What would you do? (long)
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 797
Likes: 0
What would you do? (long)
Hey gang,
I have been having a mental struggle over what to do in a situation I find myself in and thought that maybe some of you could help. Her's the skinny of it:
A few years ago, I had a 1995 LT1 and 4L60E Corvette engine/tranny combo installed at a hot rod shop (to remain nameless for now) referred to me by another local enthusiast. After seeing the work done on his car and the other work at the shop, I decided to do it. Being a mere 19 years old at the time, my budget was not as great at the other cars lying around. However, the only thing I was looking to do was get the motor in the car and running. I think you can tell where this is going.... A couple months passed, deadlines came and went, the only time I got to speak with the shop owner was when another payment was due, finally my car was "done". I went to pick it up to find out the vacuum hoses were not hooked up since they "forgot where they went when they were pulling the original engine". The power steering no longer functioned. They had damaged a small corner of the hood while it was at the shop. The heater and A/C was not hooked up. I let all of that slide since I was just so happy to get the car back! Then the REAL problems started. The brakes completely failed while driving the car because "someone" put non-brake fluid in the reservoir. The car never seemed to run properly. The wiring was a total mess. I drove the car on about four occations because it wa sso unreliable. I could be driving down the street and suddenly lose power. I would spend more and more money to correct these problems until I finally had the entire wiring harness replaced by the Vette Wrench in Naperville, IL (they kick butt). The car runs beautifully now. It runs so well that I have decided to keep the car and finish the project. Before taking the car to the Vette Wrench, I had decided to sell the car because it was just too much of an emotional and financial strain. The hot rod shop owner that performed the original work had said, "Come back if you have troubles," but I could never get ahold of him. I finally gave up, and spent thousands of dollars correcting problems that I paid his shop thousands of dollars to do! I thought I was past all of this, but I recently picked up the May issue of Nothern Rodder Magazine, and who should be in a small article than the original shop owner!?! Of all things, he was in there for a Corvette! They praised his work and how everything went together seemlessly. This got me really steamed. Last fall, I had written him a letter as well as a letter to the CHamber of Commerce detailing my problems. He finally called me and he was understandibly upset. We ultimately decided that I might have been overreacting, and he agreed to take another look at the car. I didn't want him touching the thing. I decided to just let it go. Then I get the car up to the Vette Wrench and Brian digs into the car and finds TONS of problems (mostly electrical). I have decided that this cannot slide. My question is, "What should I do?" Am I crazy to expect some sort of refund or anything? The work was performed December 1998-March of 1999, and until I had the car up to the Vette Wrench, I had not driven the car more than 500 miles. Anyways, I would appreciate some outside perspective on this!
I have been having a mental struggle over what to do in a situation I find myself in and thought that maybe some of you could help. Her's the skinny of it:
A few years ago, I had a 1995 LT1 and 4L60E Corvette engine/tranny combo installed at a hot rod shop (to remain nameless for now) referred to me by another local enthusiast. After seeing the work done on his car and the other work at the shop, I decided to do it. Being a mere 19 years old at the time, my budget was not as great at the other cars lying around. However, the only thing I was looking to do was get the motor in the car and running. I think you can tell where this is going.... A couple months passed, deadlines came and went, the only time I got to speak with the shop owner was when another payment was due, finally my car was "done". I went to pick it up to find out the vacuum hoses were not hooked up since they "forgot where they went when they were pulling the original engine". The power steering no longer functioned. They had damaged a small corner of the hood while it was at the shop. The heater and A/C was not hooked up. I let all of that slide since I was just so happy to get the car back! Then the REAL problems started. The brakes completely failed while driving the car because "someone" put non-brake fluid in the reservoir. The car never seemed to run properly. The wiring was a total mess. I drove the car on about four occations because it wa sso unreliable. I could be driving down the street and suddenly lose power. I would spend more and more money to correct these problems until I finally had the entire wiring harness replaced by the Vette Wrench in Naperville, IL (they kick butt). The car runs beautifully now. It runs so well that I have decided to keep the car and finish the project. Before taking the car to the Vette Wrench, I had decided to sell the car because it was just too much of an emotional and financial strain. The hot rod shop owner that performed the original work had said, "Come back if you have troubles," but I could never get ahold of him. I finally gave up, and spent thousands of dollars correcting problems that I paid his shop thousands of dollars to do! I thought I was past all of this, but I recently picked up the May issue of Nothern Rodder Magazine, and who should be in a small article than the original shop owner!?! Of all things, he was in there for a Corvette! They praised his work and how everything went together seemlessly. This got me really steamed. Last fall, I had written him a letter as well as a letter to the CHamber of Commerce detailing my problems. He finally called me and he was understandibly upset. We ultimately decided that I might have been overreacting, and he agreed to take another look at the car. I didn't want him touching the thing. I decided to just let it go. Then I get the car up to the Vette Wrench and Brian digs into the car and finds TONS of problems (mostly electrical). I have decided that this cannot slide. My question is, "What should I do?" Am I crazy to expect some sort of refund or anything? The work was performed December 1998-March of 1999, and until I had the car up to the Vette Wrench, I had not driven the car more than 500 miles. Anyways, I would appreciate some outside perspective on this!
