Dealer accidentally remote starts customer's Mustang right into a pond..

[Bouncer]

A Mustang Forum member, luckydawg003 (LD), took his manual-tranny 2007 Mustang GT in for warranty repair to Brandon Ford in Tampa, Florida. When he went to pick it up, the service manager departed to retrieve his car, then came back ten minutes later to say he had some bad news. According to LD, someone left the car in gear without the parking brake on, and when the service manager pressed the remote start button twice to start the car, it leaped to life and drove out of the dealer's lot, through a chain link fence and into a pond, getting completely submerged.

Other twists to the tale: LD had an aftermarket remote starter that bypassed the clutch and would start the car even if it weren't in neutral. A forum poster going by the handle Tylus linked to the posts wherein LD asks for advice on how to achieve the particular bypass he was after. Some folks think it's the dealership's fault, saying the 'Stang was in their possession and the service manager didn't need to use an aftermarket remote starter to retrieve the car. Some feel it's LD's fault, having left an jerry-rigged system in someone else's car. And some say there's enough blame for everyone. Question is, what is LD left to do about his scuba-diving Mustang? Pictures of the car post-dive in the gallery below.

Forum Fodder: Dealer accidentally remote starts customer's Mustang right into a pond? — Autoblog

[Konitz]

Why would you ever want to bypass the clutch for the remote start?; I imagine a hackers way of installing a remote start on a standard car. Most would have tied a switch into the emergency brake that switches the light on the dash so the remote start would only work if the car was in neutral and the emergency brake was on.

What a hacker.

[Bouncer]

So the question is, who should pay for it?

The idiot that attached a remote start to a manual tranny, or the guy at the dealer who did not have to use the remote start to start the car and who also turned the car off without putting it into manual.

I say the dealer should pay but the guy is a dumbass.

[mofo]

dealer should pay because he is the one who initiated the start.

[Bouncer]

dealer should pay because he is the one who initiated the start.

the other side to that though would be. had the car been wired correctly and the customer had not bypassed key safe guards that prevent the car from starting out of gear this would not have happened.

[Konitz]

The guy; that is actual illegal to let your car start while in gear. The dealer can really screw him and void his warranty because he worked on his car and installed aftermarket accessories not approved for the vehicle.

[Walnutz]

I'd have to go with the dealer.

Thank god there was only a pond on the other side of the fence and not a busy street or a playground with kids playing.

[liftsiron]

I'd have to go with the dealer.

Thank god there was only a pond on the other side of the fence and not a busy street or a playground with kids playing.

Very true but since no one got hurt I think it's funny.

[Walnutz]

Very true but since no one got hurt I think it's funny.

Oh, definitely a funny story.

[mofo]

the other side to that though would be. had the car been wired correctly and the customer had not bypassed key safe guards that prevent the car from starting out of gear this would not have happened.

if there was an aftermarket remote starter installed wouldn't it be logical to assume that there would be other aftermarket "modifications" done to the car as well. and starting the car remotely leads to issues of security in that what if the dealer/mechanic started the car and turned his back and someone stole something from the car?

but i do see how legal issues play a role and how you are arguing your point of safe guard being tampered with.

[dna9488]

lol what a dumbass. Why would you bypass that? Its the dealerships fault because of the people pressing the autostart button. It wasn't necessary.

[Shibby]

Ok, I need an explanation from the car people. My brother had a '99 SS Camaro back in 1999. He put a remote start on it. If it was in gear it would jump less than a foot and stall out. How do you bypass the normal car functions so that it keeps moving?

[dna9488]

Ok, I need an explanation from the car people. My brother had a '99 SS Camaro back in 1999. He put a remote start on it. If it was in gear it would jump less than a foot and stall out. How do you bypass the normal car functions so that it keeps moving?

You can't bypass it to keep moving. You can bypass the clutch depression sensor that lets the car start.