Most people hand over their car keys at a dealership and assume the worst thing that could happen is a long wait. Kimberly Porter of Memphis found out the hard way that some employees have far more ambitious plans for your vehicle.
Porter dropped her Mercedes C300 off at a Memphis-area dealership after the car developed serious issues — issues she believes were triggered by bad fuel. What followed was a month-long service saga that turned into something far more alarming on a Friday night in January 2026.
A late-night GPS alert that changed everything
Porter’s C300 had been at the dealership since mid-December after it began idling unexpectedly on the interstate shortly after a fill-up. By January 16, the car was still sitting there — or so she was told. Then, around 6 p.m. on a Friday evening, her phone buzzed with a GPS alert: the car was moving.
She initially chalked it up to a glitch. A second alert killed that theory fast. The tracker showed her C300 rolling away from the dealership and heading toward J. Alexander’s, a restaurant in Cordova, a Memphis suburb. Later that night, it moved again — this time to TJ Mulligan’s, a bar. That’s when Porter stopped waiting and started driving.
She showed up at the bar with a spare key and a phone call to police
Using the loaner vehicle the dealership had provided, Porter drove directly to TJ Mulligan’s. Her C300 was sitting right there in the parking lot. She unlocked it with her spare key and immediately called police, assuming the car had been stolen.
Officers arrived and found a coat inside the vehicle containing ID belonging to Derrick Nguyen — a name one officer reportedly recognized on the spot as a dealership employee. Police went inside the bar and brought Nguyen out in handcuffs. Court records indicate he appeared intoxicated at the time of his arrest. He was charged with theft of property.
What the dealership allegedly said next made things worse
Nguyen reportedly told officers he had permission to take the car. The dealership’s service manager denied that claim entirely. But here’s where the situation escalated beyond just one bad employee: Porter alleges that a dealership executive later contacted her and asked her to drop the charges, describing Nguyen as “a really good kid.”
Porter also claims the dealership then pressured her to return the loaner vehicle quickly — with a threat attached. According to her, she was warned that if the loaner wasn’t back by 6 p.m., the dealership would report it stolen. “They literally told me, ‘If you don’t have our loaner vehicle back here by 6 o’clock, we’ll report it stolen,'” she told local news station WREG. She has since filed a civil lawsuit against both Nguyen and Mercedes-Benz of Collierville.
The timeline that tells the whole story
| Event | Date / Time | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| C300 develops issues on interstate | Second week of December | Believed caused by bad fuel |
| Vehicle towed to dealership | December 2026 | Mercedes-Benz of Collierville, Memphis |
| Car still at dealer, no resolution | January 16, 2026 | Over one month in service |
| First GPS alert — car leaves dealership | ~6 p.m., Friday night | Porter initially suspects a glitch |
| Second alert — car tracked to J. Alexander’s | Friday evening | Restaurant in Cordova suburb |
| Car tracked to TJ Mulligan’s bar | After midnight | Porter drives there in loaner vehicle |
| Derrick Nguyen arrested at bar | Same night | Charged with theft of property, appeared intoxicated |
| Civil lawsuit filed | Following days | Against Nguyen and Mercedes-Benz of Collierville |
Why every car owner should think twice before dropping off their keys
This story isn’t really about one rogue employee at one dealership — it’s about a gap in accountability that most car owners never think about. When you leave your vehicle for service, there’s no formal contract preventing anyone on that lot from taking it for a spin. You’re operating on trust, and that trust has limits.
GPS trackers have become standard in many modern vehicles, and this case is a sharp reminder of exactly why that matters. Porter didn’t just catch an employee joyriding — she documented the entire route, the locations, the timing, and built a paper trail before she even called the police. Without that tracker, her car comes back the next morning with extra miles and nobody says a word.
If your car is currently sitting at a dealership or independent shop, now is a reasonable time to check whether your vehicle has built-in location tracking through an app — Mercedes me, OnStar, or similar services. Aftermarket GPS trackers are inexpensive and take minutes to install. Porter’s situation is an uncomfortable reminder that your car can tell you things people won’t.
The civil suit against Nguyen and Mercedes-Benz of Collierville is still working its way through the courts. However this resolves legally, the reputational damage to that specific dealership is already done — and the lesson for every car owner is crystal clear: your vehicle, your data, your protection.
