Want to file lawsuit on faulty auto reair

cooliojones · Jan 7, 2008

What is the name of your state? GA

My car died one day when driving home so based off a acquaintance's referral, I towed my car to this NAPA auto repair shop and I asked the guy beforehand how much it would cost to replace the alternator (I did some research on my own and based on the symptoms, this is what I believed it to be). He looked up my car info and said $140. This sounded reasonable so I let him work on it. During the course of the work, he stated that it wasn't the alternator that was causing the issues, it was the battery.

Mind you, I just purchased the battery last June, so it was well within the warranty.

So the total bill was $120 to test the car and replace a battery that was under full warranty. I paid it and I was on my way. 3 hours later, my car dies again on the highway (SAME ISSUE as last time). My friend comes to pick me up, and I have to take her to the airport so she can catch her flight. I drop her off at the airport, call AAA to arrange a tow, and go back to the spot where my car was, only it is GONE! I reported it stolen but the cops called back and said it was towed by the county, and I needed $90 to get it out. So I paid the fee and had to call AAA AGAIN to tow it from the impound.

This is the Saturday b4 Christmas, so no one is open of course. I do more research and it looks like my car has a history of having a bad alternator cable. So I replaced the cable on Christmas Day to see if that would help, but no go. Call the mechanic on Wednesday, and he said he would tow the car to the shop on Thursday. It's towed on Thursday, but he doesn't look at it until Friday and then he asks about the cable, I told him I replaced it. Then he said he would have to test the car again, now he says it's the alternator and wants $220 to replace it, plus the cost of the alternator which is $332. I tell him I want to think about it. If he works with me on the labor charges I'll agree to the repair. But he doesn't budge, then says if I can find a place to do it better, he would tow it there as a courtesy for me. Then he tells me to think about it and call him back. So I think about it and decide I do want him to take him up on his 'free two' offer, and when I call back on Saturday, he goes back on his word, saying it costs money to tow the car and to get it off his premises by Thursday. So I have to get AAA to tow the car yet AGAIN and finally I do the repairs myself.

I called the bank to reverse the charges when I got the car back, and now the car works after I went very slowly and followed the instructions I found online. So my question is about a lawsuit: do I have any grounds, and what can I sue for? Since the car's alternator needed replacing after I told him that's what I wanted in the first place, and he charged me for work that ultimately didn't fix the car, AND I had to pay the impound fee, what can I sue for? I want him to pay the impound fee, but can he be liable for labor charges, parts to complete the work, pain & suffering due to an incomplete repair? Please help, I'm feeling quite litigational right now.

ajs09876 · Jan 7, 2008

cooliojones said:
What is the name of your state? GA

My car died one day when driving home so based off a acquaintance's referral, I towed my car to this NAPA auto repair shop and I asked the guy beforehand how much it would cost to replace the alternator (I did some research on my own and based on the symptoms, this is what I believed it to be). He looked up my car info and said $140. This sounded reasonable so I let him work on it. During the course of the work, he stated that it wasn't the alternator that was causing the issues, it was the battery.

Mind you, I just purchased the battery last June, so it was well within the warranty.

So the total bill was $120 to test the car and replace a battery that was under full warranty. I paid it and I was on my way.

The mechanics tested your car and found a bad battery. If they would have replaced the alternator, the vehicle would not have worked. 120.00 to test the electrical system in your car is cheap compared to where I used to work!

cooliojones said:
I do more research and it looks like my car has a history of having a bad alternator cable. So I replaced the cable on Christmas Day to see if that would help, but no go. Call the mechanic on Wednesday, and he said he would tow the car to the shop on Thursday. It's towed on Thursday, but he doesn't look at it until Friday and then he asks about the cable, I told him I replaced it. Then he said he would have to test the car again, now he says it's the alternator and wants $220 to replace it, plus the cost of the alternator which is $332.

You added something to the car before you brought it back. That means they have to test it again. They find a completely different problem and fix it. If they would have found you to have a bad battery and alternator, you would have had to pay for them both the first time. You bring the car back 4 days later after you did some tinkering under the hood. Can you prove that whatever tinkering you did under the hood did not cause the alternator to go bad? Probably not.

cooliojones said:
I called the bank to reverse the charges when I got the car back, and now the car works after I went very slowly and followed the instructions I found online. So my question is about a lawsuit: do I have any grounds, and what can I sue for? Since the car's alternator needed replacing after I told him that's what I wanted in the first place, and he charged me for work that ultimately didn't fix the car, AND I had to pay the impound fee, what can I sue for? I want him to pay the impound fee, but can he be liable for labor charges, parts to complete the work, pain & suffering due to an incomplete repair? Please help, I'm feeling quite litigational right now.

You shouldn't have reversed the charges. You have no grounds for a lawsuit. Often times in car repair one problem masks another. If you wouldn't have changed anything under the hood before you brought it back the repair shop might have helped you. It's not there fault that the car was towed. You didn't get it off the road quick enough. You have no grounds.

