How to make a guy pay for damages caused

[dennisanger]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California.

My question is as follows. I paid a mechanic to change the spark plugs in my car. He came and picked up the car and drove it to his house. When I went to pick the car up it had a cracked head. Apparently he torqued down the spark plugs (on an aluminum head) so tight he cracked it. I towed the car to the dealer and was told it would cost $1700.00 to fix. Do I have any recourse in making this guy pay for the damages he caused?

 

[justalayman]

. If you can get a professional mechanic, preferably with something such as ASE certification or some other proof of knowledge, to testify the over-tightening caused the the crack, you might have a decent chance of prevailing.

I can't say I have ever heard of a cracked head from over-tightening spark plugs though. Unless the head had a heli-coil (or some other brand of thread insert), the threads will strip long before you could get enough tension to crack a head.

 

[Dave1952]

I agree with Mr. Justalayman that "torquing" the spark plugs should not crack a head. And no one torques spark plugs, anyway.
Let's not waste time by arguing about this. Your problem is that you brought your car to the shop and now it has a cracked head. Why did you bring the car to the shop? What was the problem? Or was this just routine maintenance? How will you convince us that the head was not cracked before the shop visit?

Good luck