I've won my case, ...but will appeal decision

[reeBrelliM]

What is the name of your state? Iowa

What is the name of your state? ...Iowa

Here's the deal. I had spent nearly $4400 while doing a complete major engine overhaul. The car was purchased used, it had one previous owner and was in excellent condition. It was a 1985 model, and had only 60K original miles, however, I wanted to have the engine totally rebuilt, primarily to have a much better sense of assurance, as well as a feeling of confidence for if I needed to travel to one side of the country or the other, I could do so without a worry.

Anyway, I had purchased (COD mail order) a hydraulic roller camshaft and a set of aluminum pistons from a specialty parts supply company in California. The camshaft was installed by my local machine shop (professionals of the trade), no corners were cut, everything was done by the book.

With less than 7000 miles (casually driven miles) on the newly rebuilt engine, the camshaft had failed, which had resulted in major internal engine damages. After disassembling the engine, it was later discovered that the camshaft was made from a cast iron material, which was simply a low quality cam, and not up to the task from a material standpoint. The company that I purchased it from denied any possible wrong doing on their part, and was very rude and short with me on the phone. I tried to resolve with them a few different times, but they would not back up their product.

I decided to file a small claims case against that company, and I was asking for $4400 to recover from damages that were incurred to my engine as a direct result of their inferior quality camshaft that had failed, as this is the amount that I'd spent while completely overhauling the original engine, I have all the receipts for everything.

Meanwhile, I'd bought a cheap temporary replacement engine from a local junkyard for only $100, because I figured it would probably be quite a while before this legal mess was all ironed out, and I needed something to drive until then. The junkyard engine doesn't run real bad, but it doesn't run real good either, it burns oil, it has some valve lifters that are ticking, and it most certainly isn't what you would call a mechanically sound engine.

A few weeks prior to the court date, the defendant had sent a letter to the judge along with a check for the amount that I had originally paid for the faulty camshaft. In the letter, the manager of the company mentioned that he was sorry, but was not going to be able to attend for the court hearing, and had also asked that the court accept the check for $359 (the price of the camshaft) as a reasonable and equitable resolution to this matter. So when I'd went to court, just as they'd said in the letter, they did not show up. The judge had asked me if I would agree to give the defendant a 20 day continuance, and that he would send them a letter explaining that they would have to either attend for the court hearing, or a default judgement of $4400 could be entered against them. I agreed to the continuance, because I really had hoped go head to head with them in court, in front of a judge, as I was very well prepared to present my case.

On the date that was set for the continance, once again the defendant did not show up. Not only that, but neither did the original judge that had ordered for the continuance, and whom also was somewhat familiar with this case. The substitute judge was the senior judge that has been there since 1963, but now only comes in to substitute in the event that a judge can't make it. This judge was something else, he was a really elder fellow, and it was quite apparent that he just wasn't too thrilled to have to be there that day. He wasn't at all concerned that the defendant had failed to attend for court on two occasions, and had proceeded on with the case anyway. I was sworn in, and he told me to go ahead and present my case to him. So, that is what I did, however, I could just tell that this judge was really having some trouble with understanding the case, and was not following me very well. His attitude towards me was as if he was looking at me with question of wether this was really legit or not. He looked at me and said, "Well, I can't understand why you would have spent $4400 to rebuild an old engine, ...for that kind of money you could have just bought a new car." I explained to him that this car (1985 Buick Riviera) was indeed a collectable automobile, and that G.M. Buick doesn't even make the Riviera anymore. Besides all of that, it was my choice to rebuild the engine, and I feel that his point was irrelevant.

He had me go over all the receipts, and looked at my pictures, I also had brought the failed camshaft for the judge to look at. The judge took into evidence 23 exibits, and had also written down many of his own notes. Towards the end of the hearing, I told him that it's really too bad that they didn't show up, because I was really looking forward to it, because in fact, I knew that they were wrong, and I also knew that I was right, and I'm gonna stand up for what is right. He says to me, "You knew that they weren't gonna travel all the way to Iowa to show up for this, so it's moreless just easy money" (I couldn't believe he was saying this to me) Finally he say, "Well, you'll be notified by mail as to what my decision is, usually takes a couple days".

