Tech's joyride nets customer a new Vette

Loyal Final Assembly readers might remember the story this month of a Chevrolet service technician who took a customer's Corvette on a high-speed joyride that was unknowingly captured on video. The dealership, Fremont Chevrolet in California, agreed to give the car's owner an extended service contract to make up for it, and the situation seemed to have been resolved amicably.

But the store's owner, Inder Dosanjh, ended up going much further than that. He's taking back the customer's Corvette and giving him a brand-new 2022 model instead.

"After I saw the video, I felt this is the right thing to do," Dosanjh told The Drive last week. "I heard it, and then it was worse when I saw it. Until you see things, sometimes, you don't really understand them."

The customer, identified only as Michael, met with the general manager and placed a new order with General Motors. He even was able to get a few options that his 2021 model was missing.

Dosanjh said he'll either wholesale Michael's current car or keep it for his personal collection. The Corvette's built-in Performance Data Recorder captured video of the technician going as fast as 148 mph along a crowded freeway near the store, at times racing a Dodge Charger. The California Highway Patrol is investigating the incident.

"It's not about the money, it's not about anything else," said Dosanjh, who has more than a dozen dealerships in the San Francisco Bay Area. "This is about fixing the problem right."