I'm no attorney but I know that if the judge rules in favour of the defendant (the non-GM dealer shop), the judge can require the plaintiff (the car owner petitioning the court for restitution) to pay the legal costs of the defendant. You should determine if this is a risk to you.

If the garage is insured, depending on the deductible, the plaintiff will be facing an attorney from the insurance company. Insurance companies are notorious for being represented by large firms which means high hourly billing rates.

They may settle out of court which is a possibility which you will only find out by going through the steps leading to court...written notice to the non-GM dealer shop, documentation of condition (before and after the problem occurred including whatever service records (the defendant could claim that some prior servicing caused the failure...e.g. somebody put the wrong fluid in the power steering).

Have been in a litigous business for thirty years. May have taken a beating several times when someone else should have paid for their mistake but established a policy early on in my career that it's cheaper to take the hit than go to court. A very successful businessman who had been a lawyer followed the same policy. I want to focus on new positive profitable business, not being eaten alive emotionally and financially by negative litigation.

If you are successful in your suit and the judge makes an award, there is no certainty that the defendant is going to pay you. Then you have to go back to court to get the order enforced.

I suggest that you do as much as possible that you are capable of doing yourself, given the time and resources (that ASE mechanic is not going to work for nothing) that you have. If you do go to court and the defenant wants to cross examine your ASE mechanic will have to be there at your cost. If you are not successful, you will have additional costs which you do not have now.

Think about the benefit that will accrue to you by applying yourself to your studies as against getting approximately $700 from the garage that you say caused your problem.

 

This sounds like some very good advice. Small claims court, if it comes to that, is relatively inexpensive and if you do your homework, it just might be a way to get your car fixed.

 

Many jurisdictions don't even allow lawyers in small claims court. Very cheap to file. The only time I ever sued someone in small claims court, we were required to meet with a mediator downstairs to try to reach a settlement. If we couldn't, then she sent us upstairs to the court room to actually have a hearing. When the defendent saw my evidence and realized I was serious she rolled over and gave us most of what we were looking for. Even if you don't have an airtight case against the service station, you may be able to get a partial settlement out of them once they are looking at a serious claim.

 

It took me until I was over 40 just to afford the insurance on one of these beasts. A Masters in engineering, 24 yeas in the Coke industry, and then finally opening my own business and using it as a tax write off.
Don't let anyone give you a hard time for owning a vette in college, wish I could' uv. At least your priorities are right!
BTW, some of my Coke is in your GM product.

CHARGE EVERYTHING ON your credit cards!!!!!!!!!

As a small business owner, I can assure you that if you make a charge on your card and are unhappy with the work or product, you can dispute the charge. (The consumer is ALWAYS the winner in this situation) The cost for the business owner to go after you, well, they will write it off. At least you can keep your money for the cost of the other repair, plus give the shop owner a whole lotta heartburn!

Good Luck,

 

This is very good advise!

 

BINGO! An IN tuner installed my SC, but missed on the tune by a mile. A few second opinions, and documentation of the as receive fuel ratio, and the $500 for tune went from his pocket to mine. I gave the $500 to a MI tuner, and he found another 40 hp with only a slightly rich setting.

 

 

I had one dealer wreck one of my Chevy's (non Vette) and another dealer scratch the top beyond repair on my perfect condition 93 Ruby Red Vette.

 

Do you have legal assistant at school?
Some offer Law advice free or at reduced rates.
Good luck

 

 

Good luck getting a mechanic to sign any document placing blame on another shop.
Unless the pump has a wrench stuck in it with the name of the mechanic who worked on your car, there is NO WAY anybody can determine with absolute certainty the reason for failure.
Coincidences can and do happen, and while it may seem likely that the first shop damaged your car, proving it is another matter.
First off, any shop that reccomends taking the car to the dealer to fix a problem as simple as no power steering, should not even be allowed to work on bicycles, much less 'Vettes.
Second, how did the dealer diagnose the problem? did they hook up gauges to the pump and check the pressure? That is the ONLY way to tell if the pump is bad.
Third, power steering pumps seldom fail completely, and failure to static bleed the pump and rack is unlikely to cause a failure.
You need to find a real mechanic to look at your car and use the proper tools to diagnose the problem. Once you have an accurate diagnosis, and repair, take the info back to the original shop if appropriate, and calmly discuss the situation. Threatening lawsuits and such will not help to resolve the problem.
With any luck, this is a simple problem to fix, and if it truly is the fault of the original shop, it should be obvious. (wrong lines hooked up etc.) If they are in any way reputable, they will take care of the cost. If not, you are probably wasting your time and sanity trying to get money out of them in court.

 

It ended up being the power steering pump

The dealership installed a brand new one and the PS works perfect now.
The dealership doesnt want to tell the other shop that they were at fault because they do business with each other

I do have some free legal help but they are closed for the holidays.

Yanni

 

Read my post again... Sounds like your are SOL. Chalk this one up to learning experince, and move on. You need to find a new shop to work on your car.

 

No, I'm going to get my money back thanks though!

 

What coarse of action do plan on using? I really am interested how this thing turns out. Keep us posted and good luck.

 

 

dude-at this point,unless your going to go to physical expulsion,you are .1320 people[that's a quarter mile!]have read this, at least one is a lawyer[got to be].if there was really a golf ball chance that this was worth a courtroom,somebody would've reached out by now.i'm not trying to @#*! you off,but look at your case here.
your only shot at proving your case told you go scratch[dealership].
whatever you say is speculation[your not a mechanic],it's your word against the private shop,more than likely they will win,just because.....[age of car,mileage,etc,etc]
if you REALLY had a winable thing,by NOW, out of 1320 people who have read this.somebody would've reached out who does law.
i'm not being nasty,just honest.my suggestion is walk away and leave it,right now they have already won.they have you loosing your mind over it!

 

Sorry it happened, but get over it before it kills you.

 

YA KNOW, hes only half kidding, and if you can get the dealership to analise what happened,.........after you tell them what happened, to you, you can take that to court with you! its no big deal just you and them each tell a judge what happened believe me hes heard it all before "Well your honnor it worked just fine before we fixed it" you get the picture? and as far as how many people look at this SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WHAT! ITS your car and small claims court is JUST for this kind of problum

 

If you think it's worth the effort, try and get your money back through small claims court. It's a matter of principle now. Good luck.