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 797
Likes: 0
Re: What would you do? (black bart)
Anyone happen to know a good lawyer :confused: ? I thought about calling around to those, "We don't get paid until your case is settled or won" guys, but they deal mostly in worker's comp. I am not looking to gouge the guy like I feel that he did me, but I would like SOMETHING! I think I am at least going to write a Caveat Emptor letter to the magazine, but I don't expect that it will get run. Anyway, thanks for the advice!
Drifting
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 1,295
Likes: 2
From: Surprise Arizona
Re: What would you do? (Last Ride)
I would talk to the guy from the hot rod shop one more time. And yes money is the answer. Tell him you already had the car repaired at a reputible vet shop. Tell him that the quality of work he did on your car is deplorable and you wont mind letting others no of this. Also tell him you expect him to reimburse you for the repairs that had to be made to correct his mistakes.
If this goes to court more than likely you will be at fault for not letting him correct his mistakes before you took the car somewhere else for repairs. You will need proof that you tried to contact him to make repairs and he did not respond. I am not a lawyer. But contacting one before you talk to this guy again is probably a good idea. I would think if the case is only for a few thousand dollars no lawyer would even bother with it. They will tell you to go to small claims court yourself. But you could get some ideas from the lawyer anyway.
I think you could do better by putting his reputation in jeapordy. If he wants his bussiness to grow the worst thing that could happen is someone advertising the poor work he does. You could also mention that you spend a lot of time on the internet forums conversing with other people about performance cars. Tell him if he does not make it right his shop is not going to be spoken highly of on the internet.
Good luck.
If this goes to court more than likely you will be at fault for not letting him correct his mistakes before you took the car somewhere else for repairs. You will need proof that you tried to contact him to make repairs and he did not respond. I am not a lawyer. But contacting one before you talk to this guy again is probably a good idea. I would think if the case is only for a few thousand dollars no lawyer would even bother with it. They will tell you to go to small claims court yourself. But you could get some ideas from the lawyer anyway.
I think you could do better by putting his reputation in jeapordy. If he wants his bussiness to grow the worst thing that could happen is someone advertising the poor work he does. You could also mention that you spend a lot of time on the internet forums conversing with other people about performance cars. Tell him if he does not make it right his shop is not going to be spoken highly of on the internet.
Good luck.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 7,836
Likes: 1
From: Global Warming My Butt
Re: What would you do? (Last Ride)
First thing the judge would say...
1. You accepted the car as complete even though it wasn't, and didn't identify obvious problems on the bill, or anything in writing...and he has your signature on the bill when you took the car saying you accepted it (with hoses off and all that stuff not hooked up).
2. You never talked to the guy who originally did the work to allow him to correct the problems. Sounds like you didn't ask him at the time you accepted the vehicle either. If the judge asks him, "can you correct the problems with the car" of course he'll say yes and he is the only expert in the court (unless you are a licensed mechanic).
I'd say there is more to this one....
1. You accepted the car as complete even though it wasn't, and didn't identify obvious problems on the bill, or anything in writing...and he has your signature on the bill when you took the car saying you accepted it (with hoses off and all that stuff not hooked up).
2. You never talked to the guy who originally did the work to allow him to correct the problems. Sounds like you didn't ask him at the time you accepted the vehicle either. If the judge asks him, "can you correct the problems with the car" of course he'll say yes and he is the only expert in the court (unless you are a licensed mechanic).
I'd say there is more to this one....
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 797
Likes: 0
Re: What would you do? (MinnesotaWhite)
While it is true that I accepted the car as it was, "incomplete", I never signed anything. All I have are receipts handwritten and signed by him or his wife (the co-owner). I have more receipts from places where I have taken it to have work redone. I would guess that my biggest gripe is that the wiring harness that I paid for and then had him install. That was causing the majority of the problems, and was replaced to the tune of $1000. Not much money, all things considered, but enough to put a big dent in the funds for the ineterior I want to replace. I also have a witness present when I picked the car up when the guy was explaining what wasn't done and what still needed to be done. He said to, "bring it back", but all my calls went unreturned. I was thinking something along the lines of asking Northern Rodder to do a spot on my car showing before and after pictures of this guy's work and then the "rework". I still try to give the benefit of the doubt to him as the other work I have seen of his really IS good. The old adage, "you catch more flies with sugar..." might still hold true. Otherwise, I suppose all I can do is tell people MY experiences.... :cheers:
