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Topic: Not something you get to drive everyday (Read 2578 times) previous topic - next topic

Not something you get to drive everyday

So I work at the bottom of the Goodyear ladder, if you could concider it a ladder....JustTires. Yes all we do is tires and tire related work....aka alignments.
 
So this rich guy comes in and leaves his very expensive car there for 3 days to get 4 tires and an alignment. Well since the manager left, of course we were going to take it out. I tell ya, 450hp from a V12 is a totally different animal than the puny Grand Am I drive everyday. I had it fast enough in the parking lot to scare a few passengers. :D
 
I NEED TO GET IN A RACE CAR NOW!!!
 
Oh, by the way, it was an Aston Martin DB7 Vantage.....:bowdown:

Not something you get to drive everyday

Reply #1
Avoid getting your tires done at the Goodyear in Downingtown, PA. Gotcha. Thanks for the warning.

Not something you get to drive everyday

Reply #2
Well I'm not at the Goodyear in Downingtown, haha....Frazer is more like it...up the road from the Goodyear in Downingtown....we are the "green side" as my manager puts it.
 
But if you ever need tires....we see.....exactly 0 Fox cars at our shop.  And I call all of the cars that I like to pull in....mostly SN-95 Mustangs...which end up V6 Autos.  We sometimes get a few fox Stangs....but either way, I take good care of the Fox cars.

Not something you get to drive everyday

Reply #3
It's stuff like this why I put my car on stands and haul the tires to be mounted and balanced off in my dad's truck.

3 days for 4 tires and an alignment :eek:
The owner of that car is a complete moron.

Glad you had fun in it just don't get fired:D

Not something you get to drive everyday

Reply #4
I've emailed this thread to your boss.....
1980 birds X 3, 1982 bird, 1984 XR7, 1988 TC

 

Not something you get to drive everyday

Reply #5
I didn't do anything...it gets driven after the alignment, and I did the alignment so I took it for its NEEDED TEST DRIVE.  Jeez...its not like I go out and drift the car or burn the tires off of it.  I just went on the usual route and brought it back...No harm done doing my job....I see why I don't post here so often.

Not something you get to drive everyday

Reply #6
Just pickin on ya jeez just dont break anything and dont get caught
1980 birds X 3, 1982 bird, 1984 XR7, 1988 TC

Not something you get to drive everyday

Reply #7
Quote from: Billyf17
I didn't do anything...it gets driven after the alignment, and I did the alignment so I took it for its NEEDED TEST DRIVE.  Jeez...its not like I go out and drift the car or burn the tires off of it.



Quote from: Billyf17
I had it fast enough in the parking lot to scare a few passengers. :D


I hate to sound like an old man, but I hope you're joking/exaggerating.

Not something you get to drive everyday

Reply #8
Expensive cars in shops make me nervous.  Didnt you feel like you were going to trip and throw your tools/wheel/bondage equipment on it everytime you walked by? 

We had a vintage, pristine Porsche Carrera for about 2 weeks at the shop I used to work at (think Fuhrman 547 4 cammer 1600 - BIG bucks)  - Everytime I walked by it I just imagined tripping over an air line or something and heaving whatever I was carrying at it by accident (cylinder head, block, crank, etc) and destroying the body. 

yeesh, it still amazes me that I didnt drop anything on it - it was a tiny shop and Im clumsy

Not something you get to drive everyday

Reply #9
Quote from: Billyf17
So I work at the bottom of the Goodyear ladder, if you could concider it a ladder....JustTires. Yes all we do is tires and tire related work....aka alignments.
 
So this rich guy comes in and leaves his very expensive car there for 3 days to get 4 tires and an alignment. Well since the manager left, of course we were going to take it out. I tell ya, 450hp from a V12 is a totally different animal than the puny Grand Am I drive everyday. I had it fast enough in the parking lot to scare a few passengers. :D
 
I NEED TO GET IN A RACE CAR NOW!!!
 
Oh, by the way, it was an Aston Martin DB7 Vantage.....:bowdown:


Quote from: Billyf17
I didn't do anything...it gets driven after the alignment, and I did the alignment so I took it for its NEEDED TEST DRIVE.  Jeez...its not like I go out and drift the car or burn the tires off of it.  I just went on the usual route and brought it back...No harm done doing my job....I see why I don't post here so often.



