Mechanic Issues.

Hi im from wisconsin and I feel as if im in a pretty bad situation, so any help would be appreciated.

I have been trying to sell one of my 300zx's but with school and everything else going on in my life I really have not had the time to put the proper effort into selling it. I have a friend/mechanic in rockford IL that has his own shop and told me he could keep the car there and sell it for me. So we made a deal in which I wanted $5,000 and he could keep anything after that.

He then made and processed a receipt which stated "Consignment to sell vehicle. Sell vehicle for 5000, anything over is profit for *shop name*"

So then I had a buyer set up which was going to pick the car up on saturday at noon. I get a call at 9:30 in the morning from my friend/mechanic telling me that he was driving the car and blew the motor (threw a rod). The buyer shows up at noon and obviously does not want the car anymore.

I have been trying to call him and contact him throught facebook but I have not gotten a response. In case things get ugly, how would I go about this if he refuses to repair the car? Can he actually blow my car up and get away with it? Thanks

Sorry, but why should he repair the car? While the car was on consignment it would be driven, right?. So he had your permission to take it out for drives. Did he drive it negligently? I don't see any liability in your post. This is just bad luck for you.
Since he's a mechanic I'm sure he will repair the car at your expense .

Good luck

Dave1952 said:

Sorry, but why should he repair the car? While the car was on consignment it would be driven, right?. So he had your permission to take it out for drives. Did he drive it negligently? I don't see any liability in your post. This is just bad luck for you.
Since he's a mechanic I'm sure he will repair the car at your expense .

Good luck

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He drives all the cars negligently. He actually has his other car for sale in which he just blew the motor. Nowhere did I tell him that he could drive the car back and forth. I left the car at his shop so that he could sell it there for me. I specifically told him to be carefull with the motor since it is my investment. He was not showing it to anyone while he was driving it, he was just cruising around in it.

Cars break, yours broke. unless you can prove his actions were the cause of the damage, you likely have no claim.

Legally, you've got nothing. I would try to negotiate a new consignment in which he agrees to repair the car at cost, or a little above. Most rod bearings are labor intensive and thats where the high cost comes in.

If you can show that his negligence caused the damage, you may recover. That would probably involve an expert determining that the engine damage was caused by negligent operation, and no other reason. Since both parties were benefiting by the arrangement (bailment), only ordinary negligence need be proven, not gross negligence.

You've already agreed that the value of the car to you is $5,000, so that would pretty much limit your recovery to that figure. You will probably spend that much or more getting an expert to testify to the fact that the engine damage was caused by negligent operation.

Stevef said:

If you can show that his negligence caused the damage, you may recover. That would probably involve an expert determining that the engine damage was caused by negligent operation, and no other reason. Since both parties were benefiting by the arrangement (bailment), only ordinary negligence need be proven, not gross negligence.

You've already agreed that the value of the car to you is $5,000, so that would pretty much limit your recovery to that figure. You will probably spend that much or more getting an expert to testify to the fact that the engine damage was caused by negligent operation.

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No expert would ever be able to tell you with ANY degree of certainty that a bearing spun on a engine that old was caused by negligence.

OP:
As someone who has grown up in dealerships and around cars I can save you some time and effort. You have absolutely no recourse here. Your efforts are far better spent trying to keep your business mind working and try to get this fix at cost, by his shop.

Lordy123 said:

No expert would ever be able to tell you with ANY degree of certainty that a bearing spun on a engine that old was caused by negligence.

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I guess it's a good thing that the OP is looking for reasons for a thrown rod, and not a spun bearing since your claim it that the spun bearing is impossible to analyse.

You may want to let the NTSB in on your little secret, as they frequently make both of those determinations.

OP:
As someone who has grown up in dealerships and around cars I can save you some time and effort. You have absolutely no recourse here. Your efforts are far better spent trying to keep your business mind working and try to get this fix at cost, by his shop.

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Bolded statement depends on the fact (which has not been shown) that bailee was not negligent.

