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From the article; Owner, concerned about unusual engine noise brings the Corvette to dealership on a flatbed transport and leaves it. Fix is simple, overnight at dealership, Owner picks up the next day.

The next day Michael reviewed the car's Performance Data Recorder, or PDR, as it had been set to record automatically. It captured the test drive of his new car after it was fixed from beginning to end, showing the vehicle being taken on several pulls to 100 mph. Worst of all, the tech who was driving got into a street race with a Dodge Charger that reached speeds of 148 mph.

As for California CHP? As far as the Dodge driver is concerned, Michael told us the California Highway Patrol is investigating the illegal race. We contacted the CHP and an officer confirmed that there is an ongoing investigation, but couldn't share any additional details.

Wow, what a data recording package this is! I'll bet a lot of insurance adjustors and lawyers are happy to know what can be 'discovered'!

Sometimes the need for speed is too strong to resist. With that said, test drove a twin-turbo Supra some years back to determine a customer complaint of “unusual noise at highway speeds”. Didn’t do like the idjit above but did enter the on-ramp rather quickly listening to the turbos spooling up. Man.... that was some torque. After all, when does one get the opportunity to drive one of those puppies. Had her up to 120 really quick and backed off. Drove it for like 15 minutes over different road surfaces to figure out the complaint but to no avail. Ended up as a “cannot duplicate” diagnosis but it was a rip to drive.

—” I’ll bet a lot of insurance adjustors and lawyers are happy to know what can be ‘discovered’!”

A gearhead friend receives a large insurance discount for plugging a ‘box’ into the OBD port.
It tracks everything and sends it home.

When he wants to speed he has a Ferrari and a drag car and takes them to the track; almost always.

If the got a clear view of the Dodge Challenger’s plate, he’s in for a lot less trouble than the Corvette driver. He racked up several thousand dollars in traffic citations in just the first few minutes, including doing up to 85MPH in a 45MPH zone, unsafe lane changes, crossing double lines, passing on the right, driving in the parking lane/bicycle lane, and running a red light (he did a California right on red without stopping!). Those were all before he ever reached the freeway on-ramp. Exhibition of Speed is a separate infraction as is reckless driving. The number of points he’ll get on his driving record will cause him to lose his license and his insurance rates will begin to look like the National Deficit.

That idiot mechanic put the dealership and the Corvette owner at high risk of liability losses with his reckless stunt. If he’d hit a high earner (a highly possible scenario in the Fremont area), killing or paralyzing them for life or mentally impairing them, the financial liability could be through the roof! Many courts have ruled the car owner is on the hook as well… and their insurance has to pay for repairs and medical when your agent (the repair shop) injures a third party while driving your car with your implied consent which you give by turning it over to them for normal repair which may include test and retest driving. So the car owner would have to at least lawyerup to defend any suit that might arise from a test drive incident that exceeds the limits of his insurance liability coverages.