Car Damage Pulling Into Parking Lot

[mrlander]

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

Today I pulled into a Kmart from a side street and when entering the parking lot my car bottomed out to the point of almost coming to a stop. I immediately pulled over and checked for damage. It knocked part of my grill of and did some other damage to the bottom of my car. I went inside and told the customer service employee and he just said we are not responsible. I then asked to speak to the manager. The manager came out and took pictures and had me file an incident report. She also told me that they have had this problem for two weeks now and contacted the landlord, but he had not fixed it yet.

I took many pictures of the curb where you could see all sorts of digs in the pavement from this happening before. I also took pictures of the damage to my car. On the report, I also had the store manager initial next to the part that said this had been happening for two weeks now.

I need some advice because I am not sure what I should do next. Do I have any chance in winning a civil lawsuit against KMart or maybe the landlord?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Zigner]

WHY did your car bottom out?

 

[mrlander]

WHY did your car bottom out?

I took pictures.. there were not any holes or anything. It's the design on the entry way.. I'd assume it is faulty.

 

[justalayman]

I took pictures.. there were not any holes or anything. It's the design on the entry way.. I'd assume it is faulty.

If it is how the lot is designed, explain this:

She also told me that they have had this problem for two weeks now and contacted the landlord, but he had not fixed it yet.

did they just open 2 weeks ago?


Do you have insurance that would cover this? If so, that would almost assuredly be the best route. If your insurance provider believes there is some liability, they will chase KMart or the LL for the money.

 

[mrlander]

The parking lot is actually really old, not new. They said they have had problems with it but it keeps getting worse and they have had complaints in the past two weeks so they contacted the LL.

I was hoping to avoid the insurance company because I can not afford a rate hike. I am a college student.

 

[justalayman]

I still don't understand how this can have been a problem for only a couple weeks yet the lot is old. You mention there are no holes etc. but yet it is getting worse. I just cannot understand how it can be as you describe.

 

[mrlander]

Trust me, I was not a happy camper. I have no idea how it could have gotten worse, but I know that the surface of the earth is constantly changing. I still find that to be negligible to the matter. What I can't believe is this has been happening for two weeks now and they did not take any precautionary measure to prevent it from continuously happening. The store manager signed a piece of paper too, stating that it had been happening for the past two weeks.

I'll upload some pictures so you can see the damage and the entry way. The only thing that was different from my situation compared to most people who enter at this spot is the fact that I pulled straight in and not at an angle because I was coming from a parking lot on the other side of the street.

 

[justalayman]

mrlander;3053214]Trust me, I was not a happy camper. I have no idea how it could have gotten worse, but I know that the surface of the earth is constantly changing. I still find that to be negligible to the matter.

You may find it negligible but whether you have any valid claim or not could depend on it. You will have to prove something changed recently to where now cars are damaged and they were not before. Without that, I would argue, if I was KMart, that you were simply driving too fast and bottomed your car. Your fault; your cost.

What I can't believe is this has been happening for two weeks now and they did not take any precautionary measure to prevent it from continuously happening. The store manager signed a piece of paper too, stating that it had been happening for the past two weeks.

so what is different now compared to two weeks or two years ago? You state there are no holes or such. Based on that, I would have to suggest a driver of a car is empowered to not go over an area of roadway that their car cannot navigate without being damaged.

I'll upload some pictures so you can see the damage and the entry way.

You cannot upload pics here.

 

[mrlander]

Sorry, you will have to copy and paste the links because I don't know how to embed them.

https://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/251908_10150822845906130_744036129_9506846_2030308320_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/545143_10150822846636130_744036129_9506848_946902984_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/547128_10150822847221130_744036129_9506852_841010263_n.jpg

https://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/294944_10150822848636130_744036129_9506862_428145019_n.jpg

 

[justalayman]

Unless you can get somebody to state that drive is improperly constructed, (read: an engineer and several thousand dollars, minimum) and that it does not comply with some recommended incline, the cause of the damage is the driver of the vehicle. Slow down and it won't happen.

 

[mrlander]

Unless you can get somebody to state that drive is improperly constructed, (read: an engineer and several thousand dollars, minimum) and that it does not comply with some recommended incline, the cause of the damage is the driver of the vehicle. Slow down and it won't happen.

A) I am an engineering student.

B) How would you have any possible idea of how fast I was going?

Side note, I don't think it takes an engineer to determine if it complies to a code or not.

 

[justalayman]

B) How would you have any possible idea of how fast I was going?

the actual speed is irrelevant. All that matters is you were going to fast or your car is defective and sets lower than it is designed to or the shocks/struts are worn and do not effectively dampen the suspension. It is obvious nothing has changed with this drive for a considerable period of time. This is driver error, not premises liability.

Side note, I don't think it takes an engineer to determine if it complies to a code or not.

in court it will

 

[mrlander]

the actual speed is irrelevant. All that matters is you were going to fast or your car is defective and sets lower than it is designed to or the shocks/struts are worn and do not effectively dampen the suspension. It is obvious nothing has changed with this drive for a considerable period of time. This is driver error, not premises liability.

in court it will

I can understand your idea of the car not working properly ect, but there has to be some point at which a car should be able to enter a drive. Why do you think they paint speed bumps yellow and put signs near them. So people KNOW they are there and COULD damage there car.

..and you are telling me that an engineer is the only person equipped with the knowledge to tell you if the rate of change on an entry way is compliant with a code written in a book. Basic knowledge of english and pre-adgebra should be sufficient.

 

[ecmst12]

One would need to be an engineer and/or a licensed inspector to be able to testify to such a thing.

 

[mrlander]

To verify what should be compliant or to verify that it is compliant?