Kinda' strange, but quite interesting!

[Legion681]

I have a 2005 Mustang GT...I had it for a year, pretty reliable, no problems...
About a couple of weeks ago, I tried to switch my car on and the battery was completely dead...I thought it was strange because I drove it two days before and it started right up without a problem...oh and of course I didn't leave anything on.
The next day, I called the nearest Ford dealership (not where I bought my car originally) and I made an appointment for them to check it out. So I went there, they replaced the battery under warranty (total wait time: 1.5 hours) and while I was there I mentioned I had some problems with my car stereo (I had in my pocket the TSB concerning that issue...) and they told me they'd order it the same day and to call and check the next day if the part was there. I did that, the part had arrived and they told me I could get there anytime to have my stereo replaced and I did that on the same day (it was a friday), only to be told, after about 2 hours waiting, that the stereo they got from Ford was defective (it couldn't be programmed...) and that they would order another one on monday and they suggested to check with them the next tuesday or wednesday. So I checked on wednesday: part in, please come in whenever you like and we will replace your stereo. The same day, I got in, got the stereo replaced (total time: 2 hours) and all was fine and dandy.

Now that's where I noticed something very strange:
you see, I have a GPS Nav.Sys. from Garmin, a C330 model, in my car.
It's a very user friendly unit, touchscreen, no buttons, very easy to use: you either use it by plugging it into a 12v socket or thru its own power (battery).
Besides the usual nav. applications, it has one little nifty feature: it records various type of data, like avg. mpg, time on the road, time stopped and time when you were travelling and top speed reached, etc. etc..
Now, I need to tell you that only I drive my car, no one else and I know that the top speed I ever reached was about 95 mph.
But when I went to the screen that actually logs all the data (my intention was to reset that page...), I noticed that the top speed recorded was 137 mph !!!!!!!!!
Now, if I can exclude an electronic glitch (I haven't heard anyone complain about such a ... "misfire" for Garmin and this unit...), the only thing left for me to think is that at the Ford dealership on one (or several) of those three occasions when I was waiting (from 1.5 to 2 hours each time) one of those guys took my car and went for a little joyride on the highway (which is about 100 yards away from that dealership) !
Also, the Garmin C330 is very easy to operate: it has no buttons, it's touchscreen, it automatically starts up when you plug it into the 12v socket (or if you want, you can use its own power, thanks to a 4 hr battery), it's very easy to operate because to get to see the nav map (and at this moment the data log page is recording data from the car), you only need to click an "ok" button at the initial disclaimer and the next screen you see gives only two options: "where to" and "view map". So even the dumbest individual could get to operate that nav.sys. in a millisecond...

So what do you think happened ? The mechanic had a little fun with my car ?

If so, what do you think I should do, give 'em a call and ask them what is going on ?

PS: I haven't yet checked if the maximum speed reached is a button that can be pressed, perhaps giving me the time and date when that speed was achieved. If this is possible, it would be the unrefutable evidence of their misbehavior with my vehicle...

[Mr.DJ]

Trust me, it's not uncommon for auto dealership personnel to take 'demo' and/or customer's cars for a 'joy ride'...so-to-speak. That's why many of us 'cringe' whenever we have to leave our vehicles at any repair facility.

Example...

Last year, while I was waiting for my wife to pick me up at our local auto body/paint shop (where I was having some work done to my Chrysler), I saw two 'lot boys' from my 'Five Star' Chrysler dealership (where I purchased my car/have my car serviced) evidently driving customers' vehicles...one was following the other.

Both of these vehicles were being operated/'hot rodded' with their stereos 'cranked-up' probably to maximum volume...with absolute/total disregard for their customer's property. At the time, another guy was standing nearby...also waiting for a ride. After the two lot boys left, he asked me if I was going to notify the Chrysler dealership about the actions of these two 'lot boys'. After subsequent follow-up, it appears that we both contacted the Chrysler dealership...as we had both purchased our cars from the same place.

Not only did this make the two of us mad, but this also caused us both some concern with regard to what may happen to our own vehicles when left in the custody of our 'Five Star' Chrysler dealership. What was even more suspicious, was the fact that they had utilized one of their customer's vehicles to shuttle a 'lot boy' back to the dealership...not a good thing!

Advice...

IMO, if I were you and if your are in fact 51% sure that this may have also happened to you (after ruling-out a possible electrical short which may have affected your stereo and possibly also your navigation system), then I would most certainly complain to your Ford dealer, as well as also advise them that they will be held accountable for any damage/subsequent damage possibly incurred by this high speed 'joy ride'.

The reason why I mentioned the electrical short, is the fact that we had this problem happen with our 2002 Ford 'Focus ZTS'. An unknown electrical short in the A/C system somehow shorted-out the stereo/CD player, as well as the electrical/automatic door locks. The problem was finally handled/rectified (under extended warranty) after several repeated attempts by/trips to our friendly Ford dealer.

[Legion681]

First of all, thanks for the reply Mr.DJ !

My God...I can't believe that they would take such risks with their paying customer's cars...You see, I come from Switzerland and there I never heard anybody having such problems at all...so I might come across a bit naive, but I thought that seen that a customer vehicle is not the dealership property, they ought to treat it like it was made of Bohemian crystal rather than steel and plastic !

