[imagesource:hippopx]

It could be a rather expensive mistake to leave your vehicle at a local car wash.

We’re all learning via a Pretoria woman who shared a video of a random man being handed keys to her mother’s vehicle at a car wash in Centurion.

The woman took to Twitter, claiming that a man who walked into the car wash while on the phone told an employee that the owner of the car wanted to speak to him to release the car. The supposed perpetrator claimed that he had come to fetch the car at the instruction of the owner.

But it turned out, the man on the phone was not the owner and had orchestrated a carjacking right under everyone’s noses.

Please help guys. My mothers car was stolen. My father dropped the car at ON THE GO Car wash and Valet in Centurion. A white man came talking on the phone and gave the guy the phone and claimed it was the owner of the car (my dad) on the phone and he sent him to fetch the car pic.twitter.com/jfG5OssUFF

— Lefika M (@MsWickkk) May 1, 2023

The South African noted that this serves as a warning to all motorists who should be wary of leaving their vehicles unattended at car washes as criminals are still targeting them to steal their cars.

It is a Lexus ES250 2022 Model
Number plate
KJ 38 VK GP

This is the man who stole our car pic.twitter.com/1dEPi6xF9b

— Lefika M (@MsWickkk) May 1, 2023

Here is the car pic.twitter.com/v0lNAATLnE

— Lefika M (@MsWickkk) May 1, 2023

As soon as the woman posted her unfortunate situation on Twitter, almost everyone agreed that one should not leave their cars at car washes as this is clearly a problem:

@mdazer wrote: “The reason I don’t leave car at a car wash. How did he know that the owner is not there.”

In response, the woman said: “My parents wash there every Saturday without fail. So he has probably been watching him for a while.”

While @k_rage wrote: “How the hell do they give a stranger someone’s car, how sure was he that the person on the phone was the owner,in 2023, while there are so many scams. That was very stupid/negligent of the Carwash to just give the car away. Something doesn’t add up”

Tweeps also agree that the man used his white privilege to get the goods and that the car wash should be held liable for its stupid decision to hand a car over to someone without verification of who they actually were.

Last year, IOL reported on a trend of car washes becoming a hunting ground for criminals:

I left my car at car wash and took bolt to town but got a shock of my life when my car overtook the bolt I was in 🥺

— Ndivhu A (@Tshedza_Ndivhu) October 10, 2022

Bizz Tracers Forensic Investigator and criminal expert Calvin Rafadi said that criminals are known to study regular customers or get inside information from car wash employees on regulars to make the carjacking a lot easier.

That’s why, he said, owners should remain vigilant about their surroundings, and rather sit at car washes and watch their cars as they are being serviced rather than leave them unattended.

A car tracker is also a fine option.

[source:southafrican]