Car Problems

Goose creek, SC.
Just this morning my husband and I took our '91 Mercury Grand Marquis into a local repair shop to be fixed. (It had a drain on the battery for a long time and we just wanted it to stop.) We told the mechanic about the drain and that the alternator was making a buzzing sound. When we took it to the repairman he said that they looked over the whole electrical system and determined the radio was causing a 5 volt drain on our 12 volt battery and that was the only problem. So my husband and I were on our way home and the gas light was coming on so we stopped to get some gas. When we pulled into the gas station we realized that there was smoke coming out from under the hood, we popped the hood to find out that the alternator(which we bought back in Sept of 1997) had caught fire. Luckily there just happened to be someone around who had a fire extinguisher and was able to put out the fire for us. The repair shop came and picked us up at the gas station and towed our car back to the shop. After a very brief look at the car the very intelligent repairman determined that there had been a fire in the alternator caused by a short in the 'pigtail'(?) and said that his shop would replace the alternator for $365(parts only, not including labor). Am I in the wrong to think that the repair shop should pay for to replacement since it would seem that they caused the problem? Your advice would be highly appreciated.[EMAIL]tinkerlow@comcast.net[/EMAIL]

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

Nice story, but you never mentioned anything that would indicate that your original problem had anything to do with the "alternator", nor your reasons why you believe the mechanic would be liable for it's replacement.

Further, you never mentioned the age of the "defective" or "worn out" alternator. So, assuming that the mechanic is somehow responsible for an alternator, you wouldn't be able to obtain a "free" new alternator because you have been using the "old" alternator. So, assuming you're able to demonstrate some sort of negligence on the part of the mechanic, you'd only be entitled to some, small, amount toward the purchase of a replacement alternator anyway.

In summary, it would undoubtedly cost you more to prove the mechanic's negligence, than it would be worth due to the fact that you're not entitled to the "replacement value" of a new alternator in exchange for your old alternator.

Good luck.

IAAL