I was notified that his decision that was in my favor, he ordered that the defendant pay $1000 + 3.13% interest from the date the claim was filed on, the court finds that the camshaft that was supplied was indeed inferior in quality. The plaintiff has advised that he bought and installed a used engine for $1000, and the car is currently in running condition. The decision is that the $1000 for the used replacement engine is reasonable liability and sufficient.

***THE REASON FOR APPEALING THE DECISION***

The mailed document of the judgement shows that the judge had, in fact, made an error. I had stated that I paid $100 (not $1000) for a temporary junkyard engine, so I would at least have transportation for now.

The judge had stated in the District Associate Judges/Magistrates notes that the “plaintiff bought a used engine for $1000.00”. This however, is incorrect. In actuality, I had clearly stated that a temporary engine was purchased for only $100.00, and also that the cost to recover from the damages incurred to my engine would be $4400.00, furthermore these damages had resulted as a direct result of the inferior low quality camshaft. This is the amount accrued while building the original engine. Receipts were presented 8-20-03 and remain on file with the clerk’s office.
I respectfully submitted that since the Judge found that the defendant had knowingly supplied an inferior quality camshaft which had also destroyed my engine, that the judgment be reconsidered to include the amount I paid to restore the original engine to the quality achieved prior to the damage caused by the faulty camshaft.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but there really is much to explain about this case. This was the first time (and hopefully the last time) that I have ever had to file a small claim.

The judgement or decision simply does not satisfy me. The judge evidently had misunderstood what my claim was about, thus there were errors made with his decision.

I would like to hear some feedback, please respond. Any tips, suggestions, or advise on this case would certianly be appreciated.

Thanks a million!!!!
reeBrelliM

 

[BL]

Usually, if the Defendant doesn't show, the Plaintiff wins by Default, as the prior Judge advised you.

Did you raise this issue on your second appearance ?

On the other hand, Even though you chose to rebuild w/ HIGHER end parts, is this reasonable for defendant to have to pay them cost.

You can get rebuilt engines far less than what you paid for your rebuilt, and $1000.00 to $1500.00 plus install fees probably are reasonable.

A Judge once told me ( even though a shop installed an unnecessary part ), You can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

[JETX]

And now for a differing opinion....

Take what you got and, assuming the defendant doesn't appeal, move on. Reasons:
1) If I had been the defendant, your case wouldn't have been heard at all... at least in Iowa. Based on the information in your post, I doubt that the Iowa court has jurisdiction.
2) If you appeal your claim out of small claims court (not sure that the prevailing party in Iowa has the right to appeal?) it will be heard in a higher (more formal court). If a magistrate heard the original action, a district associate or district court judge shall decide the appeal. If a district associate judge heard the original action, a district court judge shall decide the appeal. And if a district court judge heard the original action, another district court judge shall decide the appeal.
3) It is far more likely that the defendant will appear in a higher court proceeding.
4) It is not unreasonable for the 'damages' that you claim are limited solely to the direct cost of the part provided. You would need to read the terms and conditions of the sale.
5) And finally, the issue of how to collect any judgment that you might win. Your Iowa judgment is not recognized in California. You will have to domesticate your claim into the CA court system and the defendant will very likely challenge your filing there.

 

[reeBrelliM]

Before I'd ever went so far as to file this small claim, I had tried to resolve by all other means, and simply wasn't getting anywhere, so I checked with my local clerk of courts office, and was told that since this was ordered by telephone and sent via C.O.D. , that the transaction had actually taken place on my front door step, right here in Iowa.