I think this is the part over which some expressed disagreement.

Quote from: Billyf17
...of course we were going to take it out... I had it fast enough in the parking lot to scare a few passengers. :D


It kind of follows the all too familiar stereotypical scenario of a valet or mechanic with someone else's nice car in for service or parking.  Threads like this don't help those that do their own work or refuse to let a valet park their car - even if the typed words were an exaggeration of what happened.
"lol.. because not too many people care for that style of car"
[size=-2]Click on paw print \/[/size]


Not something you get to drive everyday

Reply #10
I'm not stupid, I would never do anything to endanger someone else's car.  I don't need that on my name following me to dealerships.."crashed a $100,000 car."  My choice of words were not the best, I agree with that.
 
Most of the other guys in the shop were scared to touch it.  I wasn't  I knew it was expensive but fear only makes the situation worse.  I do my job with confidence and if something happens...oh well...I know it was an accident and if I get reemed by a customer or have to pay for the damages, so be it.  It's part of the risk I agreed to take when choosing this profession.
 
Notice I said "I have to get in a race car"...I know there are places to drive with reckless abandon..I know the only place to drive above speed limits and cornering with squeeling tires is on the track.  I love racing and respect the laws of the road. I know the two do not mix.
 
We had a 96 Viper RT10 come in one day last year.  It was supercharged and full of nitrous.  The owner left for the day and left us to change the rear tires.  Same situation, this car was capable of 10's.  I pulled it in, reved it to hear the engine and the wine.  I popped the hood to look at the engine...as I did with the DB7.  Then my dopey ex-co-worker pulled it out and decided to take a lap around the building....he almost ran in the back of the building because he couldn't handle the car and thought he could slide it around the building no problem.  He learned a nice lesson that day.
 
I just wanted to share a story...and again my words were not the best, but rest assured I did nothing to danger that car.  I pulled it out and took it for its test drive.  I opened it up once to get a feel for 450 hp....but I did not break the speed limit.  And as for my parking lot comment, it was exaggerated, I maybe went...35 in it...which is reasonable concidering its long enough to get my Cougar upto 60 before having to turn into JustTires.  But just the fact that I hit 35 in about half a second scared the person who was helping me do the alignment.  We are both the most responsible and most experienced workers in the shop and both know what not to do with someone else's property.
 
I treat every car with the respect that I have for my Cougar.
I will choose my words a lot better next time.

Not something you get to drive everyday

Reply #11
I'm just curious why the owner would drop off a car like that for 3 days for work that can be done in an hour.

I know you have to test drive it as part of your job. No problem there. It's just the way it sounded that's all. Just by looking at the pics of your car, I can tell you aren't wreckless. You can tell a lot about someone from their personal vehicle and yours is too purdy.

Not something you get to drive everyday

Reply #12
The owner was out of town for the 3 days it was at the shop. And we did have it done in about 2 hours....the tires were probably the longest part...but the alignment was toe and go. Except it took all night before we could get to it, as it was a drop off it was 2nd priority.
 
My manager also suggested leaving it there because in the unlikelyhood something would either break or be worn out suspension wise, we could get it and install it. Or I would install it as everyone else believes JustTires means "I don't do anything but tires." I end up having to replace broken studs and replacing tie rods. One time I was almost forced into changing coils and struts without a spring compressor. :eek:

Not something you get to drive everyday

Reply #13
I say good on you man.  I would have done the same  thing.  And so would everyone else here unless they were too afraid.  There I said it.  Big whoop, wanna fight about it?
-Jim
1987 Cougar LS 5.0


Not something you get to drive everyday

Reply #14
Quote from: jkirchman
I say good on you man.  I would have done the same  thing.  And so would everyone else here unless they were too afraid.  There I said it.  Big whoop, wanna fight about it?


Ummm no. Your only speaking for yourself. Bragging on the internet about what you did to a customers car is pure stupidity. People like you should never get behind a wheel of a car unless it is an Escort. Someone is trusting their investment/toy to you, don't fornicate it up by bragging on the net even if it was just to screw around in the parking lot. You might see it as harmless but the owner definetly does not. I have worked on very expensive cars, Porsche, Audi and some really other expensive cars. Not once did I ever drive any of those cars irresponsibly regaurdless of how much horsepower was under the hood. Their is a difference between a mechanic and a technician, which one are you?

James