Mechanic breach of contract?

[llamaslyr]

I own a mini cooper, and got into an accident. I took it to the mechanic at Shell Gas Station in San Jose, CA to get it looked at. The mechanic looked at the car and the damages and wrote down an list of things he needed to fix the car. (Including the parts, labor, prices, and total) He told me a week ago that the price was 4,500 dollars including all the labor and parts needed. He told me that he would start working on the car as soon as we agreed on this price. He made us sign an agreement which stated:

" I hereby authorize the repair work herein set forth to be done along with the necessary material and agree that you are not responsible for the loss or damage to the vehicle or articles left in the vehicle in case of fire, theft or any other cause beyond your control or for any delays caused by unavailability of parts or delays in parts shipments by the supplier or transporter. I hereby grant you and/or your employees permission to operate the vehicle herein described on streets, highways or elsewhere for the purpose of testing and/or inspection. An express mechanic's lien is hereby acknowledged on the vehicle to secure the amount of repairs thereto."

The mechanic started work on the car 6 days ago. However, I got a call Friday saying that a part in the car was damaged and he needed 500 more dollars to fix the part. As a result, he concluded to charge me 5,000 dollars instead of the previous agreed price.

Is that a breach of contract since the mechanic agreed on a certain price? What can I do about the situation?

[ecmst12]

You agreed to a price for specific work. It turned out more work was needed then what was agreed to on the original estimate (note the word ESTIMATE). Hence it will cost more. This is normal and common. When the car is taken apart, it is expected that more damage can be discovered.

[justalayman]

did you agree to the additional $500? If not, I believe California does list the process for how to address such a situation. I think a authorization is required before any additional work can be undertaken.

with that being said, I agree with ecmst12 as to the situation. Some damages are not apparent upon an initial investigation. A mechanic cannot be held to the estimate to fix all work if additional damages are discovered in the process of performing the initial repair. He can only be held to the contracted repairs.

So, bottom line, do you want the car fixed or not? He probably can put it back together with the bad part in it.

[llamaslyr]

Originally Posted by ecmst12

You agreed to a price for specific work. It turned out more work was needed then what was agreed to on the original estimate (note the word ESTIMATE). Hence it will cost more. This is normal and common. When the car is taken apart, it is expected that more damage can be discovered.

However, in the eyes of the law, aren't mechanics looked to as professionals with extensive knowledge in cars? It's similar to a contractor for a house. Once the contractor receives payment for a job, to a certain extent, the price is firm.

[justalayman]

Unless you are willing to pay the mechanic to do a 100% teardown and inspection, there will always be a few "not apparent upon initial inspection" situations.

Now, if you believe it should have been seen, then google up the regulatory agency in your state and find out how to file a complaint.
If you are like most people, you will accept the fact that some things are not apparent upon initial investigation and it is not reasonable to expect everything to be absolute.

[JPeas]

What kind of mechanical work are we talking about? Or you are talking about body damage. By the way, $4,500 - $5,000 is a lot of damages mechanically.

The responses here are correct. There are certain parts/damages can't be seen with a visual inspection. However, an experience mechanic would know certain parts need to be replaced w/o event have to tear down. This is one reason why don't go to a gas station for high dollar value work. Let me give you an example, a car needs new transmission sensors inside the transmission. A good mechanic would immediately quote you the parts, labor and transmission fluid and a filter kit. The mechanic shouldn't come back later and tell you a higher estimate because the car needs new filter and fluid. That's just an example to explain my point, not necessary apply to your case.

Here are my suspicions. Gas stations rarely get such a high dollar value job. I suspect the gas station contracts out the work and ended up with a higher estimate from the contract shop. Now they are asking an increase. If they are contracting out the work, you should look into the letters of the law rather you can back out and cancel. Just for your information, a lot of gas stations can't really handle heavy duty or major mechanical work.

I am not sure how you can find out if the work is contract out. I don't know if they have to disclose that on paper. My advice to you is contact the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR). There are offices in San Jose and South San Francisco. You can talk to an advisor immediately regarding this issue and what they can advice you on about gas station contracting out work. They can also go over the work being performed on your car and see if they additional costs is justified. By the way, when a shop hears about you contacting the BAR, they immediately backoff. It's one agency that they don't want to deal with and end up having a record/complaint on their license.

[llamaslyr]

The mechanic wanted 500 dollars for a bent pipe near the wheel hub. This is without labor.
Thank you to the person above, you are very through.

If I contact the BAR, there is a chance that the gas station will refuse to fix the car. What would I do?

Can the gas station enforce the mechanic's lien?

[JPeas]

First of all, you need to clearly describe what the gas station is fixing. It's impossible to picture what a bend pipe is. There are a lot of parts looking like a pipe. Start by telling what the parts are on the estimate form.

The BAR is not here to rule what's fair or not. They only take actions if something was not done incorrectly and help you determine if anything was inappropriate by the gas station. Check with the BAR about outsourcing. If your estimate form doesn't say outsourcing and they did, the BAR can give you some advice.

If they refuse to fix the car, then you don't have to pay because job was not finished.

One way to sort of settle situation like this is ask for the part receipt for the $500 increase. A lot of times they charged like twice or 3 times the actual parts cost and tell you they loose labor costs by not charging you. Rather than $500 increase, you might be able to negotiate with them the actual parts costs. It's sort of like each side take a step back. I still think a lot of repair shops are just ripping people off by charging parts 2 - 3 times what they actually get them for.