This purchase order was for the amount of $1394.00 (for just the hydraulic roller camshaft and pistons). Also, the camshaft that was ordered was supposed to be made from 8620 Billet Steel, and certainly NOT cast iron, because this engine was a hydraulic roller engine stock from the G.M. factory, not a modification of mine. Also, a hydraulic roller camshaft is required to be made from a much harder material, as the roller lifters are made of billet tool steel and the spring pressures are much higher in a hydraulic roller camshaft engine, than they are in a standard flat tappet camshaft engine. The cam provided by the company was made of standard cast iron, and with the much harder (tool steel) roller lifters riding on the surface of the cam lobes, and under heavy spring pressures, the camshaft had wiped out every single lobe.

After the cam failure, I began to look for answers online, I searched through the automotive enthusiast web forums, ....and guess what, I quickly found out that I'm not the first person to have problems with this same company. In fact, when I went to the BBB web site and checked out their track record, there had been 12 complaints files in the past 6 months. The guru guys at one particular forum had told me that this company needs to be shut down, because they'd heard sooo many horror stories similar to mine, that it was unreal. One of the guys had mentioned that a few years ago he also had purchased this same model number of camshaft from the same company, but the car that it was for had been wrecked shortly after his purchase, and so the cam never was installed, He told me that the camshaft he had was still out in his garage and it was, in fact, an 8620 billet camshaft and that it also had the same product I.D. stamped into the end of the camshaft, ..well, I ended up buying the from him for cheap.

So I became even more suspicous, I wondered what the hell was really going on with all of this stuff, so then with the help of an attorney, we contacted the manufacturer of the camshaft, who also supplies the defendants company with all of their camshafts. We put some pressure onto the camshaft manufacturer, and when asked why they would've made two camshafts, both having the same exact product I.D. stamped into it, especially if one cam was made of billet steel, and the other was from cast iron. They had dodged the question several times, and were quite shallow with their answers, but eventually they told us that the defendant had specifically ordered them like this, he asked them to make these cams using cheap cam cores to keep the cost to the defendant down, when the manufacturer advised them of the high risks that were involved of potential cam failures, the defendants reply was that Comp Cams and some of the others were getting away with this kind of practice, and to keep up with the cheap cams. The cam mfg'r told us that, "Your problem is not with us. They ordered these cams ground on cheaper cores to lower the cost, ..they ordered them, so we made them, ..we certainly didn't give it our seal of approval. Your problem is with them, as they sold you the cam, not us." (...Now do you see what I mean?)

This is exactly what I mean when I say that it's a complex case to try to explain to someone. It really gets rather deep.

Thanks for the responses guys!!!
reeBrelliM

P.S. Less than a week after the judge made his decision ordering the defendant to pay $1000 + 3% interest from filing date, the defendant did send a check for the full amount that was ordered, but since I appealled this decision, the check was sent back to them by the clerk of courts office.

....they know that they were wrong for what they did.

 

[reeBrelliM]

TTT

....would like to hear more responses, and hoping that Blonde Lebinese and JETX that will chime back in on this.

Thanks a million!!!
reeBrelliM

 

[JETX]

"P.S. Less than a week after the judge made his decision ordering the defendant to pay $1000 + 3% interest from filing date, the defendant did send a check for the full amount that was ordered, but since I appealled this decision, the check was sent back to them by the clerk of courts office."
*** You wanted additional response..... mine is that you should have accepted the check and dropped your appeal.

 

[reeBrelliM]

Thanks a lot for your response!! Your input is well respected, and I appreciate hearing your straight forward, honest opinions about this.

JETX - So let me get this straight, what you're saying is that I should've just accepted the judgement for $1000 + 3% int. (..that was also made in error) then just forget about it? That would be moreless chalking it up to a total loss!! Besides that, I cannot accept this as being final. The Judge clearly had mis-understood certain things within this case.

With all due respect sir, I spent too much time, I spent the better part of $5000 very hard earned money, plus a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to coordinate having this engine completely redone, ...and to let this company just screw me over because their experiment with using cheaper cast iron instead of the 8620 billet steel that is required for this particular camshaft, ...THAT quite simply is NOT gonna happen.

