Is it odd for shop foreman to take my car home?

[feye]

My 22 Taycan has had a few issues so it’s in the shop. Just located my car on the app and it’s at the guys house. Is that normal….

He obviously does not mind his customers to know where he lives.

Is it parked? If so, how does it work with insurance, if something happens?

Did you ask him, what the purpose was for driving your car?

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[timc3]

I would raise that with whoever is in charge, as I would be pretty annoyed.

 

[whitex]

It's a bit of a grey area. I've had this happen to me once (non-Porsche) but they asked me if I mind and explained why it would help and how the car will be garaged overnight (I had an issue with my car spontaneously turning on in the garage overnight - it was an EV so no exhaust issues but still don't want the HVAC + infotainment to run for so many hours every day). Over time I developed a good relationship with the shop because I always brought them good repros plus I helped them fix my my car (I reverse engineered my car as a hobby), so I had no problem with that. On a number of occasions I would drop the car off at the shop, take a loaner, then the foreman would take it on his way home after work and drop it off at my office or home, take the loaner to return it the next morning. It saved me a bunch of rush hour driving.

I guess it depends on why you drop the car off for service. If it's for a routine service, then having it overnight offsite doesn't make much sense, but if it's for an issue you experience at home, it could make total sense. I do think they should have told the OP ahead of time though, especially that they know these cars can be tracked (for now at least, all Teslas go into "service mode" when in service where you can no longer track them, I suspect Porsche will follow suit soon).

 

[RAHRCR]

Given that this is an enthusiast forum, there is a certain reaction that most of us have to this. It is routine….the tech didn’t take your car home before he/she loves your spec and really wanted to drive it. They swim in a sea of these cars. The goal is to get a good diagnosis.

 

[DerekS]

I would go to his house and steal it back.

 

[jld1]

No. This is patently un-normal and absurd. I would absolutely put the offending party on notice as to this transgression.

"Un-normal" - that's a new one for me. One may even say it's quite... abnormal. (Just playing around!)

I find it very interesting how the responses are so split here. I'm not sure what to think. Either this is a crime against humanity or a totally mundane thing to do, is all I'm getting.

 

[DerekS]

For me this would be unacceptable. I'm honestly not even happy leaving the car at the dealer much less someone's house with unknown security, gravel roads, etc.

Anything they need to road test they can do by driving it from the dealership, around town, back to the dealership.

I suggest enabling the location alarm to prevent this going forward when getting service.

 

[PanameraFrank]

Given that this is an enthusiast forum, there is a certain reaction that most of us have to this. It is routine….the tech didn’t take your car home before he/she loves your spec and really wanted to drive it. They swim in a sea of these cars. The goal is to get a good diagnosis.

What good diagnosis does parking a customer's car at a tech's home overnight help achieve?

Driving it during working hours, check, but leaving a customer's car unattended at a private residence overnight is inappropriate.

If nothing else that will cause issues with insurance should something happen.

 

[SwissTaycan]

That just seems wrong from a liability point of view. I would somehow think that if the car was stolen over night, that this would create a very awkward and long winded process with your insurance company.

I can not imagine this happening in Switzerland. Yes I am sure they will drive it around during the day to „test“ anything they might have done, but then the car is securely locked up at night on their alarmed premises.

 

[PorscheCH]

That just seems wrong from a liability point of view. I would somehow think that if the car was stolen over night, that this would create a very awkward and long winded process with your insurance company.

I can not imagine this happening in Switzerland. Yes I am sure they will drive it around during the day to „test“ anything they might have done, but then the car is securely locked up at night on their alarmed premises.

Exactly. Huge NO NO. Not just driving around for testing (without the owner knowing??) or even worse, parked at someone's house? must be a joke.

Never seen anything remotely like this in Switzerland. No dealer would do it, let alone Porsche Zentrum(s).

Actually, if you do not feel like driving it yourself to the dealer, they offer to pick it up by a tow truck. This service is sometimes also included in the full insurance package (only in case of accident, clearly) even if the car can still be driven safely.

 

[tardis67]

Working for car dealer, yes it's normal. But they should of asked for your permission for an extended test drive overnight.

 

[DerekS]

I'm not even kidding, I would get my spare key, go steal my car back, and drive it back to the dealership for him to find in the morning.

 

[02bluesuperroo]

Personally I would say it can be normal if the dealership is aware. I know of one service manager (not Porsche) who routinely took cars home for the weekend without permission and drove the hell out of them. He even got in an accident with one.

One the other hand, I can see legitimate reasons to take the car home. If the car is with a reputable person and the dealership management is aware and it's not being driven other than for diagnosis purposes then it's fine. I would just contact them and investigate and go from there.

 

[rcsting]

In the early Tesla days there was a post about a technician that drove a customer car home. The owner saw his vehicles location on his Tesla app and blasted Elon on Twitter which got quite a bit of attention.

Shortly after that incident Tesla Techs turn off remote access when vehicles are in for service. I agree that the owner should be asked for approval before their vehicle is brought home by a technician.

 

[under8sweden]

Totally unacceptable! If someone shall test drive just around the block I should be informed. Inform Porsche head quarters.

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