In the end, the car can be replaced along with its mods. A mans reputation cannot. So a poor judgement call will likely destroy this shop. No matter what good he does now, he will always be seen as the shop that "joyrides" the customers cars. That is until this puts him out of business.

So I still dont think we ever got a clarification as to whether there was an agreement to drive the car to work on a driveability issue?? This would make all the differance in the world. If no agreement, the car should not have left the shop, if there was an agreement, then this is just an unfortunately accident. So how about some clarification??

 

to answer this:
ex-roomate was a lawyer and to "borrow" without permission is theft= criminal prosecution= jail time....just so you all know.....

 

I think bringing a car to a repair or performance facility implies permission to drive it. I think if a prosecuter takes on this it will be a waste of our tax money. It comes down to semantics(is that spelled right?).

 

Yeah, to prove pain and suffering is a stretch over a car. Come on, I like my car and all, but it's obvious that the car owner was driving another vehicle and this wasn't a primary vehicle. Plus, all I could see a court rewarding is damages minus depreciation. Since the car wasn't brand new from the factory, they probably would side with the shop owner as the offer was reasonable and she chose not to accept it and pursue it through her insurance.

It would be a different story if she drove the car and then got into an accident due to poor workmanship, then she could go after them for personal damages.

Fact is, these cars are worth a lot more to us both emotionally and financially than to the rest of the world. Try selling a car that has mods on it. Most of the time the mods will hurt the resale-ability of a car.

And again, I've seen no facts, just a bunch of internet speculation over what happened.

 

Hell why should the shop owners and the employees bother buying their own cars. When if you statement is true they can just drive customer cars around... Your making it sound like repair/performance shops are dealerships and the employees get comp cars.

Last time I checked I payed a dyno fee for tuning to avoid somebody trying to romp on my car on public streets log info and program a PCM all at the same time. I cant believe poeple pay tuners and turn their cars loose to tuners to street tune a car under WOT PERFORMANCE CONDITIONS on public roads. If you do this you only have yourself to blame...

 

You do a street tune as well as a dyno tune so that the car doesn't just run well at WOT. I've never had an experience with a GOOD shop that didn't do both unless it was expressly stated that they were not to take the car out on the hwys.If you fear the worse, then arange to be there for the street tune and drive it yourself while the tuner uses his/her tools in the passenger seat. For the couple of people here who stated idle issues, maybe it was the choices of bolt ons that you made that didn't work well enough as a combo for your rides. There are combos that can be selected that NO ONE can get to act properly in all situations.Alot want to cry foul that shops take their cars for rides, well, guess what...unless you saw your car unloaded from the truck or bought it with zero miles, it's a safe bet to say that someone the dealership pounded the hell out of it, especially if it's a performance car.I've seen vettes with little to no miles be rung out by techs or salespeople when they arrive...thats with no break in miles whatso ever. If there is a DRIVABILITY issue with the car when it get to a shop, how else do you propose to check out the issues?Dynos and scanners don't always show all the problems.As I stated before, I had a car that was tuned/modded by a now defunct speed shop that was taken to an open track day at Darlington Speedway while I left it for the weekend and was pushed over 170MPH...with out my knowledge or permission.I found out 4 days later when it was picked up and the tech bragged about how hard it pulled over 140mph.At least they swapped out my wheels/tires before the run... Anyways, accidents happen and ultimately , it's just a car to the insurance companies and the law and the plaintiff should not get more that what was lost. It's an object, not a person. Makes me wonder whats next, will people try to sue speed shops for performing mods after they get into accidents being idiots? Trying to discredit and ruin a man's business and reputation from ONE accident(not picky people who chose bad mods then bitch about idle concerns), is not what should be done. Does the owner have the right to be upset and complain..yes...does the owner have the right to what was lost...yes...but the owner doesn't have the right to slander and invade someone's privacy and spread venom all over the internet. I would not hesitate for a minute to leave any of my cars with Jeff/CAM again, nor would I hesitate to recommend his shop to others.The man knows his stuff, plain and simple,and should not be persecuted for the wrong his former employee did.

 

I see you use Jeff for your tuning? I have used Matt from TTP and Mikey from Rapid Motorsports and also Bryan Herter from PCMs Forless. They never drove my supercharged alky injected vette on the street and I have no idle or performance issues. Just goes to show you use people that know what there doing and you wont have a problem I hope.... Good luck to you maybe consider another shop.
And about the dealers whooping new cars. I dont have a problem there under warranty and alot builders start the car and it goes right on dyno within hours of being fired up. Doesn`t appear to hurt them from what I have read..

 

Evilways, you're obviously in the minority around here. The first being that you are loyal, maybe even to a fault. That's awesome that you are going to stick with Jeff even after some broad spread libel causing hate to Jeff's otherwise "good" name. The SECOND being, you are in the minority because you have been "tuned to perfection" by Jeff. But you wrote a rather lengthy response, so you must feel pretty passionate about it. I don't care who's side you're on. Somethings are just not right.

 

According to Melissa (car owner), the NC State Trooper report she received based on the incident and discussions she had with Terry and Jeff at the shop - the mechanic, Terry, received persmission from Jeff to use her car for a personal trip 30 miles away from the shop before business hours to drive his daughter to school. The high speed "joy ride" resulted in significant damage - considered totalled by both insurance companies.

There was no implied or expressed agreement to allow either the owner or mechanic from the shop to drive her Corvette for personal use. I think that's the point here. A tune streetability test would have taken place during business hours, closer to the shop and likely without family members in the car.

 

I am playing devils advocate with my statements. I have worked at shops that have driven cars home overnight to work on driveability issues. And we have ALWAYS gotten permission to do so. That is all I am saying. Typically it was for a "first start up of the day" issue though. I dont know what would constitute a mechanic having a car that far from the shop with his kid in the car, and I am not defending their actions, only stating that there might have been a good reason. At least I would hope so.

