Man gets car back from shop with an extra 450km on the clock

A Canadian man’s beloved sports car came back from the shop with an extra 450km on the odometer, closely followed by a $45 toll bill for trips he didn’t make.

Carlos Thomas, 59, of Toronto, dropped his 2007 Mazda RX-8 into Avenue Rentals and Detailing for cleaning and waxing in July.

When he got his wheels back five days later, it looked as though someone had taken his RX-8 for a spin.

"Where did they take my car?" Tomas asked the Toronto Star. "And for what purpose? What if it was involved in an accident somewhere?"

It's not the first time that Thomas, a keen auto enthusiast, has had trouble with that shop. He took a Mazda 6 for detailing prior to selling it, and got it back with damage on it.

He admitted to the Star that he had taken the second car there as a kind of "bait" to see what happened.

The newspaper's enquiries revealed the shop's owner had lost his license for drink driving, was not licensed to provide auto detailing and was renting the premises from a man who was in prison on drug dealing charges.