Any Advice?

[hawkeye2188]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Iowa

The blower motor in my car quit working. So I took it to a dealership where I get my oil changed to get an estimate for how much it would cost. I called the next morning and they said that the car was under warranty and it would be fixed. I didnt think it was, but I went ahead and said okay go ahead and fix it since it is under warranty. As the days went on they kept having to put a different part in and take it out because that didnt resolve the issue and I kept asking if it was under warranty which they said it was. This went on for 10 days.

Then I was looking around there lot and had found a car I was interested in trading my car in for. They pulled a vehicle history report on my car only to find out it had been in an accident prior to me owning it. On the vehicle history report I had when I purchased the car, it said the vehicle had not been in an accident.

Well the next morning they call and say they have good news and bad news. Good news was my car was fixed, the bad news was the car was no longer under warranty so there is $679 bill waiting for me to pay before I get my car back. Now I understand that an accident can void a warranty, but what I dont understand and what I really want info on is how can they tell me for 10 days it is under warranty and then on the 11th tell me it is not and charge me for all the work they had thought was under warranty?

Is there anything I can do in this situation regarding the fact that they told me for 10 days my car would be covered and then come to find it is not and they are charging me for 10 days of labor? Basically what I'm asking is if i took them to small claims court would I stand a chance of having the bill dropped/reduced? I have tried working it out with the dealership and they said it was originally $785 and they knocked it down to $679. (I considered that a slap in the face.)

 

[Dave1952]

This is confusing. You drive a used car. You took it in for a repair and were told that it was still under some sort of warranty. It's not clear how they would know anything about your warranty. Since you thought that the warranty had expired, it's not clear why you believed them.
They spend 10 days fixing your car. They then present you with a bill For $700. You do not tell us what was, in fact, wrong with your car. Taking apart the dashboard is a pain in the butt. $700 might be quite reasonable.
I'm inclined to think that if you relied on their opinion about a mechanical repair that would be reasonable reliance. They're experts. But this was a warranty. I don't see that they're experts.
Anyway, you can probably buy an hour of a lawyer's time for $200 so call around.

Good luck

 

[latigo]

If in fact the repairs were covered by warranty, and the dealership agreed to look to the warranty coverage, then you wouldn’t be personally responsible.

But let’s say there was no such warranty. Then it becomes a mixed question of the dealership’s obligation to verify the existence of the warranty prior to performing the services; your obligation to determine the existence of the warranty; and the dealerships' responsibility to advise you of the absence of such a warranty before doing the work and its intention to hold you responsible for any work peformed.

And if the warranty was not purchased/acquired through the dealership that did the repairs, it seems reasonable to say that it was as much your responsibility to determine whether the work would be covered as it was the dealership.

On top of which you were the person that benefited by the repairs. All aside from the question of whether the bill was reasonable.

Now you talk about a warranty, but don’t say whether it actually existed or how or from where it was derived – through the dealership or elsewhere. And that is something essential to establish.
_____________________

Then you ask whether or not you could institute an action in an Iowa small claims court to determine your financial responsibility to the dealership. Which raises procedural questions because what you would be doing is asking the small claims court for relief in the form of a declaratory judgment.

And asking any court for a declaratory judgment is characterized as an equitable cause of action. *

Then the question is whether or not an Iowa district court sitting in small claim has jurisdiction to grant equitable relief. And as far as I can determine it does not.

The Iowa Code describing jurisdiction in small claims * does not expressly allow equitable relief and there are several references saying it cannot be granted in an Iowa small claims court.


[*] As the Supreme Court observed in Great Lakes Co. v. Huffman, a suit for a declaratory judgment is "essentially an equitable cause of action." Thus, a declaratory judgment can hardly be treated as an alternative remedy at law, as that concept has been understood, the existence of which would in itself make the issuance of an injunction inappropriate.” 319 U.S. 293, 300, 63 S.Ct. 1070, 1074, 87 L.Ed. 1407 (1943). See Samuels v. Mackell, 401 U.S. 66, 69-73, 91 S.Ct. 764, 27 L.Ed.2d 688 (1971)


[*] Iowa Code Title 15, subtitle 3 Chapter 631 Section 631.1 Small claims

 

[wrongsometimes]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Iowa

The blower motor in my car quit working. So I took it to a dealership where I get my oil changed to get an estimate for how much it would cost. I called the next morning and they said that the car was under warranty and it would be fixed. I didnt think it was, but I went ahead and said okay go ahead and fix it since it is under warranty. As the days went on they kept having to put a different part in and take it out because that didnt resolve the issue and I kept asking if it was under warranty which they said it was. This went on for 10 days.

Then I was looking around there lot and had found a car I was interested in trading my car in for. They pulled a vehicle history report on my car only to find out it had been in an accident prior to me owning it. On the vehicle history report I had when I purchased the car, it said the vehicle had not been in an accident.

Well the next morning they call and say they have good news and bad news. Good news was my car was fixed, the bad news was the car was no longer under warranty so there is $679 bill waiting for me to pay before I get my car back. Now I understand that an accident can void a warranty, but what I dont understand and what I really want info on is how can they tell me for 10 days it is under warranty and then on the 11th tell me it is not and charge me for all the work they had thought was under warranty?

Is there anything I can do in this situation regarding the fact that they told me for 10 days my car would be covered and then come to find it is not and they are charging me for 10 days of labor? Basically what I'm asking is if i took them to small claims court would I stand a chance of having the bill dropped/reduced? I have tried working it out with the dealership and they said it was originally $785 and they knocked it down to $679. (I considered that a slap in the face.)

I changed several blower motors .. ~ 8hrs/job. A pro could likely do it in 1/2 the time so the $$ charged is not out in space, its OK. But if they said it was under warranty then they have to honor it, IMO. Go and talk to the owner or write him a letter detailing who,what,where,when. All dealership owners that I know would toss the charge in the garbage & say sorry to you. They did knock the price down which is evidence of something amiss .. let them sue you if you are not happy. I dont think every accident voids a warranty so you'll need to do some more investigating on that issue.