Virginia
I'm not sure where the following case should go in this forum so I apologize in advance. So here's my story:
Thursday 02/15 I was pulling out of my condo complex when my car go stuck on a patch of ice. I gassed the car for acceleration and immediately noticed that all my oil had fallen out underneath my car. I immediately turned the vehicle off and towed the car to a local mazda dealership. There I was explained that I had cracked my oil pan and that my engine needed flushing. I agreed to have this work done on top of an additional service called "full circle inspection" where the techncians go over various parts of the vehicle to assure good working order. I picked my car up thursday evening after hours (meaning no mechanics on site), and immediately after starting the engine and driving out onto the road I noticed a rattling noise coming from inside my engine. I called the next morning and scheduled an appointment for the upcoming saturday (02/17). I had to cancel that appointment and rescheduled, dropping my vehicle off monday evening after hours. Tuesday morning the techs began to work on my vehicle, called me up at work and explained that they couldn't detect any internal engine noise, or any noise for that matter. I took my lunch break to drive the vehicle with a tech accompanying me on the trip, at which point I demonstrated that the rattle from the engine occurred when I diectly asked the car for acceleration. (Every time I pressed the gas pedal down the noise would occur). The tech in the car acknowledged the noise to which I was referencing and maintained that the noise was "car body related" and not coming from the engine. I drove the car off the dealership lot tuesday with the assistant managers personal assurance that, and I quote, "Your car sir is mechanically sound. The noise is coming from the car body, you're all set to go". The following morning driving to work the noise worsened reaching a climatic poping sound, where I hear literally metal on metal grinding. I immediately pulled the car off the road, and had it towed back to the dealership, at which point I was informed that my engine needed replacing.
I am currently having the car examined by an independent mechanic to determine if the engine replacement was preventable. My concern is that the dealership failed some "duty of care" standard, misdiagnosed my car, allowed me to drive off the lot with an engine on the brink of total failure. After conversing with the head service manager, I was informed that "fully diagnosing an interal engine noise would require a complete dismantling of the engine, which is something the dealership would never recommend due to its' cost ineffectiveness." I believe the dealership failed in its' care of duty to me by failing to notify me of this option, as well as not performing any other tests possibly available to test my engine's functionality. On the invoice I specifically complained of a "rattle coming from engine upon acceleration". I don't believe they looked into this fully enough and hence, now I need a new engine. Had I known my engine was faulty I would not have ordered the full circle inspection or the engine flush to be done for $890. With a busted engine, I'm looking at repair costs of 5k-8k potentially more
So, with a as full of a story as possible,
1) what grounds, if any, do I have to bring a suit to the dealership for any damages incurred? (loss of time from work, damaged engine, repair costs etc.)
2) what would I need to prove to be able to bring a suit with the details above?
Greatly appreciate your time and effort on the matter. Thanks you!What is the name of your state?
I'm not sure where the following case should go in this forum so I apologize in advance. So here's my story:
Thursday 02/15 I was pulling out of my condo complex when my car go stuck on a patch of ice. I gassed the car for acceleration and immediately noticed that all my oil had fallen out underneath my car. I immediately turned the vehicle off and towed the car to a local mazda dealership. There I was explained that I had cracked my oil pan and that my engine needed flushing. I agreed to have this work done on top of an additional service called "full circle inspection" where the techncians go over various parts of the vehicle to assure good working order. I picked my car up thursday evening after hours (meaning no mechanics on site), and immediately after starting the engine and driving out onto the road I noticed a rattling noise coming from inside my engine. I called the next morning and scheduled an appointment for the upcoming saturday (02/17). I had to cancel that appointment and rescheduled, dropping my vehicle off monday evening after hours. Tuesday morning the techs began to work on my vehicle, called me up at work and explained that they couldn't detect any internal engine noise, or any noise for that matter. I took my lunch break to drive the vehicle with a tech accompanying me on the trip, at which point I demonstrated that the rattle from the engine occurred when I diectly asked the car for acceleration. (Every time I pressed the gas pedal down the noise would occur). The tech in the car acknowledged the noise to which I was referencing and maintained that the noise was "car body related" and not coming from the engine. I drove the car off the dealership lot tuesday with the assistant managers personal assurance that, and I quote, "Your car sir is mechanically sound. The noise is coming from the car body, you're all set to go". The following morning driving to work the noise worsened reaching a climatic poping sound, where I hear literally metal on metal grinding. I immediately pulled the car off the road, and had it towed back to the dealership, at which point I was informed that my engine needed replacing.
I am currently having the car examined by an independent mechanic to determine if the engine replacement was preventable. My concern is that the dealership failed some "duty of care" standard, misdiagnosed my car, allowed me to drive off the lot with an engine on the brink of total failure. After conversing with the head service manager, I was informed that "fully diagnosing an interal engine noise would require a complete dismantling of the engine, which is something the dealership would never recommend due to its' cost ineffectiveness." I believe the dealership failed in its' care of duty to me by failing to notify me of this option, as well as not performing any other tests possibly available to test my engine's functionality. On the invoice I specifically complained of a "rattle coming from engine upon acceleration". I don't believe they looked into this fully enough and hence, now I need a new engine. Had I known my engine was faulty I would not have ordered the full circle inspection or the engine flush to be done for $890. With a busted engine, I'm looking at repair costs of 5k-8k potentially more
So, with a as full of a story as possible,
1) what grounds, if any, do I have to bring a suit to the dealership for any damages incurred? (loss of time from work, damaged engine, repair costs etc.)
2) what would I need to prove to be able to bring a suit with the details above?
Greatly appreciate your time and effort on the matter. Thanks you!What is the name of your state?