A garage has apologised after it emerged a contractor had test driven a customer’s car at speeds of over 90mph three times while testing repairs to the vehicle.
The issue was discovered when a tracking device fitted to the BMW company car alerted the boss to the speeds at which the vehicle was being driven. Andy Benford, who had taken the car in for a replacement handbrake, was subsequently questioned why he had been driving so fast but explained he had taken it into BMW Wollaston in Northampton for repairs and was not behind the wheel at the time.
It turned out that a contract engineer had taken the repaired BMW for a test drive after repairing the handbrake and replacing a tyre. Mechanics are able to do this thanks to road risks insurance policies which enable them to drive customers' cars - needless to say this type of insurance should not be abused in this way.
The unnamed mechanic was tracked breaking the speed limit on the A45 in Northamptonshire by the GPS system fitted to the car, which automatically sent an email to Mr Benford’s boss at Copymark, which supplies him with the BMW for work.
Dealer Principle at BMW Wollaston, David Glover, told the Northampton Chronicle that the company had investigated and the incident was "regrettable". He added: "We have spoken to Mr Benford’s company about what happened and we have apologised in connection with that. They have accepted those apologies and we have moved on.
"I have never come across a situation like this before and we would treat any situation like this extremely seriously."
