chrispatcarroll
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Colorado
I had a break down on my car in late December and the repair cost was high, but fair for the given work. It broke down in Denver and I had it towed to a shop that was near to the location and had a good reputation online. After a couple weeks I picked it up and was driving it on the interstate towards home and noticed some smoke. I pulled off to check it out and saw that the smoke was under the hood. Opening up the hood revealed 6-8 inch flames coming up from the bottom of the engine block. This was a tad disconcerting. I was able to get them put out and called the shop. They sent a wrecker and went back to work on the vehicle. They had missed something in the initial repair and a seal hadn't been reset properly and leaked oil onto the exhaust which at driving speed would get really hot and combust the oil. Not a big deal to me, just kind of a drag. It's fixed the next day with the owner even having driven it home to ensure everything was in shape.
I drive the vehicle another 3 weeks or so including trips to the mountains to ski through January and into February. On Presidents day Colorado gets a ton of snow and I drive with my brother in law to Eldora. There is between 16-20 inches on the side of the road as plows work to keep the road even driveable. It's slow going with all the snow and the steep grade we are climbing at. Without warning I see two puffs of steam and the thermostat begins to sky rocket. With all the snow on the side of the road, I can't tell where I can pull of safely or what I would even be pulling off onto. I find a spot where it is flat with mail boxes, essentially purposely getting myself stuck to get the engine cooled down. Under the hood there is coolant spilled everywhere, but there is still some in the overflow tank. We wait long enough for the thermostat to drop all the way down and drive again. At this points skiing isn't an option anymore so we arrive in Nederland and cell coverage and begin calling for the tow truck. The vehicle is taken to a shop in Boulder where they thought it would be the factory radiator that has a tendency to split a plastic piece at the top if it has never been replaced. It seems just bad luck for me given the timing of the previous repair.
The mechanic opens the hood and right away he finds that there are several hose clamps that are loose and one that also is not regularly used in auto work. Then he sees that the cooling fans right behind the radiator are not plugged in. Without them plugged in the radiator has overheated and blown and thereby fried the aluminum block of the engine. The shop in Denver missed reconnecting those after the repairs they did. A big mistake.
I call the shop in Denver to relay the news, while the Boulder shop relays the results of their findings as well. The engine is totally burned. It would have happened sooner in the summer when its hotter but with cold weather and other short travel or highway speeds that don't require the engine to work hard, the fans never had to kick on necessarily. At highway speed there is also enough air flow across the radiator and engine to keep temperatures normalized. The steep winding grade coupled with slick road conditions was the tipping point.
The Denver shop calls their insurance to take over the claim. Eventually the insurance, once they get all the facts of the case taken in and finally understand the circumstances, total the vehicle. In their calculations it would be more expensive to buy a new engine and replace all the damage than it would be to pay me out $6800 (a fair price by KBB and other sources given my mileage, etc.) But, this still leaves me hanging for the repairs that were not done properly by the Denver shop ($4500). The repairs were warrantied to 12,000 miles or 12 months. The insurance won't come up anymore to cover the cost of those repairs. It seems as though they are not really trying to cover their client's damages, so I'm left to go after the garage in Denver. The shop has already told me they "can't do anymore out of pocket at this time", but if that's the case, we are looking at small claims court and in that scenario, I think I have a strong case. I paid for repairs that directly led to my car having another breakdown that sent my car into insurance hell. I don't get any value from the repairs on my car that I fully intended to continue to drive. What am I missing? Can I allow the shop to make a deal with me to get my money back or should I just file the court papers now?
I had a break down on my car in late December and the repair cost was high, but fair for the given work. It broke down in Denver and I had it towed to a shop that was near to the location and had a good reputation online. After a couple weeks I picked it up and was driving it on the interstate towards home and noticed some smoke. I pulled off to check it out and saw that the smoke was under the hood. Opening up the hood revealed 6-8 inch flames coming up from the bottom of the engine block. This was a tad disconcerting. I was able to get them put out and called the shop. They sent a wrecker and went back to work on the vehicle. They had missed something in the initial repair and a seal hadn't been reset properly and leaked oil onto the exhaust which at driving speed would get really hot and combust the oil. Not a big deal to me, just kind of a drag. It's fixed the next day with the owner even having driven it home to ensure everything was in shape.
I drive the vehicle another 3 weeks or so including trips to the mountains to ski through January and into February. On Presidents day Colorado gets a ton of snow and I drive with my brother in law to Eldora. There is between 16-20 inches on the side of the road as plows work to keep the road even driveable. It's slow going with all the snow and the steep grade we are climbing at. Without warning I see two puffs of steam and the thermostat begins to sky rocket. With all the snow on the side of the road, I can't tell where I can pull of safely or what I would even be pulling off onto. I find a spot where it is flat with mail boxes, essentially purposely getting myself stuck to get the engine cooled down. Under the hood there is coolant spilled everywhere, but there is still some in the overflow tank. We wait long enough for the thermostat to drop all the way down and drive again. At this points skiing isn't an option anymore so we arrive in Nederland and cell coverage and begin calling for the tow truck. The vehicle is taken to a shop in Boulder where they thought it would be the factory radiator that has a tendency to split a plastic piece at the top if it has never been replaced. It seems just bad luck for me given the timing of the previous repair.
The mechanic opens the hood and right away he finds that there are several hose clamps that are loose and one that also is not regularly used in auto work. Then he sees that the cooling fans right behind the radiator are not plugged in. Without them plugged in the radiator has overheated and blown and thereby fried the aluminum block of the engine. The shop in Denver missed reconnecting those after the repairs they did. A big mistake.
I call the shop in Denver to relay the news, while the Boulder shop relays the results of their findings as well. The engine is totally burned. It would have happened sooner in the summer when its hotter but with cold weather and other short travel or highway speeds that don't require the engine to work hard, the fans never had to kick on necessarily. At highway speed there is also enough air flow across the radiator and engine to keep temperatures normalized. The steep winding grade coupled with slick road conditions was the tipping point.
The Denver shop calls their insurance to take over the claim. Eventually the insurance, once they get all the facts of the case taken in and finally understand the circumstances, total the vehicle. In their calculations it would be more expensive to buy a new engine and replace all the damage than it would be to pay me out $6800 (a fair price by KBB and other sources given my mileage, etc.) But, this still leaves me hanging for the repairs that were not done properly by the Denver shop ($4500). The repairs were warrantied to 12,000 miles or 12 months. The insurance won't come up anymore to cover the cost of those repairs. It seems as though they are not really trying to cover their client's damages, so I'm left to go after the garage in Denver. The shop has already told me they "can't do anymore out of pocket at this time", but if that's the case, we are looking at small claims court and in that scenario, I think I have a strong case. I paid for repairs that directly led to my car having another breakdown that sent my car into insurance hell. I don't get any value from the repairs on my car that I fully intended to continue to drive. What am I missing? Can I allow the shop to make a deal with me to get my money back or should I just file the court papers now?