 

I know alot of people w/ LSXs... I don't know any that are fully happy with the work from CAM. My buddy Mike had to retune his H/C Z06 (afr 205s and G5-X1e) himeself w/ HP tuners after he got it back from CAM. He was told that the hot start issues and low seed drivability issues would "correct themselves" bull.

Roger (obxfunn) was without his car for 8 months, his first built motor lifted a head and cracked the block the first day he got it back (KB'd Z06) and then he had to have another motor done. Also his car received cosmetic damage while at the shop.

A few other local guys who used to go down there all go to Va Speed now or go (as I do) see Automotive Technology Inc.

The only people happy with the tunes that I've seen are people getting basic bolt-ons done at WOT. People with more advanced engine builds have to get the work re-done.

 

 

ex-girlfriend's brother's trashmans' dermatologist was a lawyer too...you don't know the ******* details - SO IT DOESN'T MATTER. Their service agreement was tacit approval to drive the car, so it is not theft - just so you know.

Some of you trying really hard to make this something it is not. It's a wrecked C6, very unfortunate and avoidable situation, and has been turned over to insurance as it should have been. Nobody's going to the electric chair for it, despite a lot of folk's desire for it to happen.

 

Wow that sucks! I still remeber the time I dropped my cammed z28 off at Ziebart to have the windows tinted. So I drop it off then have my GF drop me back at our house. Like an hour later I get a call from a good friend saying he saw my camaro FLYING (85MPH+) on a 50 MPH two-lane highway. I have him pick me up to take me back to the shop. I ask the manager to see my car and he says he cant, that its in the back of the shop where I cant go in due to liability if im injured, and that they are working on it now. I told him the that I was calling the police because he wouldnt show me my property and that I believed my car wasnt in his shop. He freaked and fessed up and told me that my car wasnt in the back, that they needed to pick up some more window tinting, so he sent one of his install guys with my car to get some. I asked him why he didnt use one of his 5 COMPANY VANS that are parked in their lot and he was just silent. In the end I got my $250 tint job for free and they even detailed my car (wash, wax, disinfecting shampoo in interior on carpets, etc) to make up for it. I cant say I was thrilled to have my car taken without my permission but in the end they made up for it so I hope that everything works out in your case. Good luck and keep on posting up the new details!

 

Not necessarily, and your information is a one-sided account. The bottom line is that it should not have happened, regardless of circumstances and the shop did offer to make things whole again - the customer chose not to accept the offer. The shop does is not obligated to make things 'better' for her than she was prior to the mishap. I'm not defending what happened, but it is a car, it is replaceable, and Jeff's reputation is forever slandered primarily due to misinformation and reliance on 3rd or 4th hand internet message board information - of which most of it is wrong, posted by armchair attorney's.

Your tuning or previous experience issues need to be addressed in a separate forum at another time. They are completely irrelevant here.

 

I dont agree with not making the customer "better off" than prior to the mishap. Your not considering the fact that the customer now has to deal with a down period without their car (on top of the install/tuning time that they have already had to deal, which is obviously normal), the time that is consumed while dealing with this whole issue, and anything else that may have resulted due to the shops mishap. Im not saying they should go out and buy him a new C6 Z06, mod it, and hand him money, but I mean come on if you want to keep customers you have to show people that you will stand up shop/tuner and make things right. Why would anyone want to send their car to a shop that says "Hey we will take your car and money, use it like its a personal vehicle, crash it and pretty much total it while dicking around, and then give you the run around and let things drag out." Its bad business IMO.

 

It wasn't her primary vehicle anyway - she did not rely on it to get to work, so I don't agree with your point. She chose to deal with more 'headache' by considering and ultimately going with another offer/choice. CAM did offer to make it right and the offer showed that he was willing to stand behind his employees mistake.

Demanding something materially more than you're owed is called unjust enrichment, and it is against the law.

 

I think a court would look at this different as well since it was aftermarket performance items being installed and not the same as if she brought her car to a dealership for a service recall and they trashed her car.

I know if I was on a jury, and hearing what has happened thus far, I would lean in favor of the shop owner since he tried to make things right.

This post (and I'm certain many others) haven't been about making things right, but more of a mob mentality and are looking to ruin this guy. People incorporate business and get business insurance for this very reason. His employee made a mistake, and as the business owner, he offered to make it right. The woman decided not to accept the offer, and chose to pursue her own insurance. This shouldn't have made it to the internet because now it's slander and he could go after her for lost business and revinue. That my friends is personal damages, not being unable to drive your car for two months.

 

Why on Earth would I take a newly replaced car BACK to the shop that totalled my car in the first place? Would would I trust someone that is looking to spend the least amount of money possible to swap over parts from a totaled vehicle? Why should the customer NOT have the parts replaced with new parts? What difference does it make if it was not a primary mode of transportation.

Guess what, that's her $45,000.00 car and I don't care if it hadn't been driven in 4 years. Trying to downplay the situation because it was a pleasure vehicle is absurd.

If Creech were such a stand-up guy, he would've called his insurance company (because it is obviously his shop's responsibility) and replaced everything to the customer's wishes.

The fact is, he wanted to spend as little as possible by transferring over used car parts that could've had potential internal damage, cracks or fractures in the casting and having the customer supply a new car through their own insurance company. This is what I'd call a poor business decision, made by an unethical business owner with only one person's interests in mind; his own.

 

Didn't the guy pick up his daughter from school or something? Bringing a car to a repair shop implies that? So I can expect the repair shop to go grocery shopping with my car if I brought it to them?