Damage to car while transporting

I got my almost new (4 month old) car relocated from PA to Northfield, IL as my company placed me at a client office near this location, and this car was damaged (scratches on fender and right front quarter) in transit. Transporter agreement says they will "repair or replace to the same condition". A repaint will never match the rest of car and repainted surfaces can be detected on careful inspection, which leads to decrease in resale value. To add to my woes, transporter expects me to goto 2 body shops, take quotes, submit the quotes to them, get car repaired and bill them - and they will then pay me. I have no time from work to do all this, as certified body shops are open on weekdays and I need to be with my client at that time.

I need (1) at least $1500 compensation due to additional depreciation / decreased resale value of car and (2) $500 as inconvenience for running around, in case I get permission from client to goto body shops for quotes, etc; plus lawyer fees etc that I will be paying for the case.

Question is: can I sue the movers and also get the above claims? Jurisdiction is not known to me as my employer has finer details of the the agreement with this transporter . Thanks
State: IllinoisWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

You will not get $500 for "running around" or inconvenience. Small claims court is for tangible damages only - the actual cost to repair the car and not a penny more. Some minor scratches will not cause any significant depreciation to the car after being repaired, and a good body shop can match your paint easily on a new car, they just get it from the dealer. Paint colors are only hard to match on older cars where the color might not be made anymore.

You can sue... but you are going to need a lot more proof on your numbers than round numbers that you pull out of... the air.

I would insist that the transporter pay the body shop directly... but expecting the entire car to be repainted to repair scratches to a new car is naive.

I say be happy they didn't mention Macco.

You get you car painted at a good shop IMO. Had someone dented your car you would get the same unless it was totaled and then hopefully you would have gap insurance.

Some of these cheap paint jobs do peel in a year or two and make sure you make it clear you want a paint job that lasts maybe with a 5 year warranty.

Calculate some out of pocket expenses and present it to them and see if they bite. I think your time is worth something.

Thanks DAVE and EVERYONE for the advice and guidance.

I will be taking quotes from "Toyota Certified" bodyshops or toyota dealers offering repair only. Reason is that I do not want to void my 3 year bumper-to-bumper warranty. I will also check to see if they offer 5 year warranty, which will make me feel very secure just in case the paint job goes bad....

But honestly, it hurts to infer I may not get $1500 as depreciation - for a company that pays so less as annual salary raise, i simply cannot accept losses arising from relocation for a job which will bring in significant profits to my company through my placement.....

DaveJones002 said:

I say be happy they didn't mention Macco.

You get you car painted at a good shop IMO. Had someone dented your car you would get the same unless it was totaled and then hopefully you would have gap insurance.

Some of these cheap paint jobs do peel in a year or two and make sure you make it clear you want a paint job that lasts maybe with a 5 year warranty.

Calculate some out of pocket expenses and present it to them and see if they bite. I think your time is worth something.

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gaggz said:

Thanks DAVE and EVERYONE for the advice and guidance.

I will be taking quotes from "Toyota Certified" bodyshops or toyota dealers offering repair only. Reason is that I do not want to void my 3 year bumper-to-bumper warranty. I will also check to see if they offer 5 year warranty, which will make me feel very secure just in case the paint job goes bad....

But honestly, it hurts to infer I may not get $1500 as depreciation - for a company that pays so less as annual salary raise, i simply cannot accept losses arising from relocation for a job which will bring in significant profits to my company through my placement.....

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You have not suffered a loss. You think you may suffer a loss in the future.

You think you may suffer a loss after an action that has not happened yet.

You can't sue for maybes and might happens.

I don't see what your salary has to do with anything. If the repair is done properly it will be undetectable or virtually so, and it's just a scratch, not a structural problem of any kind.

@Tryingtowin: hahaha! nice one. Well... i have a (painfully bad!) habit for over 10 years of always keeping my cars waxed & shining and clean from inside & outside. That's why my acquaintances always want to buy my used car whenever I am thinking of selling one. It feels bad to see someone damage my car, and I just realized it had been driven 14 miles too, whereas the mover mentioned it shouldn't be driven over 3 miles... lets hope the Toyota certified body shop does a good paint job.....

Tryingtowin said:

Just go to Toy dealers .. there are about 100 of them Chicagoland...if paint job goes bad then you can sue the Toy dealer...once fixed, it should be as good as when you had it before. You are already a whining northsider, congrats!

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hey Tryingtowin:
I just had a weird thought: Considering that some of scratches are deep enough to see the plastic of the fender, and considering that color match is never perfect and considering a body-shop cannot match the factory level finish which is on nascent metal going through stages of finishing;

the terms "restore or replace to original condition" fail. So can i get additional compensation?

Thanks again

Tryingtowin said:

OK, good luck.

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the terms "restore or replace to original condition" fail. So can i get additional compensation?

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Not likely, you will probably have to sign a release before you get anything. This will hold the trucking company harmless from any possible future claims. I would like to also point out that I know a couple of folks that work in the body shop business. They never recommend using dealer body shops, they tend to be a secondary part of their auto repair business and tend to not have the volume to offer the best value price wise. A well established body shop will likely do a better job in a lot less time.

I had my rear bumper repaired and repainted due to 2 low speed rear endings 3 weeks apart last year and you really can't tell at all. My car was less than 6 months old at the time too.

to any possible diminution of value; maybe but before you even get there:

who hired the movers and what does the contract say to liability? If the contract says all they agree to is repair, then that is all you get.

and to the argument of:

Considering that some of scratches are deep enough to see the plastic of the fender, and considering that color match is never perfect and considering a body-shop cannot match the factory level finish which is on nascent metal going through stages of finishing;

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I would argue that on a surface which is completely accessible, that is not true. As far as internal areas that are not able to be painted once the car is assembled, I would agree. There is no reason a paint shop cannot produce a finish as good as, if not better, than a factory finish.

The fact it is so new will actually be better for the situation as your paint has not aged and changed color that much so the fresh paint will be very similar in it's aging process.