I just came back from Dallas early this morning. I parked my car (for the last time) at Avistar (they are changing their name to FastTrack Airport Parking). Avistar operates 2 off-site airport parking facilities at Newark Liberty International Airport. Both lots are on US Route 1 & 9 with one location at Haynes Ave. and the other at McClellan St. Long story short, they racked up over 20 miles of joy-riding in my car while they had it. This was evidenced by a completely screwed up driver’s seat and extra miles on the odometer.

Since I picked up the car up at around 1:00 AM, I didn’t bother walking back into the office. There is no manager on duty (just a handful of minimum wagers) at night. After repeated calls today, I finally spoke with the manager, Steve Martin. Not that it’s all too surprising, he denied any wrongdoing. He claims the vehicle was dropped off with 1777 miles on it, when I took note of it being at 1748 when I dropped that car off. He dismissed the seat change as it sometimes happens, however I doubt it ever happens to this extreme.

I asked to view the surveillance video for the time I was in the lot. Of course he said no. I told him my next call was to the Newark Police Department, and he said go right ahead. A very helpful women at Newark PD said that this is a civil matter. The next step, if I so choose to pursue this, is to subpoena the footage. I’m not so sure this is worth it because by the time the subpoena is issued, I would expect the footage to be destroyed. I think airing this out online is sufficient recourse. Don’t you?

A simple word of advice, DO NOT USE AVISTAR / FastTrack Airport Parking.