My Dad's car stolen from GM dealership while in for service

[gn_racer]

My Dad took his car in to a GM dealership for repairs. He went to pick it up the next day. He paid the bill, and then they went to get the car. They then told him that it was stolen. Apparently, after it was detailed it was sitting in the lot with the keys in it, and was stolen.
Who pays for this?? Is the dealership responsible to keep him in a car until it is replaced? Should this even involve his car insurance?
Any thoughts?

[Crash]

Boy, talk about bad luck, you don't expect to lose your car while it's in the dealership for repair.

As far as I see it... The vehicle was under the dealerships "care and control" and it would therfore be down to the dealerships garage liability policy. Now, how that works in various provinces, what with No Fault insurance and all that, you'll have to seek advice from your broker.

As far as loaning him a car, I'd have thought that the dealership would have jumped on that, as they were the ones stupid enough to leave the keys sitting in his car. The situation is pretty embarising for them and I'm sure that they wouldn't want this to become common knowledge around town.

I suggest talking to the actual owner of the dealership, and at the same time, have a chat with your insurance broker. If all else fails seek legal advise.

[big_block]

I guess the dealership should be responsible for what that just happened to you. Is not very intelligent to leave keys in the car but I can tell that is happening often in dealers. I even saw new cars with key in the ignition !!!.

Some years ago my dad had to left his car at the dealer for couple days. When he got back the car, items were stolen inside. We never knew if a employee did it of the car was left outside unlocked at night. It took weeks to get the cheque from the dealer.

[brettingsworth]

Hi There,

Sorry to hear about the loss. As an insurance professional, normally in Ontario you would go through your own insurance company. Any additional compensation for their carelessness, etc. would be you going after them.

I did notice you live in BC. No fault insurance is not there as insurance is purchased through the government. Again, I believe this is handled through your policy HOWEVER if there is any negative impact to your policy, ensure the dealership PAYS for your loss and DO NOT go through insurance. In Ontario, this would be a 0% Not At Fault and would have no impact on you.

Please speak to BC Insurance first! Don't allow the dealership to push you around!

I trust this helps,


Brett

[tyre]

From my personal experience, the dealer is responsible because they are required to keep the keys locked away until required ( for their use or customer use)

[gn_racer]

Thanks for the responses. It seems to be unanimous that this is TOTALLY the dealerships fault and is a result of negligence resulting in the total loss of my Dad's car.
What really hurts is that my Dad was ignored for 2 hours in the service department after he was picked up by the dealership from home to get his car- even while they were looking for the car, and later calling the police to report it stolen. He sat there while other people came in, paid their bills, and their cars were brought out to them and they left. The Service Manager never disclosed to him that it was stolen until after the police were called. Although he received and still drives their courtesy car, he has heard nothing from them since. No phone call making sure everything is ok, no update, no assurance that he will be taken care of, nothing. It is like because he is a senior that they are just hoping he will go away.
I can understand that this can happen, especially when a dealership's policy is to leave cars unattended and unlocked with the keys in them on the lot. What I can't understand is the treatment of my Dad.
He lost his car, which would probably have been the last car he needed. He was the original owner and kept it in pristine, garage kept condition. I am sure the dealership will offer blue book value then tell him to go away. This will not go away. Through their negligence they cost my dad his car, and then harged him for the repair.
GM Canada will be hearing about this.

[Peter Wong]

I had the same problem few years ago when my car was left over night at Toyota dealership for repair. They did not even pay for my rental car, and also I had to pay for the service repair costs which they claimed it was fixed before my car was stolen.

Live and learn. Look for dealership that they do care about your business. At least they tried. Such as T & T Honda, they blocked all the entraces at night, also, they have security guard to check everything at night. They told me at one time they moved customer's cars inside the secure fence if cars were left overnight.

Good luck!

[TheCarGeek]

Really sorry for your dad's loss, my friend had also the same problem when he left his car in a local MB dealer for two days. Some of his Mercedes 240d parts was stolen and because it was the dealers negligence. They offered to replace all the stolen parts. It was not only a lesson to my friend but also to the dealer to be strict when it comes to security...

