this is not malpractice. This is clearly an employee of thiers breaking the law. Since obviously he was not trying to diagnose the problem at 1am and 85 mph. So he should be going to jail. Not just being fired.

 

[cdemot02]

I fail to see where juries are laughing at pain and suffering. I mean they award a lot of money for it. You only need to look at mcdonald's and Domino's before that. It would also be way law makers are talking about limiting damages in malpractice suits. And while sure this is not malpractice. This is clearly an employee of thiers breaking the law. Since obviously he was not trying to diagnose the problem at 1am and 85 mph. So he should be going to jail. Not just being fired.

I agree he should go to jail, and be fired. But how much can you really hold the dealership at fault. McDonalds and Dominos both had proof of physical damage. You won't be able to prove any in this case. Everyone in this topic automatically attacked the dealership like they knew this was going to happen.

 

[OBleedingMe]

I agree he should go to jail, and be fired. But how much can you really hold the dealership at fault. McDonalds and Dominos both had proof of physical damage. You won't be able to prove any in this case. Everyone in this topic automatically attacked the dealership like they knew this was going to happen.

The dealership is 100% responsible. It was in their care when the damage occured, therefore they are liable. If the dealership was more careful about who they gave the keys to/where they stored the keys, this would have never happened. Many repair/body shops even have insurance for this sort of thing. If a car is stolen off their lot (especially cars like ours that require "extraordinary care" - see my previous post), they have insurance to cover them. Whether dealership service centers have this insurance or not, I don't know. I would assume they do and just want to avoid making a claim. They know they are in deep legal trouble and that is why the service manager became so defensive. Instead of waiting for the customer to drop the L word, he lost it and did it himself.

On a side note, the individual should be punished to the full extent of the law, but that does not repay the mental/financial loss the victim must endure. If the dealership is unwilling to give him satisfaction through an extended warranty and clutch/possible tire replacement, then they should be sued as they are not living up to their responsibilities.

 

[martimus]

Whats almost comical about this thread is that too many people seem to think that the dealer is liable because an employee committed a crime. Most every service department I've ever set foot in takes little or no liability for customer vehicles or property left in them. Read the signs posted in many service departments...

If you park a car at the airport and its stolen is the airport liable for the loss? No... you are! If you park your car in an apartment complex's secure gated parking lot and its stolen, is the complex liable? No again... I'm not trying to defend the dealers but trying to look at this realistically. If you want reimbursement for wear and tear and mental anguish maybe you should try suing the guy who caused the damage in the first place!

From the dealers standpoint I'm betting that they see this as a customer trying to establish a dangerous precident. Think about it... from this point on customers could walk into the service managers office and accuse service tech's of putting unnecessary wear and tear on their car during test drives AND demand freebies from the dealership.

Aynway I suspect if this ever went to court a judge would throw it out since its nearly impossible to quantify. How do you prove, in a legal sense, that the lifespan of your clutch and brakes and tires are now significantly shorter?