We're in Illinois.
1. dropped our '95 bmw off for a 4 wheel alignment at dealership. i told the service advisor to also find where a right clunking sound was coming from (it was written by my advisor on the original papers).
2. apparently there were some rusted bolts they had to replace, so it took them hours to do the alignment, and they ran out of time for the day. they didn't have time to find that clunking. i pay and leave.
3. a couple of weeks later, the right rear wheel fails, and 'pops' outward a bit causing the rear end to shift accordingly. the location this happened for me was perfect, as it was a four lane road and i had no one in the lane i swayed into. i was also going 5-10 mph when i hit the small pothole.
4. while waiting for a tow, i look at the bill from the dealership, and see the mechanic noted i was missing 1 of 3 bolts on each rear wheel (broken off). the service advisor didn't tell me about this when i picked up the car. i now know the 'clanking' was the bracket missing the bolt, and it was bending and slapping back at the body until it eventually ripped out by the remaining two bolts.
5. i didn't want to go thru legal means & i needed the car fixing asap, so i worked out what i thought was a largely discounted price to fix the issue and get a free rental. the job took 3 months. i won't go into details here, but to keep it short, within driving a couple of weeks i found:
- they forgot to tighten 3 of the 5 lug nuts on one wheel.
- they forgot to tighten some of the bolts on the NEW bracket
- they forgot to tighten one of the rear shocks top bolt, and it tore
through the shock mount, necessitating a buy of two new shocks.
it's obvious they gave me an incomplete repair. when i file, i will be asking for what i paid for all costs & repairs, beginning with the flawed alignment.
since i was so lucky that i wasn't injured in all this failed workmanship, does that make it impossible to ask for punitives? what is a fair amount to ask for?
thanks.
jackie
1. dropped our '95 bmw off for a 4 wheel alignment at dealership. i told the service advisor to also find where a right clunking sound was coming from (it was written by my advisor on the original papers).
2. apparently there were some rusted bolts they had to replace, so it took them hours to do the alignment, and they ran out of time for the day. they didn't have time to find that clunking. i pay and leave.
3. a couple of weeks later, the right rear wheel fails, and 'pops' outward a bit causing the rear end to shift accordingly. the location this happened for me was perfect, as it was a four lane road and i had no one in the lane i swayed into. i was also going 5-10 mph when i hit the small pothole.
4. while waiting for a tow, i look at the bill from the dealership, and see the mechanic noted i was missing 1 of 3 bolts on each rear wheel (broken off). the service advisor didn't tell me about this when i picked up the car. i now know the 'clanking' was the bracket missing the bolt, and it was bending and slapping back at the body until it eventually ripped out by the remaining two bolts.
5. i didn't want to go thru legal means & i needed the car fixing asap, so i worked out what i thought was a largely discounted price to fix the issue and get a free rental. the job took 3 months. i won't go into details here, but to keep it short, within driving a couple of weeks i found:
- they forgot to tighten 3 of the 5 lug nuts on one wheel.
- they forgot to tighten some of the bolts on the NEW bracket
- they forgot to tighten one of the rear shocks top bolt, and it tore
through the shock mount, necessitating a buy of two new shocks.
it's obvious they gave me an incomplete repair. when i file, i will be asking for what i paid for all costs & repairs, beginning with the flawed alignment.
since i was so lucky that i wasn't injured in all this failed workmanship, does that make it impossible to ask for punitives? what is a fair amount to ask for?
thanks.
jackie
