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Car Left at Honda Dealership Gets Into Crash During a Test Drive

Leslie Fisher left her daughter’s Civic hybrid at the Pinellas Park Honda dealership after a dashboard light warned of a possible brake problem.  Fisher was notified two days later that the car had been involved in a crash during an after-hours test drive to a flag football game.  The damage was estimated at $7,000.

Even though insurance is going to pay for the repair of the vehicle, Fisher is still upset and has accused technicians of using the car for personal use.  “I feel like they’ve hung us out to dry.  The car would never have been in an accident if they hadn’t have taken it,” said Fisher.

The general manager at Crown Honda in Pinellas Park, Mike Cooley, stated that technicians were driving the vehicle according to policy and that Fisher had signed a waiver allowing the test drives.  “The intention was to find what was wrong with the car and fix it, period,” said Cooley.

Fisher had dropped off the car at Crown Honda on November 18, 2008.  The next day, the problem with the vehicle was still uncertain because the warning light came on sporadically.

Employee David Furst drove the car that night to his home in St. Petersburg to see if the warning light would come on during his trip, which it didn’t.  Shortly after Furst drove the vehicle, William Johnson, the dealership’s master technician, picked him up for their weekly flag football game in Largo.  Furst suggested that they drive the car to attempt to diagnose the problem on the way to the game.  According to Cooley, both men have their own vehicles and have no need to personally use the Civic hybrid.

On the way back from the game, the men were able to determine the problem and fix it.  However, they were hit by a woman running a red light at the intersection of 71st Street and 54th Avenue.  A Florida Highway Patrol report shows that the crash was not the fault of the technicians.  The woman’s insurance company will be paying for the repairs.

Fisher says that even though the car will be repaired, she feels it will be unsafe because it has been in a crash.  She wants Crown Honda to offer a free replacement.  Cooley offered to let Fisher trade in the car, but she did not take the offer.

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