There’s a certain amount of trust required to leave your vehicle at a mechanic’s shop. For one woman, that trust was decidedly broken. User Bill DeVaull (@bdevaull) asked viewers to imagine leaving their vehicle with a mechanic, as his friend, a woman, had done. According to him, the situation quickly took a strange turn. DeVaull says the mechanic stopped responding for several days, which prompted his friend to start tracking the truck’s location. That’s when she noticed it was moving. “And he ain’t returned your call,” DeVaull says, recounting the moment. He says his friend eventually pulled up on the vehicle herself. The truck, he claims, was parked in someone else’s driveway with a “washing machine and gym equipment” loaded in the back. “What are you doing?” DeVaull asked viewers rhetorically. He went on to suggest that situations like this aren’t unheard of, claiming some mechanics or employees “borrow” customer vehicles for personal use. He pointed to a cousin, he says, who would take trucks on test drives and use them to haul items. “Didn’t plan on buying the truck, just needed the truck to move her [expletive],” DeVaull explains. Still, he adds that he wouldn’t react nearly as calmly if it happened to him. “If I put my [expletive] in the shop to get fixed and I locate my [expletive] at somebody else’s [expletive] house, your [expletive] is grass,” DeVaull says. As of this writing, his video has garnered more than 1,600 views. Can A Mechanic Take My Car On A Joyride? Mechanics can drive customers’ vehicles, but it’s supposed to be strictly tied to the work they’re doing. Most of the time, that just means a quick test drive to figure out an issue or make sure everything’s running properly before handing the keys back. But anything outside of that starts to get questionable pretty fast. Using a customer’s vehicle for personal errands, commuting, or extended driving without permission is considered unauthorized use. In some cases, that can rise to the level of a criminal offense, especially if the vehicle is damaged or involved in reckless behavior while in the shop’s custody. There are a few signs that tend to raise suspicion. Excessive mileage is one of the most obvious. If the odometer shows far more miles than would be needed for a short diagnostic drive, it can be a red flag. Unexpected toll charges can also surface. Some drivers have even relied on dashcams or GPS tracking to confirm where their car was driven, as DeVaull says his friend did. If you suspect misuse, documentation matters. Many customers record mileage when they drop a car off and again when they pick it up. From there, concerns are typically raised with the service manager or shop owner first. If there is clear evidence of unauthorized use or reckless driving, a police report is an option. Consumers can also file complaints with state regulators or share their experience through public reviews. Viewers Are Shocked At Mechanic’s Audacity Commenters watching DeVaull’s story said they were just as stunned as he was, questioning how someone could take his friend’s truck — or how his cousin allegedly used test drives to move items she never intended to buy. One viewer summed up the disbelief bluntly. “Well damn,” they wrote. Another joked, “Done started a moving company.” Some responses focused less on the shock and more on how they would’ve reacted in the same situation. “Oh, I’m going to jail,” one person said. “I’m taking my [expletive] and waiting for them to call me and tell me what happened to it,” another shared. One commenter said they would’ve escalated the situation immediately. “I would have reported that vehicle stolen to the police, then I would have sent that police report to [the] corporate office, but something tells me they aided a street mechanic,” they wrote. “Crashing out and calling the [police],” a fourth added. Others leaned into humor about the items in the truck bed. “Looks like [I] got a new washing machine and workout equipment,” wrote one. “Cuz I’m hopping in my truck and going home.” A separate set of viewers said the story itself was hard to wrap their heads around. “Test drive to move is crazy,” one person remarked. “Omg yo ppl crazy as hell,” another reacted. Motor1 has reached out to DeVaull via a direct message on TikTok. We’ll update this if he responds. We want your opinion! What would you like to see on Motor1.com? Take our 3 minute survey. - The Motor1.com Team