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Parked Car's Mysterious 724 Mile Joy Ride
By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 30, 2010
Modified Aug 30, 2010
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 30, 2010
Modified Aug 30, 2010
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A Westchester couple who left their car in a long-term parking lot near JFK airport returned home 11 days later to find it had accumulated 724 miles. It's a car mystery equivalent to the 18 minute gap: will we ever know what happened during those 724 miles?
Mimi and Ulrich Gunthart, of Briarcliff Manor, saw a news report last month about parking lot attendants abusing customers vehicles, and marked down their cars mileage before dropping it off. "It was like a game. We never expected it to happen to us," Mimi said.
They were in for another surprise when they picked their car up from the AviStar parking lot; an instructional Russian-language CD they had in the car came on blasting at full volume. There was also a small ink stain on the passenger seat, but no other damage to the car, and no charges on their E-Z pass. David Menter, a regional manager for AviStar, said the company "found nothing out of the ordinary" looking over its inventory logs. Despite what they presume was a 724 mile joy ride, the Gunthart's aren't holding it against the lot. The guys in the picture appreciate it.
Tagged
cars
JFK
joy ride
long term parking
mileage
parking atendants
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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