nolessthanblessed

Howdy and God Bless One Nation under God.....posted this awhile ago, lost printout and need your help once again...still in court process and there are no classic appaisers I could find in Riverside. What I need to show support of is the loss in value in a low mileage 1978 Pace Car with the L82 4-speed.
Here is the scoop. Car was stolen in 1985 and during a police chase thief spun a bearing...left car sit on jackstands until last year when car was taken to shop where I work to have engine pulled. The engine was taken to a machine shop close to my house, wanted job done right no matter what the cost, best parts as original, time not a real issue.....well that was over a year ago and the machine shop has still not found my block...correct crank and heads, but not my block...I have them in court but need some expert advise on the loss of value in the car due to loss of original engine... :crazy:

Mac

You definitely need expert advise. We can offer opinions and advice but none of it counts for squat when you get to court. If you hold up a bunch of print-off from an almost anonymous group of people from the Forum as supporting evidence, you'll be laughed out of court.

You're going to have to get a professional appraiser to examine your car without engine and offer his written assessment of it's value with and without the original block. You may want to have this assessment certified through the affidavit process (sworn before a notary or justice) which will increase the weight which the judge in the case will give this evidence.

Civil court cases are judged on the balance of probabilities. The shop can (and likely will) claim the engine does not affect the value of the car whatsoever. Your claim that the value is diminished would 'balance' their claim that it isn't, so you need to introduce evidence to support your position in order to win your suit. If that means going outside of Riverside to find the appraiser, so be it.

You should also establish what directions you gave to the shop so prove you did not consent to accepting a replacement block. Was a work order generated? Do you have a copy?? The more thoroughly you document the steps you took, the better your case will be.

I'm used to operating under more stringent conditions. For criminal cases, we must prove our cases beyond a reasonable doubt. In today's courts, that means beyond any doubt, so our papertrail and documentation goes to lengths which seem ridiculous, but better that than wrongfully convicting someone. Remember- OJ got off in criminal court but got nailed in civil court with the same evidence because the show boating lawyers and the attempts to discredit police evidence didn't work in civil courts.

71-LS5

You have one heck of a COrvette expert available just 40 minutes or so down the road from Riverside--Corvette Mike in Anaheim. Mike Vietro has plenty of appraisers and has the experience to tell you how the value is affected. Not sure what he might charge, but he definetly is an expert.