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Mechanic's Lien - Texas Not in possession of Vehicle

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bullitt699

Junior Member
Texas
I have a question regarding Texas Mechanic's liens. I received a phone call apx 10/26 from a shop who repaired my vehicle saying that they misbilled me and I owed them $499 for repairs done in August of 2008. I was on vacation in Hawaii at the time so I did not respond and upon returning I received a certified letter from the shop that I had 10 days to pay or they would pursue all legal remedies including the repossession of my vehicle if I did not.

I assume they are talking about filing a mechanic's lien. I tried to do some research on this but it seems all the information is written for shops that actually have the vehicle.

The background is that I brought the car into the shop after an accident, the shop had been previously owned by the dealership I bought the car from and I had dealt with them before Service King took over. In any case, they alluded that they were one of my insurance companies Preferred repair shops. It took quite some time to get any information - about two weeks before the car was finished. At that time I was given two different totals / repair bills verbally. One was about $500 more than the other. I assumed that this was because of their preferred status that certain costs were negotiated or waived. I additionally had them repair a ground effect and tail light while I was there. So my car was finally completed and I went to pick it up and paid the bill they gave me apx. $140. I asked about the total and they said that was all I owed. So I left. This was 8/29/08

A couple days later I noticed significant problems with the repair and called the service manager (there were gaps leaving the trunk open and the tail light pushed back). they appologized and asked me not to contact the insurance company and give them the opportunity to make it right which I did.

Now two months later they are saying they forgot to charge $499 and I owe it and if I dont pay they will repossess my vehicle.

Is this possible? I'm not sure what to do. The car is worth about $18k and I can't beleive they could take it over $499. Should I just pay it to save the trouble?
 



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