car (the GTO) rather than every time I took in to have it serviced be a lunch time play thing for the buttheads at the dealer.
Not sure what you can do. In my case I had a tracking device in the car, installed but forgotten, but remembered it after I picked up the car and smelled the clutch and the fuel low light was on. After downloading the data I found the tech had taken the car out for a joy ride during his lunch break and hit speeds up to 90mph on city streets posted for 35mph.
Should have taken this right the local police department. But I tried to deal with the dealer and its service manager. Big mistake. I was told lie after lie after lie. Finally I threatened the dealer with this: You owed me reasonable skill and experience and care in servicing my vehicle. I can prove (tracking data) that the car did not receive this and in not receiving this the dealer's actions consituted consumer fraud. My offer was the dealer refund the service charge (couple of hundred dollars -- I had the car in for a preventative early transmission/diff fluid change) so I could take the car and have the fluid changed again. The work order had the wrong fluid listed but the dealer claimed it was just old software. But I used this as a lever to get the refund.
Before this I located a GTO expert at another dealer and he told me the car likely suffered no real harm and I may have even had him look the car over. I can't remember now. But it was at this dealer the 2nd incident happened (the lot monkey hotrodded the car around while I had it in for some warranty work) and I confronted the dealer's manager but the dealer went out of business before I could do anything. I traded the car in for a Cayman S shortly after.
Anyhow, in your case the shop owner is going to stick by his claim the car was not driven. Was the mileage noted on the initial invoice/work order?
Unless you can show the car's condition and mileage before and after and in a way that it would hold up in small claims court you're likely to be disappointed.
I like the idea of having the on-board computer overrev counts read. But what this will give you is at best weak proof the car received mistreatment and as to when is open for argument.
In the shop owner's defense he may not have been aware of the abuse. I believe the management at both dealers where my GTO received abuse were unaware of it but I'm sure the other techs were aware. The second dealer's manager seemed quite interested in what I had and I got the impression he might have acted upon it had he not gone about of business.
You might consult with your area's consumer fraud department or bureau of automotive repair and see what you might learn.
But a problem you have is what damage or loss have you suffered? Unless the car's a smoking hulk or the clutch disc is dripping molten metal it is likely the court will not see any damage. The check engine light and misfires might have not been due to any mistreatment but may have come on anyway. Or the car might have been subjected to extremely damp conditions and the misfires were due to damp coils.
I feel for you I really do but I'm not sure what recourse you have.
But I should note that everytime one takes his car in for any service he must note the body condition -- take pics! -- and make sure the correct mileage is noted on the work order and keep a copy.
Kind of funny, but the GTO's work order had a 20 mile error and coupled with the low fuel and hot clutch I was furious and I wanted to know why the car was driven 20 miles. I got all sorts of lies and goofy explanations. But then I remembered the tracking device and downloaded the data and found the car had been driven just a couple of miles. But in analyzing the speeds, stops, and starts, I was able to retrace the path the tech took when he took the car out. It gave me no pleasure to note the broad strips of fresh rubber laid down from a few stop signs.
Even funnier, I had a sneaking suspicion something might happen and I actually parked (I was in the Boxster) on a side street and watched the car being serviced. I got tired of sitting there and left just about break time. If I had stayed a few more minutes I would have seen the car go out and if I had followed it -- and I would have -- I could video-taped the abuse.
Sincerely,
MarcW.