Mechanic took customer's Mercedes to bars — judge awards $20,270 in damages

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A judge awarded the customer more than $20,000 in the case.

GPS alerts caught the Mercedes leaving the shop for two bars.

The technician insisted the outing was just a long test drive.

When you leave your car at a dealership for service, you expect it to stay in the shop. If it’s not there, maybe it’s on a short test drive. One Tennessee judge says that certainly doesn’t include a night out at local bars. Now, a Memphis-area Mercedes dealership and one of its technicians have been ordered to pay more than $20,000 after a customer tracked her car to two drinking establishments instead of the service bay.

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The ruling stems from an incident involving Kimberly Porter . Her Mercedes-Benz C300 was at Mercedes-Benz of Collierville for repairs after she said it suffered problems she believed were caused by contaminated fuel. On the evening of January 16, she received GPS notifications showing the car leaving the dealership. First, it went to J. Alexander’s and later to a TJ Mulligan’s.

Read: ‘We Screwed Up’ Says Mercedes Dealer After Losing Customer’s $350K AMG

Porter drove to the second location in the dealership’s loaner car and found her Mercedes sitting in the parking lot. After calling police, officers reportedly discovered dealership technician Derrick Nguyen inside the bar and arrested him on a theft charge. Court records from the criminal case also indicated Nguyen appeared intoxicated when he was taken into custody.

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As part of the subsequent civil trial, attorneys representing Nguyen and Mercedes-Benz of Collierville argued he had permission to take the vehicle on an extended test drive. Judge Lynn Cobb rejected that argument. According to newly released court records obtained by WREG , Cobb wrote that customers reasonably expect their vehicles to remain “kept in local proximity to the dealership or shop” while being serviced.

“Extreme And Outrageous”

The judge acknowledged the feeling that most of us would have in this situation. Consumers do not expect their vehicles to be used for “some personal purpose.” He went as far as to call the issue one that needs “regulating.” The court awarded Porter a total of $20,270, including $15,000 in punitive damages after describing the defendants’ conduct as “extreme and outrageous.” Shelby County General Sessions Court caps damages at $25,000.

Nguyen is still facing a criminal theft charge and is scheduled to return to court next month. Meanwhile, the dealership and Nguyen have not publicly indicated whether they intend to appeal the civil judgment.

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