[RahulNagaraj]

Frank Valdez, a Tesla Model 3 owner, recently rented out his vehicle on the car-sharing platform Turo. Later, multiple notifications on his Tesla app forced him to remotely check the status of his car, only to discover that his Model 3 had ended up at a body shop.



Valdez was able to locate the body shop using the car's GPS. Upon further inspection, he saw that the car's original bumper had been replaced with an un-coloured aftermarket one. Valdez confronted the renter and initially assumed he was attempting to steal parts off his car, however, the renter clarified that the car was only being used to "test & calibrate their aftermarket parts", including the front bumper.

When the owner threatened to call the cops on the body shop, the renter assured him his car would be back in its original shape within the next two hours.

Valdez later realised that the body shop does have a tesla & exotic car parts website. However, even if they were just testing parts, it was an unethical & illegal move to do so without the consent of the car's owner.

Reports suggest that Turo has now opened an investigation into the matter. The car-sharing platform has already banned the renter from the app for violating its terms of service, which prohibits guests to make any unapproved alterations to the vehicle.

Source: Teslaoracle

Link to Team-BHP news

[Mohitkumaar]

These guys need to be sued to bankruptcy!

What thieves!

[Sran]

I have read in the past that automobile manufacturing companies rent out cars and look deeply (dismantling and reassembling) every component. There was sort of case with a car owner (Tesla) where Mercedes rented out a car and had deep dive research. https://qz.com/1146259/mercedes-got-...tesla-model-x/

[svsantosh]

Reminds me of the numerous BOUNCE app scootys and activas lined all over Bangalore NICE road once upon a time. Each day I would notice one or two parts taken off the scooter.

There was a Yellow Vespa from a different rental company which landed on the 'lovers park' on Ecity flyover mid-way. After nearly 1 year, the vespa was down to its monoque and it eventually that too vanished IIRC.

[amvj]

If this can happen in a country like the USA, where they have quite strict laws and people can sue left and right, imagine what will happen in a lawless country like ours.

This is a lesson for those who want to give their car to Zoomcar and other similar platforms.

[ObsessedByFIAT]

This dates back to 2014 when I had bought my Ecosport.

I was getting the seat covers done at a local accessories shop. A random guy walks up to me and asks if he could take off the front bumper of the car. I was quite taken aback. On further probing it turned out that he had a business of manufacturing such spare parts and wanted to get the measurements of the front bumper.

I politely declined and stood right next to the car for rest of the seat installation process.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

However, even if they were just testing parts, it was an unethical & illegal move to do so without the consent of the car's owner.

I hope this was the case, although it was still unethical.

But this incident just shows why a concept like Turo will never work in India. There are people who even steal badges & monograms in our country! Zoom Cars and many other self-drive rental companies have faced peculiar problems, wherein the good parts of their rented cars were swapped out with worn-out spares. From a thief's point of view, why bother with a new suspension on your Dzire when you can simply swap it out with that of a relatively new rental Dzire? Similarly, ECUs, air-con compressors, even lights have all been swapped from rentals.

This is why some self-drive rentals screen your online profiles before handing you the car. But it isn't possible when you're operating at a large scale.

[Jhinchak]

Why can't they just provide some incentive to owners for Testing\Calibrating etc. I'm sure many owners will be willing to offer their cars for some free parts. Along with the consent of the owner this issue could have been avoided.