BL · Jan 7, 2008

ajs09876 said:
The mechanics tested your car and found a bad battery. If they would have replaced the alternator, the vehicle would not have worked. 120.00 to test the electrical system in your car is cheap compared to where I used to work!

You added something to the car before you brought it back. That means they have to test it again. They find a completely different problem and fix it. If they would have found you to have a bad battery and alternator, you would have had to pay for them both the first time. You bring the car back 4 days later after you did some tinkering under the hood. Can you prove that whatever tinkering you did under the hood did not cause the alternator to go bad? Probably not.

You shouldn't have reversed the charges. You have no grounds for a lawsuit. Often times in car repair one problem masks another. If you wouldn't have changed anything under the hood before you brought it back the repair shop might have helped you. It's not there fault that the car was towed. You didn't get it off the road quick enough. You have no grounds.

It's not rocket science to test a battery or alternator and certainly not at the cost .

If your battery was under warranty you could have taken it to the store where purchased ( or any store that would honor it ) . They would have charged and tested it for free .

You have to prove your original battery wasn't defective .

If you can not , that charge is on you .

The testing is on you , although I find that a high price , when some places will do it for free .

Without proof the battery wasn't defective , you might have an uphill battle , because it could have been coincidence that both went bad in that time .

On the other hand , small claim filing fees are small , and if you could convince the court the alternator was more likely than not , faulty in the first place , you might win some of the amounts back .

I once had an auto diagnosed at $89.00 at the dealer . On the way home it quit on the highway . Upon inspection there was a voltage regulator dangling down , a wire had come off .

I went back to the dealer and ask if it was there's , as my original was still mounted .

They denied it of course .

I asked a refund of the diagnostic . They refused .

I won a judgment in court .

Plus 3 hrs. sounds about right to drain a new battery , without the alternator working .

Go for it .

Or, first try to work some compensation with the manager / owner to show you tried to settle this first .

cooliojones · Jan 7, 2008

ajs09876 said:
You added something to the car before you brought it back. That means they have to test it again. They find a completely different problem and fix it. If they would have found you to have a bad battery and alternator, you would have had to pay for them both the first time. You bring the car back 4 days later after you did some tinkering under the hood. Can you prove that whatever tinkering you did under the hood did not cause the alternator to go bad? Probably not.[\quote]
Can he prove that what I added DID cause the alternator to go bad? Besides, it doesn't make sense for me to go tinkering if there is no problem, especially if I asked him to replace it the first time.

You shouldn't have reversed the charges. You have no grounds for a lawsuit. Often times in car repair one problem masks another. If you wouldn't have changed anything under the hood before you brought it back the repair shop might have helped you. It's not there fault that the car was towed. You didn't get it off the road quick enough. You have no grounds.

Click to expand...

Why shouldn't I have reversed the charges? Leaving them intact says that I am okay with the work performed. I took steps to show my displeasure. It IS their fault the car was towed because I didn't have electrical power to steer the car to a safe area. You act like I intentionally did all of of this, saying I didn't get the car off the road quick enough.

@ Blonde: The battery was bought @ NAPA, and he was a NAPA authorized care center, so basically he is representing the company I bought the battery from. It's like if I bought something at one Best Buy store and took it to another for warranty service. So per your analogy, the work should have been done for free! I understand that it costs money to test things, but I've taken the battery into a NAPA store, they tested it, and if it was dead, they charged it for free and gave me an analysis, all for free. That's basically what I did, brought the car into the store for testing.

I believe the lying and changing prices should establish that he doesn't have strong credibility. I understand it's one word against the other, but why would I fabricate a story about him offering to tow me to another mechanic for free? He basically thought that I was gonna fork over the money to pay. Also I forgot to add that his price for an alternator was $332, that was for a new one. When I called NAPA -- the same company he represents -- they priced it @ $114 less than what he quoted me. Does all of this not create any grounds?

BL · Jan 7, 2008

cooliojones said:
ajs09876 said:

You added something to the car before you brought it back. That means they have to test it again. They find a completely different problem and fix it. If they would have found you to have a bad battery and alternator, you would have had to pay for them both the first time. You bring the car back 4 days later after you did some tinkering under the hood. Can you prove that whatever tinkering you did under the hood did not cause the alternator to go bad? Probably not.[\quote]
Can he prove that what I added DID cause the alternator to go bad? Besides, it doesn't make sense for me to go tinkering if there is no problem, especially if I asked him to replace it the first time.

Why shouldn't I have reversed the charges? Leaving them intact says that I am okay with the work performed. I took steps to show my displeasure. It IS their fault the car was towed because I didn't have electrical power to steer the car to a safe area. You act like I intentionally did all of of this, saying I didn't get the car off the road quick enough.

