Shop wrecked my car during an oil change — now the other driver is coming after ME??

Almost the exact same thing happened to a family member of mine — car was at a dealership for warranty work, employee joyrode it, minor fender bender, and suddenly my relative was getting calls from the other party's attorney. It's terrifying when you had zero involvement. The short version of how it resolved: the shop's commercial auto policy ended up being primary because the employee was acting within the scope of their job. Hang in there, it does eventually get sorted.

So from the inside-baseball side of things: when a shop employee is driving your vehicle for shop purposes, most states treat the shop's commercial auto liability as the policy that should respond first. Your personal auto policy might get dragged in depending on how your state handles what's called 'permissive use' — but the key argument here is that you didn't give permission for that test drive. That distinction matters a lot. Push your adjuster specifically on that point and make sure they're coordinating with the shop's carrier.

A couple of things worth doing right now: First, get the name of the shop's insurance carrier and their claim number if you can — you're entitled to know who's insuring the place that caused this. Second, request a full copy of the police report if you don't already have it, especially if it documents that the tech was the driver and that no injuries were reported at the scene. That 'no injuries at scene' notation becomes really relevant if someone is now claiming bodily injury. Paper trail is everything.

Not legal advice, but the legal concept you'd want to research is 'respondeat superior' — basically, an employer is liable for an employee's actions taken within the scope of their employment. If the tech was test-driving your car as part of their job duties, that's squarely on the shop. The fact that you had no knowledge of or control over the test drive is a significant factor. I'd strongly encourage you to at least consult with a personal injury attorney — many do free consultations — before you assume your insurance company alone has this handled.

Just wanted to note: soft tissue injuries like whiplash genuinely can show up days after an accident even when someone walks away fine at the scene. I'm not saying the other driver is being dishonest, but it's also not uncommon for attorneys to file claims quickly before anyone knows the full picture. Either way, that's a separate question from whose insurance should be paying for it — which sounds like it should be the shop's problem, not yours.

Stop waiting for the shop to reach out to you — they won't, because it's not in their interest to. Call them, put it in writing (email is fine), and formally notify them that you're holding them responsible for any liability arising from their employee's actions in your vehicle. Do it today. That paper trail could matter later.

This sounds so stressful, I'm sorry you're dealing with it. You did literally nothing wrong — you just dropped your car off. Please don't let the shop just go quiet on you. You deserve actual answers from them.

Few questions: Did you sign anything when you dropped the car off — like a service authorization form? Sometimes those have language about test drives or even liability waivers buried in the fine print. Not saying it changes everything, but it might affect how this plays out. Also, did your insurance confirm they're actually going to defend you, or are they just 'looking into it'? There's a difference.