I recently got into an accident and needed my car door repaired. I have a 2016 Toyota Corolla LE. When I dropped off my car it had around 39,170 miles and when I picked it up three weeks later it was at 40,155. Now on the original estimate it said repairs were going to take about 5 days so I thought it was weird that they took 23 days but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. When I got the car back I felt something off but I just shrugged it off because even whenever I get my car back after a simple oil change something is always off with the seat since sometimes they either have to move it back or they always check the ac and etc which is all normal stuff. But then I checked the miles of my car and compared it to the miles on the paperwork that they gave me when I originally dropped off my car and noticed that my car had nearly 1000 miles more on it and immediately felt confused. To be honest I’m feeling kind of upset and unsure. This is the first time I’ve ever had body work done on my car so I just assumed that they just let the car sit in the shop?
the original estimate it said repairs were going to take about 5 days so I thought it was weird that they took 23 days
Somebody may have gone on vacation with it..
Is it normal for a shop to run your car?
1,000 miles? Heck no!
Sounds like one of the shop guys adopted your car for a while.
Normal? If they are thieves! If your repairs were paid for by your insurance, let your insurance agent know. And let your neighbors know - with Facebook, Yelp, Nextdoor and such, it only takes a couple minutes.
If somebody had warned you, "don't go there, they're thieves" you would thank them for the heads up.
Have you discussed that with them? I wonder what their excuse would be if they admited it.
Your topic reminded me on an occurence some years ago.
My mother had a fuel tank repair on her car at a mechanic. After she got it back there was some gas missing. According to her they explained they had thrown some of it away because it was ruined by the leaky tank.
Grandpa once told me those guys once had stolen an item from his car while repairing it.
I don't want to spread negativity, but I'd be annoyed. That's 1000 miles of potential boy racer driving.
No that's not normal at all.
Replacing a door should take a body stop a few hours, maybe a day.
As you described it they took your car and drove it around for a month for their needs.
On average 43.5 miles a day, that's commuting distances - when they're testing cars it's 5-10 miles max.
the worst part? It's not theirs, so I'd assume they were going hard on the poor thing.
keep the receipt and proof of when you had it in the repair shop, in case you'll get speeding / other violation tickets in the mail.
Also, it's always a good idea to keep a GPS transmitter (even just an AirTag) in your car, so you'd be able to see what's going on with your car at all times.
I would confront them, demand they re-imburse you for the mileage. If they say no threaten to report them to your state attorney general. Many states have state regulatory office to report crooked car repair shops, threaten that. And then tell them you will write reviews on google, yelp, etc reporting what happened. You may also be able to complain the the local goverment who may issue them a business license.
This a a gross example of abuse, dont let them get away with it