@ Blonde: The battery was bought @ NAPA, and he was a NAPA authorized care center, so basically he is representing the company I bought the battery from. It's like if I bought something at one Best Buy store and took it to another for warranty service. So per your analogy, the work should have been done for free! I understand that it costs money to test things, but I've taken the battery into a NAPA store, they tested it, and if it was dead, they charged it for free and gave me an analysis, all for free. That's basically what I did, brought the car into the store for testing.

I believe the lying and changing prices should establish that he doesn't have strong credibility. I understand it's one word against the other, but why would I fabricate a story about him offering to tow me to another mechanic for free? He basically thought that I was gonna fork over the money to pay. Also I forgot to add that his price for an alternator was $332, that was for a new one. When I called NAPA -- the same company he represents -- they priced it @ $114 less than what he quoted me. Does all of this not create any grounds?

Click to expand...

I said , I thought you had a case .

I said some places ( parts stores ) will test and install some parts free ( as you describe ), that you buy .

Also , yes those prices they quoted you are excessive .

Coulda been a crooked employee , trying to get some pocket money .

I got shortchanged 5 bucks for a pizza the other night .

It happens .

Yes, when you auto died ( because of their negligent diagnostic ) and it put you in danger .

( that's what I argued in Court ) , and won .

Zigner · Jan 7, 2008

Touching on the issue of the towing ONLY:

You won't be able to recover the $90 you had to pay to get it out of impound. You should have stayed with the vehicle until it was towed by AAA.

ajs09876 · Jan 7, 2008

cooliojones said:
Can he prove that what I added DID cause the alternator to go bad? Besides, it doesn't make sense for me to go tinkering if there is no problem, especially if I asked him to replace it the first time.

He doesn't have to. You would be the one suing, you would be the one who needed to prove it.

cooliojones said:
Why shouldn't I have reversed the charges? Leaving them intact says that I am okay with the work performed. I took steps to show my displeasure. It IS their fault the car was towed because I didn't have electrical power to steer the car to a safe area. You act like I intentionally did all of of this, saying I didn't get the car off the road quick enough.

Because when you signed that peice of paper you authorized them to take that money out of the bank. If you were really unhappy, you should have took them to court to get your money back. Steps to complain would have been go to the manager, go to the head of the organization. The car was towed because you couldn't be bothered to wait for AAA. If you would have been with the car, they wouldn't have towed it. Where is the personal responsibility in all of this?

cooliojones said:
The battery was bought @ NAPA, and he was a NAPA authorized care center, so basically he is representing the company I bought the battery from. It's like if I bought something at one Best Buy store and took it to another for warranty service. So per your analogy, the work should have been done for free! I understand that it costs money to test things, but I've taken the battery into a NAPA store, they tested it, and if it was dead, they charged it for free and gave me an analysis, all for free. That's basically what I did, brought the car into the store for testing.

No you didn't bring it in for testing. You didn't say I just replaced the battery and now it's not working. You said that you had a problem with an alternator. The hooked it up to those very expensive computers and used the codes it spit out to determine you had a bad battery. If you would have taken the battery in to the NAPA store and said test it your analogy would have been correct. It takes different equipment and more time to test your electrical system than to test the battery. It's not basically what you did.

cooliojones said:
believe the lying and changing prices should establish that he doesn't have strong credibility. I understand it's one word against the other, but why would I fabricate a story about him offering to tow me to another mechanic for free? He basically thought that I was gonna fork over the money to pay. Also I forgot to add that his price for an alternator was $332, that was for a new one. When I called NAPA -- the same company he represents -- they priced it @ $114 less than what he quoted me. Does all of this not create any grounds?

What did his manager say when you asked him/her that? Did you even talk to a manager? You should because if you're dealing with this one rouge employee the smart thing to do would be to talk to his boss. Chances are this person you're dealing with doesn't have the power to fix anything.

cooliojones · Jan 8, 2008

ajs09876 said:
What did his manager say when you asked him/her that? Did you even talk to a manager? You should because if you're dealing with this one rouge employee the smart thing to do would be to talk to his boss. Chances are this person you're dealing with doesn't have the power to fix anything.

He is the manager, forgot to add that. There isn't anyone above him except for district or corporate, and I don't know how much they can do at this point. Trust me, I LOVE asking for managers. I got a free month on my two cell phone lines because of the rudeness of a couple of reps before. I'm not afraid of a fight.

1st thing the judge will ask is did I attempt to reverse the charges, so I still don't get paying money to go to court if the bank will give that portion back. IMO that's proactive on my part.

I get what you all are saying about staying with the car. AAA says to get into a safe area and that's what I did. I'm gonna try for that fee because I did the best I could under the circumstances.

Everything else written by you guys gives me a different perspective, and that's what I'm going to get going into the legal system. Thanks for your input. Next question: is there any place I can go to read up more about laws about this kinda thing in my state or do more preparation? And yes, I know about Google because it led me here.

Want to file lawsuit on faulty auto reair

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cooliojones

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ajs09876

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BL

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cooliojones

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BL

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Zigner

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ajs09876

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cooliojones

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