- A Subaru dealership technician was allegedly caught on video doing something bizarre.
- After speeding through the dealership parking lot, they seem to have unplugged the car’s dash cam.
- What they didn’t seem to realize is that another one was recording everything.
Car dealers in the USA don’t have the best reputation, but that’s not solely because of shady sales tactics. Countless customers struggle to get genuinely good service at a decent value. And sometimes, technicians do some weird things.
According to the YouTube channel ‘NewYorkDashCam’ that shared this video from a viewer, this particular incident reportedly happened in Cortlandt Manor, New York at Curry Subaru on what appears to be Dec 31, 2024. A customer claims that they took the car in for an oil change and to sort out a check engine light. In the process of that work, a shop tech jumps in and things get interesting quickly.
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According to the video, within moments of starting the engine, the technician whips the car into action and blitzes around the lot. After slipping in and out of a few different rows of vehicles, he approaches the entrance to the service bays. Before he stops the car, he reaches up and unplugs the rear camera. However, according to the video’s description, he just disconnected it from the main unit, not the power.
Recognizing that it didn’t turn off, he searches the center console and unplugs the USB power. That did turn off the camera. What the man seen in this clip didn’t realize was that the car also had a a secondary Ring car camera on the dash, which was connected through the OBD port and was recording everything.
Finally, he reenters the building, plugs the dashcam right back in, and exits the car, using foul language and clearly frustrated about something.
It’s important to note that we have no way of knowing what this employee was doing. For all we know, their intentions were wholesome. Regardless, this incident calls into question whether or not technicians should have the right to turn off or unplug dashcams.
Some states dictate the legality of recording a third party without their consent, even if they’re inside the private property of another person. New York doesn’t appear to have a legal take on this particular matter either way. Notably, it does require that taxis have up-to-date interior video recorders.
Carscoops reached out to involved parties, including Curry Subaru, and Subaru itself for comment. We have not received a response from any of the parties as of this writing. If we learn more we’ll be sure to update you.