Mechanic problem.

I am in chicago il and am having a problem with a car mechanic.

I brought my car to a mechanic. I told him that I needed a written estimate and that I wanted an estimate because if the cost exceeded a certain amount I wouldn't be able to afford it and would end up junking my car.

To my suprise I get a call an hour later that the car is fixed. I ask him how much it would cost. he says it would be $150? I then go on to tell him that he was supposed to give me an estimate and that had he told me it would cost that much I wouldn't have had the repair done.

In order to avoid any problems I decide to pay for the repairs. The repairs done were all labor and he says that he repaired a short in the wiring. I pay the bill and get my receipt. When I get in the car (which is running) I decide to turn it off and see if it will start (since that was the original problem). Well it doesn't start. The mechanic gets in and after 5 tries he gets it to start again. I reluctantly start to drive away.

As I am leaving the car then stalls and this time no one can get it to start. So essentially I paid the mechanic $150 to jiggle some wires but the problem was not fixed.

Sinc ethe car is still on his property, the mecahnic offers to look at it some more. After an hour of looking he determines that the fuel injector is bad. he offers to do the repair for free, but tells me the part would cost another $100. i tell him I cannot afford this. He then says that if he has a used one, he'll install it for free.

Its now been 3 weeks and he still has been unable to locate a used fuel injector. I want my car back and I want to collect the $150 he basically stole from me.

My concern is that if take him to court, he will counter sue me for storage fees. I have phone records of calling him regularly to check on the car, and I have a receipt of the original "repair". Is my concern valid? I am giving him until Saturday to repair the car and at that time, if the car is not fixed, I plan on having it towed away and then taking him to court if he does not return my money. My main concern is he might claim that I left the car there and then counter sue for storage fees. The fact that I have AAA and that I have contacted him regularly will be my defense against any such claim. My AAA membership would prove that I could have easily had it moved, and the phone calls prove that I made an effort to contact the mechanic to check on the status of my car. I also have a receipt showing that I paid the original amount. The receipt is not signed (he has the signed copy) and does not show the labor to be warranted. His copy with my signature shows that the repairs are warranted.

Any advice would be appreciated. Is my concern over a counter suit realistic. H emade no mention of this, but I want to anticipate any potential problems. Any other suggestions? At this point he still has the car and has not fixed it.

Is there anywhere that says Free Estimates ?

If not the mechanic could claim Estimate fees .

It sounds exactly like a wiggle wire fix .

Why do you have a receipt different from the mechanics ?

You said if it was going to cost too much you'd junk it .

Have it towed and sue for what you think your due .

Blonde Lebinese said:

Is there anywhere that says Free Estimates ?

If not the mechanic could claim Estimate fees .

It sounds exactly like a wiggle wire fix .

Why do you have a receipt different from the mechanics ?

You said if it was going to cost too much you'd junk it .

Have it towed and sue for what you think your due .

Click to expand...

he said so verbally. never charged me for it.

The receipt is the same only he checked the warranty box on his and I didn't sign mine.
He also didn't charge me to check it. I am just concerned that if I try and sue him, he will make some fraudulent counter suit. I confronted him today and he most certainly is a liar.

I removed the car off his premises today since he continued to give me the runaround. Its been 4 weeks and still the car was not fixed.

amoslieber said:

he said so verbally. never charged me for it.

The receipt is the same only he checked the warranty box on his and I didn't sign mine.
He also didn't charge me to check it. I am just concerned that if I try and sue him, he will make some fraudulent counter suit. I confronted him today and he most certainly is a liar.I removed the car off his premises today since he continued to give me the runaround. Its been 4 weeks and still the car was not fixed.

Click to expand...

The court will determine the outcome , if you decide to pursue it .

i am not asking you to make judgement on my case. If what I am saying is true, then the mechanic is a dishonest person. With that in mind he could very easily try to make a false counter claim in an attempt to intimidate me. My question is does this pose a real threat to my claim? If for instance he attempts to say that he had my car in storage he could try and charge me for that even though this would be an illegitimate charge. BTW he could not ask for estimate fees because nothing was signed. moreover, those fees could not exceed more than say $15 since he called me back with the fix less than an hour later. he charges 30 for the hour.

So my issue is that I am trying to anticipate a possible counter claim and would like to protect myself from this. I the threat of a counter claim is too big, I'd probably just not go to court.

I have another question for anyone who knows. The mechanic ripped me off for $150. But obviously I've waited 4 weeks for a car that he did nothing with, I've taken time off of work to get my car there, and I will be taking time off of work to research this case.

Am I entitled for reimbursement for any of these. If you don't know, do you know how I might be able to find out.

I think you have to ask yourself if $150 is worth the time it will take to pursue this. I'd guess not, but it is up to you. Considering you were planning to junk the car if you couldn't afford the repair, I can't imagine you would win "damages" for not having the car when you wouldn't have had it anyway had he given you the estimate and you decided not to repair the problem.

BTW, I think its worth it out of prinicple. I am even considering standing outside their shop and informing people of the type of business they did. Does anyone know if this is legal. CAn I stand outside on the sidewalk and let people know what happened?

amoslieber said:

Am I entitled for reimbursement for any of these.

Click to expand...

Answer - most likely not.

amoslieber said:

CAn I stand outside on the sidewalk and let people know what happened?

Click to expand...

Sure, but it's a cost vs. benefit thing.
Also, can you afford to defend against a defamation suit?