I am currently a resident of Seattle, WA.
In May 2014, my car started making extremely loud noises from the engine. I brought it to a mechanic that (according to references) specialized in machine shop work and had a good warranty, 5 year, 50k miles.
I initially signed a check-in sheet, authorizing them to check out the car and give me an estimate for the work needed to repair the engine. I was given a verbal quote of $2500 for the engine repair, and authorized the work without signing anything.
Months went by. I had to initiate every communication with the shop. My car sat in their lot and my engine in their workshop. Over the course of these many weeks, I called them once a week for updates or any additional information that they might have about the status of my vehicle. The updates were few and far between, and months went by with essentially the same "we're working on it" replies.
Finally in Sept. 2014, I received my car back. I ended up paying them $3900 for parts and labor for the repair. I never received written estimates for any of the work they performed and did not sign anything when the additional parts were proposed. To my knowledge, the final invoice is the only record of the work done there. Numerous parts of the engine had been replaced, and I had okayed every suggestion they made to make sure my engine operated properly when I got it back. It had a strange note to the exhaust that hadn't existed before (almost a whistling) and the shift stick was offset by -1 (so N shifted to D, D to 3rd gear, 3rd to 2nd, etc.) I immediately called and scheduled an appointment to get these issues taken care of the next week, but was told the car was drivable in the mean time.
In this period, I drove my car a total of seven times over six days. Two round-trips to work via the freeway (I5) and several <30Mph trips around town. At no time did I exceed 65 Mph for the freeway trips or 30 for the neighborhood runs. On Friday, was on the return leg of going home from work when the car stalled on the freeway.
I immediately shut down the engine, and had the car towed to my house, then the mechanic the next day. I had to wait three weeks to get any sort of answer from the mechanic, and when I did I was told they had only "taken the oil pan off" and determined that
A) the break was not their fault due to
B) the mechanic's theory is that leftover bits of plastic caused by the initial issue were present in the oil lines, and caused the car to starve of oil.
C) because I had not specifically asked to have my car's engine block given a "hot oil bath" the break cannot be blamed on them and
D) I now need to pay to have my engine fully rebuilt again, due to not asking for a service that they did not recommend or mention at the time.
I obviously do not agree with their logic, but do I have a case?
Thank you for your consideration.
In May 2014, my car started making extremely loud noises from the engine. I brought it to a mechanic that (according to references) specialized in machine shop work and had a good warranty, 5 year, 50k miles.
I initially signed a check-in sheet, authorizing them to check out the car and give me an estimate for the work needed to repair the engine. I was given a verbal quote of $2500 for the engine repair, and authorized the work without signing anything.
Months went by. I had to initiate every communication with the shop. My car sat in their lot and my engine in their workshop. Over the course of these many weeks, I called them once a week for updates or any additional information that they might have about the status of my vehicle. The updates were few and far between, and months went by with essentially the same "we're working on it" replies.
Finally in Sept. 2014, I received my car back. I ended up paying them $3900 for parts and labor for the repair. I never received written estimates for any of the work they performed and did not sign anything when the additional parts were proposed. To my knowledge, the final invoice is the only record of the work done there. Numerous parts of the engine had been replaced, and I had okayed every suggestion they made to make sure my engine operated properly when I got it back. It had a strange note to the exhaust that hadn't existed before (almost a whistling) and the shift stick was offset by -1 (so N shifted to D, D to 3rd gear, 3rd to 2nd, etc.) I immediately called and scheduled an appointment to get these issues taken care of the next week, but was told the car was drivable in the mean time.
In this period, I drove my car a total of seven times over six days. Two round-trips to work via the freeway (I5) and several <30Mph trips around town. At no time did I exceed 65 Mph for the freeway trips or 30 for the neighborhood runs. On Friday, was on the return leg of going home from work when the car stalled on the freeway.
I immediately shut down the engine, and had the car towed to my house, then the mechanic the next day. I had to wait three weeks to get any sort of answer from the mechanic, and when I did I was told they had only "taken the oil pan off" and determined that
A) the break was not their fault due to
B) the mechanic's theory is that leftover bits of plastic caused by the initial issue were present in the oil lines, and caused the car to starve of oil.
C) because I had not specifically asked to have my car's engine block given a "hot oil bath" the break cannot be blamed on them and
D) I now need to pay to have my engine fully rebuilt again, due to not asking for a service that they did not recommend or mention at the time.
I obviously do not agree with their logic, but do I have a case?
Thank you for your consideration.
