A Detour Nobody Asked For
Part of turning over a car to a repair shop can involve a test drive, allowing mechanics to evaluate whether problems have been fixed. But apparently, some test drives don’t go according to plan, as seen in an incident involving a Mercedes-Benz C300 earlier this year, where a technician brought the car to a bar as part of a so-called “extended test drive.”
Now, a similar incident has occurred in Los Angeles, this time involving an Audi Q5 that’s reportedly 13 years old, making it a late first-gen model. According to Fox 11, the owner, Alicia Good, brought her Q5 to A&E German Car Service in Santa Monica on September 3 for a basic fluid check. Two days later, she called to pick up the vehicle, but the shop told her it would get back to her. A few hours later, she was told the car had been in a crash after a mechanic reportedly took it home.
A Legal Speed Bump
The situation got more complicated after police told Good that it might not count as a criminal matter because she herself had handed the keys over to the shop.
The shop declined to comment to the news outlet, saying only that its insurance company was handling the incident. If the vehicle is declared a total loss and the claim is covered, insurers generally compensate owners based on the vehicle’s pre-crash market value. Since this is reportedly a 13-year-old vehicle, it likely won’t be worth nearly as much as a new Audi Q5, which starts at $53,300 in the U.S.
Still, the incident caused inconvenience, especially for Good, who brought her Q5 in for simple maintenance. The shop did provide her with a rental vehicle in the meantime, though the extent of any compensation has yet to be disclosed.
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Keep an Eye on the Miles
Given the uncertainties, Good advised car owners to take photos of their vehicles’ odometers before leaving them at repair shops. This can provide evidence of how far mechanics have driven them during procedures such as test drives. A similar precaution proved useful in a separate incident involving a Honda Odyssey earlier this year, when the minivan’s dashcam captured a mechanic taking it for a joyride. Police also reportedly clocked the vehicle traveling at 87 mph.
Choosing a third-party repair shop over a dealership doesn’t guarantee that mechanics won’t take vehicles on unauthorized drives. This makes finding a trusted mechanic all the more important, especially considering how incidents like this Audi Q5 crash can turn a simple maintenance visit into a costly ordeal.
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