They knew that there were extremely high risks of camshaft failures that were involved when they had special ordered for those camshafts to be ground from cast iron cores rather than the more durable, harder, and stronger billet steel that any ordinary hydraulic roller camshaft engine application calls for. The requirement for a billet steel camshaft, is necessary because of the much higher valve spring pressures that are present in hydraulic roller engines. Cast iron, or ductile iron camshafts are suitable for use in standard flat tappet engines where the spring pressures are much, much less, and also where the valve lifters are made from softer metal alloy.

This specialty parts vendor company knows fully well, that any person that is ordering a new hyd roller camshaft and a set of silicon forged aluminum pistons, is most likely planning or currently building a rather expensive engine. Having said that, they take a very big liabilty gamble by sending out a camshaft, that should be made of steel, but as an effort to lower the cost to them, they had them made from cast iron regardless of the potentially high risks that were involved.

Now, since they'd knowingly sent an inferior camshaft that had ultimately failed, literally falling apart, causing millions of tiny metal filings, shavings, and iron fragments to be pumped through my engines oiling system, and caused major internal engine damage, summing a total loss of the engine.

....and you think that they shouldn't be liable for all of the damages incurred by their camshaft?

If they would have sent me the billet steel camshaft, which is what I'd paid $359 for, and also which my receipt says that they sent, then without a doubt, the engine would still be up and running sound, as I had intended for it to do.

 

[BL]

# 1 ) YOU chose to rebuild your engine with higher end parts.

# 2 ) Accordingly YOU should have KNOWN what the parts actually were . Cast iron & steel are not the same as you NOW know.
You bear some responsibility yourself for taking on specialty parts installs, and not making sure what you are installing.

Most of your last reply was repeat of your other post.

I'm not saying you might not have a chance for winning an appeal, as long as you cited facts that the GBL , or others were violated by the CO. in the orig. case.

But don't go hog wild blaming the rebuild solely on the Co. You screwed up too.

 

[JETX]

Ree:

There are LOTS of legal issues in this matter that very likely preclude your further success. Some of them are:

1) Does the merchant have a disclaimer or limit of liability statement ANYWHERE (invoice, website, etc.) that limits their liability to only the direct cost of the replacement part??? Since this is fairly common practice, I would assume that they do.

2) What EXACTLY does their invoice say as to the material of the part they provided?? Does it say that it is forged steel or cast?? Does it say that their part is 8620 Billet Steel?

3) You say "Also, the camshaft that was ordered was supposed to be made from 8620 Billet Steel, and certainly NOT cast iron, because this engine was a hydraulic roller engine stock from the G.M. factory, not a modification of mine."
*** Since they provided a cast iron cam (your claim), I would assume that someone DOES make them (I can't imagine them casting only one for you). And with that, your claim that "was supposed to be" is shot down.

4) There is a huge difference in the appearance of forged material and cast material (unless the cast has been post cleaned, unlikely if 'cheap parts'). Something that a "local machine shop (professionals of the trade)" should have noticed and asked you about. Why didn't they??

5) How can you PROVE that the camshaft failure was SOLELY due to the material?? It could have failed due to a micro-crack or other failure (not material specific). Did you have the part mag tested before installation??

6) How are you able to prove that the engine failure was not due to some error on the part of the "local machine shop (professionals of the trade)"???

7) Did YOU comply with the required 'break-in' of a new engine??

These are just some of the questions that might be posed by a defense attorney in a new trial...... and you may very well be facing an attorney when you raise the stakes.

And finally..... a court would likely look at the value difference of that model car with a working engine against that same car without a working engine..... and if they do award more than the replacement cost of that cam, THAT difference would be your 'damages. Simply, if you choose to spend $4400 in repairs on a car that is only worth $3000, that is your problem.