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Comment by mechanical_bear | Hacker News Reader

Given all the information, it does sound like they were test fitting aftermarket parts.

How the hell do you do that without the owner's permission? And which owner will let that fly? Bastards need to be arrested and sued.

For what? Breach of turo agreement? No damage to award

It’s very likely the warranty is voided and there is diminished value to the car now. He could easily push a destruction of property/vandalism charge.

I don’t believe it would be legal in CA for a car manufacturer to offer a warranty that is voided by something like temporarily removing a part.

You can modify your car anyway you want and it won’t void the warranty for unaffected parts, but the bumper warranty would be void and that’s like $2000 from the quote a colleague got from Tesla for a replacement bumper and paint.

The Magnusson-Moss act prevents arbitrary voiding of warranties.

Yes, monetary damages for breach of contract, which likely doesn’t cover disassembly and any vehicle damage no matter how small that may result. Plus Compensatory damages for having to pay a Tesla shop to certify it was put back together correctly. As well punitive damages for fraud by the renter

It's definitely not ok to do, but why would you arrest and sue them? What possible benefit would that provide to the owner, or society?

Restitution to the owner for a potentially voided warranty and bricked car?

He removed the bumper. That doesn’t void warranty nor can it brick the car.

It would make them less likely to do this again. It’s the same benefit of arresting people who smash a window or spray paint a car.

I dunno about you, but I got better things to do with my time than sue people for silly reasons. What the guy did is not right, but unless there was any damage it would be a waste of everyone’s time.

Drop it off at a mechanic and have them inspect it, if all looks good, move on with your life. Otherwise, ask them to pay, if they refuse, then sue.

> Drop it off at a mechanic and have them inspect it, if all looks good, move on with your life.

This isn’t free. So I should pay a mechanic to inspect because of their action?

If I steal your car for a day and bring it back, is that ok with you? Do you have better things to do than file a police report?

Note, I don’t think the owner needs to sue them. He just needs to have the police charge them with the crime they committed.

Yes, if someone stole my car, I would definitely file a police report. The two here aren’t equivalent. One is stealing your car, the other is someone renting your car and then using it in an unauthorized manner.

Again, it’s a shitty thing what the guy did, but I would file a complaint with Turo and try to get the money for an inspection through that.

Sure, file a police report against the guy (though I don’t think police would pursue any legal action against this guy without damages).

My problem here is the people calling for a lawsuit. Like, how is that a good use of anyone’s time?

What if they didn't torque something right? Or made any mistakes/caused damage and then the next person who drives it ends up injured or dead? At least a large fine and probation would be appropriate.

He should take it to a mechanic and have it inspected, if anything is off he then asks him to pay to get it fixed. If he doesn’t pay, then you sue. You don’t have to jump to suing people right away, god damn.

It's a bit underhanded, but your comment is wildly overblown.

> Bastards need to be arrested and sued.

If you're serious, this is something I can't imagine someone jumping to in many places outside of the U.S. Even if there was evidence to support damage being done or parts being stolen, neither action would be rational

I assume aftermarket parts could decrease the value of the vehicle, so it would come down to what the fair market value of a Tesla that has been used as a rental car that has only OEM parts is compared to a Tesla that is similar in all other regards but has known non-oem parts installed by people of uncertain technical skill.

I would be surprised it if was more than a few hundred dollars of damages if there were any damages at all.

They vandalized a vehicle. That’s a crime.

I don’t mean to defend what this body shop was doing, but I fail to see how this could be considered vandalism absent intentional damage being done.

Body parts aren't really made to be flawlessly removed and replaced. There's probably several flaws after that happens, worn plastic connectors and holes, imperfect seams, wiring routed through panels slightly wrong, new scuffs/scratches, etc.

They intentionally removed parts of his car. Seems pretty vandalizing. And they claimed they were going to replace them.

If you came home and someone had removed the tires off your car, would you consider that vandalism? What if they said they were just testing out some other tires and would replace them?

If I rented my car to someone and they had taken off my tires and put different ones on and claimed they were testing, I would be pissed off. No, I would not consider it vandalism because words have actual meanings.

This is a rather absolutist take for something so open to interpretation. There are also lots of crimes being committed constantly, but law should be used as a social framework first and system of punishment last. People in that framework are expected to be capable of more conplex thought than "You did bad, time 4 jail". There is nuance, and law should be there to facilitate restitution if necessary, but ideally there are other avenues for resolving dispute

>system of punishment last.

The US must have missed that memo

I’m confused where in the world you live where someone could have potentially voided your warranty and destroyed a 50,000$ car and you wouldn’t want restitution? You would be completely fine with this situation???

You generally need something to actually happen, not ‘potentially happen’ to want restitution.

Destroyed?? That seems a bit overblown.

At any point when driving a car, someone could potentially destroy the damn thing or kill me. If you're renting your car out, and you assume there's zero risk, you're at best rarher naive. If you buy a 50k status symbol and need to be super precious about it, maybe you shouldn't have bought it. I'd go one step further, and suggest that if taking your bumper off and putting it back on voids your warranty, and that's important to you, maybe you shouldn't be buying what is ultimately an expensive fashion item and renting it out.

A replacement bumper from Tesla is upwards of $2000 and would be considered felony theft.

All what information?

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