Thanks for the advice, man. The electrical short theory is the only thing that right now is keeping me from calling them and/or reporting them to Ford, but it shouldn't be the case (forgive me, but my knowledge of electricity and electrical matters is absolutely microscopical...basically non existent, really) as the nav.sys. was not connected to the car's battery, so I don't see how that could have happened. The Garmin C330 is a standalone unit and when not in use, I keep it unplugged from the 12v socket at all times, because I am afraid it might have a little bit of drain (I figure it might try to keep the internal battery charged at 100 % all the time) on the battery if left plugged when the car is off.

If you ask me what I think happened, I believe the mechanic got the work sheet from the service desk mentioning only "CD Skipping" (he showed me what they wrote on that), he probably tried it with the car sitting in the workshop and then he decided to go for a road test. While he was doing it, he was probably curious about the nav.sys., plugged it in in order to check it out, clicked the "ok" button for the disclaimer, clicked "view map" and then decided that it was a sunny day, with a sporty car and why not punch it a bit (quite a bit, actually)...not knowing the nav.sys. was recording data right there and then. When he came back, he simply unplugged the nav.sys. which in 30 seconds shut itself off.
And then came to me with a smile thinking he got away with it...

Now I am gonna research to my best capabilities if anyone has noticed any funky reading in the top speed sector of the data log page of the nav. sys..
And after that, I am gonna check if I can gather more info concerning when it recorded 137 mph.
If I can gather that and therefore confirm my theory, I am gonna raise hell for those people...

[RRHemi]

I know a little about electronics so here is my take. No short is going to cause your GPS to malfunction in such a manner. It is 99.99999 impossible. I have a Garmin Map 76 GPS and have found the speed measurement to be very stable. To my knomledge my unit does not log data so I cannot attest to the stability of this function. I think your Stang got ridden very hard. Pretty ballsy(word?)
considering you were there waiting for your car. I would be raising He%&.
I hate it when people dis-respect others' property!

[Afterburner]

Ok, something interesting. I have a Garmin eTrex Vista color model which I use on my motorcycles. I have a K1200S, 167hp hottie with race induction and exhaust. Whenever I exceed 100mph (naw, not very often), the max speed indicator (last check) indicated I had reached 1686 mph. Now I know I have never, NEVER, exceeded 140 mph on this bike, even though it is definitely capable of 170+. But I never thought it could do Mach II plus. It tends to start peeling you off the bike at 140.......

So I wouldn't put it past a Garmin Gremlin, but I also have a friend whose son was fired at a Toyota dealer for doing 80+ in a dealer car. Go figure.

[RRHemi]

Sounds like Legion needs to take the Stang out and see how fast it will go. Oh, I mean check the accuracy of his GPS device.

[Legion681]

Eheheheh...that would be a good excuse to get my Stang to top speed but then I'd need a bulletproof jacket to withstand my wife...when I told her about this, I started out with "You see, something strange happened, I was just about to reset the log page of the navigator and it was showing 137 mph..." and my wife: "How could you go that fast ! You know you could have gotten killed" + blablablablabla...

Seriously now, it's interesting what both Afterburner and RRHemi say...
Because I thought it was impossible that the GPS unit could misfire like that (like RRHemi said) but now there is someone else (Afterburner) that had it happen to him !!!
Honestly I don't know what to do. I'll think about it and I feel I will at least speak with the service dept. guy that dealt with me and see what's his input about this.
One more note: unfortunately the data log page on the Garmin C330 does not record when the top speed occurred...

[RRHemi]

I have a Honda CBR1100XX and the wife has no idea how fast it will go. I could velcro your GPS to it and take it for a spin. The wife has me talked into ditching the Honda for a Harley, since the Chally isn't out yet I think I will do something to make her happy. I'm gonna need the brownie points.
I have taken my GPS on flights and it seems to measure speed accurately up to 544 mph. I have never seen any glitches.

[Legion681]

Originally Posted by RRHemi

I have a Honda CBR1100XX and the wife has no idea how fast it will go. I could velcro your GPS to it and take it for a spin. The wife has me talked into ditching the Honda for a Harley, since the Chally isn't out yet I think I will do something to make her happy. I'm gonna need the brownie points.
I have taken my GPS on flights and it seems to measure speed accurately up to 544 mph. I have never seen any glitches.

Ahhhh brownie points...the survival tool of the married man !
I am starting to think that women are aliens and it's all a worldwide conspiracy to subdue men !!!! LOL

Well though I can't completely blame her: when she came to live with me in Switzerland, I brought her along a couple of times when I hit 155 mph with my M3.

I believe you on the glitch thing...it shouldn't be possible...I ll give the dealership a call and see what they say (of course they'll deny, but I'll still give it a try)...

[RRHemi]

Chicks like fast cars but most don't like to go to fast in them. WTF?
Subdued we are! The quest for toys and the battle with our wives to allow us to get them rages on! Oh well, we would be bored without them.
Tell them your trading that Furd in on a Dodge!