EP3/Vehicle surveilance?

[DRP967]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWEhelJrmeo
Camaro owner records mechanics abusing car Best Chevrolet-Kia in Easley, S.C

So I was thinking about this, when I take my car to the mechanic, tire/alignment shop, etc. I wonder if my car is or might be getting abused ie. unnecessary revving, WOT, burn outs, etc. Most of the time I never leave the car so I am able to watch my car getting serviced but there are times when I have to leave the car for a day or two ie. major service. For minor stuff like oil changes and new tires and what not no biggie because as mentioned I am present. Since we drive sports cars and some if not most of us have modified cars...some of these mechanics/techs/whatever are tempted to test things out. For example, I was at America's Tire/Discount Tire a while back getting new tires installed the mofo who drove my car from the parking lot into the install bay/garage revved my car unnecessarily (the car has a muffler delete/straight pipe axleback) while I was standing there watching. I tell him to not rev the car and he responds "It wont hurt anything." I couldnt believe this piece of crap had the audacity to tell me that, let alone rev my car while I was right there. I informed the manager of the incident and he was very apologetic but damn that really pissed me off...I felt violated as hell.

I am thinking of installing a recorder and or camera in the vehicle for surveillance purposes when I leave my car to get serviced, anybody have something like this? And if so where can I purchase. What do you guys think about this? Am I being overly paranoid? I just dont trust people sometimes with my car. Now if I drove a Camry/Accord then I wouldnt be so worried but sports cars ie. MX-5/S2000/370Z/EVO/STI/etc. or even modified cars...I worry since a modified exhaust is like "hmmm I wonder how this car sounds?" or lowered then "Hmmm I wonder if this thing handles good?" or a short shifter "Hmmm Im gonna WOT this thing to feel the shifts" etc. (This is what I feel is going on in their heads...now not all mechanics are gonna be this bad but there seems to be a good amount of these assholes) And I never ever will have my car valet parked....:O

[beechstreet]

You can't assume all shops have shadey employees based on one experience. As someone who has been in the auto repair field for 6+ years, we honestly don't have the time to goof off with customer's cars. Not only is it a liability, but it makes us look bad. If you get treated poorly somewhere, just don't go back. Don't waste your cash on surveillance. If you really want to though, buy one of those in-car camera's that auto-x guys always seem to have and mount it up. You can use it for when you are having fun with your car and when you want to record whoever is driving it.

[Silva]

^ agreed.
One mechanic doesn't mean all mechanics. Just keep looking until you find a garage with trustworthy people... Or get a Go-Pro because they are just awesome all around :smile:

[Drunken Yak inc]

If I'm not mistaken, the "Viper Smart Start" I have installed in my EP allows me to define a radius to which I will be alerted if the car leaves the specified radius. I believe that they also offer a package that allows you to have a GPS record of where your car has been, however I didn't feel that it was necessary in my case as I do my own service. Also, if available, Tire Rack has you pull your vehicle into the building and into the bay... They use (4) floor jacks instead of lifts so there isn't a worry about misaligning the vehicle when pulling into a bay. Their corporate office/main distribution warehouse/installation center/test track is only 20 minutes away from me, and I am unaware if their other locations are setup in a similar fashion, so YMMV.

[pinstripes]

ive worked part time and full time over the last 6 years at a nice body shop in my town. We always have nice cars coming through all the time in example bmw m3, m5, mercedes amg, civic si, porsche, all really nice cars and nobody fucks with cars at least at my shop. If anything people are extra careful of it and some of us even put down what were doin jus to listen to the car if someone is moving it to a diffferent location loool (or maybe thats just me) but yea unless your at like a firestone full of 19 year old kids then you should rest assure your car generally wont be fucked with, then again i shouldnt say firestone as an example because the firestone next to my shop has trreated me pretty good with alignments and balances etc since i work next door. :mcool:



the only problem i had ver with someone driving the car was when i got it valeted once, the dude couldnt even move because he didnt realize the ebrake was up,,, just looked like an idiot and the other valet was laughing at him and had to go up and be like yoo its a stick there a e brake lol but valets are the ony time i really worry about my car lol.