Stevef said:

I guess it's a good thing that the OP is looking for reasons for a thrown rod, and not a spun bearing since your claim it that the spun bearing is impossible to analyse.

You may want to let the NTSB in on your little secret, as they frequently make both of those determinations.


Bolded statement depends on the fact (which has not been shown) that bailee was not negligent.

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Thrown rod, spun bearing, no difference, the car is really old, engines fail. Theres no way to prove the mechanics negligence caused this failure.

OP, does your mechanic have a license to sell used vehicles? If you can prove that he has sold, or sold on consignment, 5 or more vehicles a year, then he needs a license.

If he does not have one you *may* have a case because the original consignment document was signed under fasle pretenses.

From Illinois Vehicle Code (625ILCS 5/5-101):

Sec. 5-102. Used vehicle dealers must be licensed.
(a) No person, other than a licensed new vehicle dealer, shall engage in the business of selling or dealing in, on consignment or otherwise, 5 or more used vehicles of any make during the year (except house trailers as authorized by paragraph (j) of this Section and rebuilt salvage vehicles sold by their rebuilders to persons licensed under this Chapter), or act as an intermediary, agent or broker for any licensed dealer or vehicle purchaser (other than as a salesperson) or represent or advertise that he is so engaged or intends to so engage in such business unless licensed to do so by the Secretary of State under the provisions of this Section.

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Lordy123 said:

Thrown rod, spun bearing, no difference, the car is really old, engines fail. Theres no way to prove the mechanics negligence caused this failure.

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So we are to accept as fact that there is no way to prove negligence from someone who doesn't know the difference between a thrown rod and a spun bearing?

I think not.

Stevef said:

So we are to accept as fact that there is no way to prove negligence from someone who doesn't know the difference between a thrown rod and a spun bearing?

I think not.

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I know the difference, I misrecollected which one the OP said. Do you even know how an engine works? If you did you would realize that trying to prove negligent driving caused a thrown rod on a car that is at least 14 years old is just plain stupid.

Lordy123 said:

I know the difference, I misrecollected which one the OP said. Do you even know how an engine works? If you did you would realize that trying to prove negligent driving caused a thrown rod on a car that is at least 14 years old is just plain stupid.

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I did not say negligent driving. I said negligent operation of the engine. The easiest to shoe is over-revving of the engine. A metallurgist can show that the metal was being stressed beyond design limitations when the part failed.

I suggest you go back to selling used cars, and stop telling me what can and cannot be proven by a preponderance of evidence. You obviously don't know.

Stevef said:

I did not say negligent driving. I said negligent operation of the engine. The easiest to shoe is over-revving of the engine. A metallurgist can show that the metal was being stressed beyond design limitations when the part failed.

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You must be joking right?

A. An analysis of that level would be extremly costy, and extremely easy to refute.
B. Its still at least a 14 year old car, even if the metallurgist comes to the conclusion that the component was stressed beyond limitations(which he wont), he will not be able to tell you when it occured.
C. If the engine jumped timimg after the rod broke it will be impossible to prove whether the timimg was the cause of the rod failure or merely a symptom. The mechanic can just argue timing was lost and then it becomes a maintainence issue.
D. Since they have already come to the conclusion that the rod blew, there is either a hole in the block they saw, or they inspected the engine. Either way the oil is out and so is the coolant. It wouldnt be hard for a mechanic to argue it was low on oil/coolant or improperly maintained when he took possesion.
E. There are plenty of other things that can cause engine failure, did the oil pump fail, did the cooling system fail?

Just a guess here, but this car is at least 14 years old, and the sale was expected to be at least 5k. Based on the model theres good chance the car has some aftermarket components, which further complicates proving anything. Also, if this is a FI trim and the owner has a MBC, you can just forget about it.

In summary, we dont know why the engine failed, we just know what did. Even if the OP knew the failure was cause by over reving it would be impossible to prove. The fact that he doesnt know thats what cause it makes this even more of a goose chase.