[Triad1300]

:evil: I am pissed. I dropped my truck off for servicing. My truck was stolen from the dealership inside the 6 foot barbwire fence. A fence that has cameras and security. But of course they are useless. My car was stolen from a Chevy Dealership in Atlanta, GA. The truck was in the shop for repair. The dealership security and camera were both incompetent. The owner claimed the film was "fuzzy" or "useless". Now I am out of a truck. What do u suggest that I do? I don't want to claim it on my insurance. I spoke w/ owner of dealership and he stated that my insurance is primary and dealership insurance is secondary, and suggested that I review the fine print on my service agreement that I signed. Which I didn't sign, b/c people at dealership know me and my 3500 truck and didn't request I sign anything. But I didn't tell him that. I did make them call police. They do believe it was an inside job, b/c u have to key in and key out of the 6 foot barb wire fence. I forgot to mention that my keys left were in the vehicle. NOT in lock box where they should have been stored. Please help me out! I am at a loss, giving them 15 days to come up w/ something to satisfy my loss.

Thx, 1300

[gn_racer]

Our car was recovered and in good shape, except for a couple of missing hubcaps.
The dealership provided a courtesy car for the whole month that it took to get our car back. They also bought new hubcaps, cleaned the car- and re-keyed it at our insistance. (hey- the theives have the old keys AND they know where we live!)

We were lucky to get it back in good shape, as it was old and had little insurance value. Our position was that it surely was somebodies fault that it was stolen- but it definitely wasn't our fault!! I don't know how it would have played out if it had have been a write off.

Be careful about saying that you didn't sign any service agreement, or they can say that you were illegally parked on their premisis and they are not responsible.

[Bop]

Thats why we all have insurance on our cars. If your car was stolen from the mall, you wouldn't expect the mall insurance to cover the theft. Glad to hear your car was recovered and it sounds as though they made good with your Dad.

[Triad1300]

My car being stolen from the dealership, while under their care and responsposibility. Isn't the same as me or anyone parking their car in a freakin mall. Who in there right mind would leave their car in a mall parking lot w/ the keys? Who in their right mind would leave anything w/ keys in? NO one, unless they wanted it stolen. I just had to respond b/c that comment was STUPID, b/c my insurance isn't supposed to to cover someone else in the stupidity. Why do I have to risk my premiums going up b/c of them? I don't file claims unless it is 100% nessary. Let them use their insurance to cover them, b/c I am sure 99% that is was one of there employees. That is why businesses need to have insurance, to save them for having to pay out of pocket for stupid mistakes made by stupid employees.
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[Triad1300]

I forget to mention, my truck for found stipped and w/ body damage. I will be down w/out my work truck for about a month. And NO the dealership is NO help all they gave me was a rental for 4 days and I had to B****, b/c I didn't want an compact. This is why I am so :evil: :evil:

[gn_racer]

If your car was stolen from the mall, you wouldn't expect the mall insurance to cover the theft.

If I gave the keys to the valet parking at the mall, and they left the keys in the car with the door unlocked and it got stolen, then who's fault is it?

That is basically what happened.

[Triad1300]

It should have been the valet, but they have waivers when u leave your car that they are not at fault for anything when u leave your car and get a ticket. Crazy thing about my truck, I go there all the time I didn't sign a repair invoice and that is where the waiver for lost, stolen, or damaged waiver is. So technically they are at fault and they are jerks and don't want to accept responsibility. But they will or should when my insurance company goes back to get the monies paid out for my claim.

[gn_racer]

In our case, the dealership had the same insurance company as my dad did for the car. So, the insurance company used my dad's for the claim. This claim covered the re-keying of the car, detailing, new hubcaps. In BC there is no fault insurance, so it really didn't make a difference on our claim. It does bug me that they got away totally free and reimbursed for anything that this cost.

[Bop]

Quote from Triad: "I just had to respond b/c that comment was STUPID, b/c my insurance isn't supposed to to cover someone else in the stupidity."

That is exactly what your insurance should cover, mine does. You should shop around for a better company. If I am rear ended at a stop light because of someone's stupidity, I am covered, guess you aren't.

[zacknolden]

I did notice you live in BC. No fault insurance is not there as insurance is purchased through the government. Again, I believe this is handled through your policy HOWEVER if there is any negative impact to your policy, ensure the dealership PAYS for your loss and DO NOT go through insurance. In Ontario, this would be a 0% Not At Fault and would have no impact on you. Yea!

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[Mr Car Guy]

In BC repair shops must have an ICBC policy in effect that covers customer vehicles while in their care. It should not come out of the vehicle owner's coverage. Why should the car owner have to pay increased premiums?

It's easy to get complacent as a repair shop, you sometimes even have to leave vehicles running for a time outdoors to diagnosis problems, you can't babysit them. Very tempting for thieves.