“Hey, auto seller: the place’s my automotive?”
Frank Statti stated he was left asking that query in March after taking his 2017 Nissan Altima to a dealership for restore.
He instructed International Information his backup digital camera was failing intermittently and he wanted to guide the appointment. However when he checked the insurance coverage firm’s monitoring app on his cell phone and noticed his car removed from house late at evening, Statti stated he received involved.
“My preliminary thought was possibly somebody stole the factor,” he stated.
Learn extra:
Shopper SOS: Ontario Volkswagen proprietor cautions others after sunroof shatters
The Milton resident switched insurance coverage suppliers and agreed to put in a car transponder that might monitor his driving habits. Statti stated he talked about the gadget to the service advisor when he dropped off the automotive at Milton Nissan, the dealership the place he bought the automotive.
Statti stated he questioned why his automotive was 90 kilometres from the dealership that night. He stated the monitoring information equipped via the app confirmed his automotive had been pushed above the pace restrict for a lot of the journey to Woodstock, close to Freeway 401.
“It was driving at loopy speeds… as much as 148 kilometres per hour,” Statti stated, noting there have been frequent durations of laborious braking.
International Information reviewed the monitoring information supplied by Statti’s app. It confirmed that the car reached as much as 148 km/h and was above the 100 km/h pace restrict for a lot of the journey on the freeway.
Statti stated he believed the car was stolen and referred to as Halton Regional Police. An officer from one other police division confirmed up on the Woodstock location supplied by the app within the early morning hours.
Learn extra:
Automobile modification causes insurance coverage problems for Ontario man
It turned out the car was being pushed by considered one of Milton Nissan’s service technicians.
“We had permission to take the car house. We knowledgeable it was out of city and there are three witnesses to that,” stated Tim Hoogaars, the dealership’s working companion.
He stated it’s widespread for technicians to take clients’ autos house to evaluate issues.
“Generally if we are able to’t diagnose a car, we’ll ask a client, ‘Might we drive the car house to see if we are able to diagnose it in a single day?’ That isn’t unusual within the automotive trade in case you’re struggling to attempt to diagnose it,” Hoogaars stated.
“Ought to now we have received it in writing? Clearly sure, we’ve by no means had an incident earlier than the place it’s been a difficulty.”
Learn extra:
Canadian Tire worker fired after dashcam footage reveals him joyriding in buyer’s automotive
Statti stated he allowed the car to be stored in a single day however by no means consented for the car to be pushed out of Milton or a virtually 200-kilometre spherical journey to evaluate the rear digital camera.
He stated he’s additionally sad the car was pushed at excessive pace — information that will probably be seen by his new auto insurance coverage supplier and can be utilized by the insurer to calculate the insurance coverage premium he ought to pay in future.
Statti stated he didn’t obtain an apology from the dealership, including the service supervisor even requested him to go away when he got here in to debate the problem.
“He kicked me out of the workplace. He stated he was going to name the police. He stated I used to be monitoring his worker illegally,” he stated.
Learn extra:
Ontario drivers face greater auto insurance coverage premiums, even in a pandemic
Statti stated the dealership additionally didn’t substitute the gas consumed in the course of the lengthy drive by its worker.
When International Information contacted Nissan Canada in regards to the incident, the producer stated Statti’s automotive was “not used for private journey” by the dealership’s worker.
“Customer support is an absolute precedence for all of us,” Didier Marsaud, Nissan’s director of company communications, stated.
Two months after the driving incident, Statti’s backup digital camera remains to be not working correctly.
Nissan Canada instructed International Information it’s arranging to have the digital camera inspected at one other dealership.
© 2021 International Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.