Dodgy Mechanic Advice Please.

Paslew123

Hi, A bit of advice. My car broke down and had to be towed to a garage as it would not start so I picked one close by my work and relatively known enough in Limerick City as they were the first to offer a courtesy car. After 24 hours of using the courtesy car it broke down and had to be towed back to the garage where the owners wife didn't apologise but just simply snapped at me that there were no other cars. I accepted this without fight despite the stress of spending an hour broken down at lunch on the motorway and being late back to work In the first week of a new job.

They got back to me to say I needed a new ecu and injectors and this would be done by the Friday (28/09) as they needed to order the part. I accepted and followed up continuously as there communication was non existent. Once he got the part which I found out to be a 2nd hand part from eBay, he quoted me close to €700 which I think is steep as he said the ecu cost 180 and the injector 120 so he is charging close to 400 in labour. Maybe this is normal, I dont know but the real kicker was when I went to pick up the car, it had a new swirly scratch on the rear panel which I bought to his attention which he then screamed an expletive and stormed off before coming back and saying his friend will polish it out and then saying that was not his guys who did that. I walked around the car and noticed oil drops all over the car and realised that it was actually melted paint, after bringing this to his attention he fully insisted that it was me not him that did that now we are talking serious damage . After looking at the ctv he must have seen his men do it so he sent it to the body shop as he said to have 2 panels sprayed. Now I know the damage was on more then 2 panels bit he says that's touch up paint which I put there. And he said it would be finished Wednesday and we are now the 5th and it is still gone despite me going in to pick it up multiple times when they have said it would be ready costing me in time and taxi fares. When I went in today I was told by another mechanic who is the manager that its not to do with him, I then said to him I want all the broken parts back as well as a descriptive invoice showing the body shop work as well to which he declined saying I wasn't paying for the body shop so they didn't need to tell me where it was or give me proof it was being done, when I pushed him on this he then threatened in his own words "How about I charge you for the customers car you broke" (referring to the courtesy car) which I did not know was a customers car. Now the legal parts come in

1. This has been a very stressful period and I have been sick from stress over this as this car is my pride and joy and the owner to have damaged it and then say it was already in bad shape (it wasnt) .

2. The fact my car has been gone now for a total of 18 days and the promise of a courtesy car not honoured.

3. The courtesy car breaking down and the mechanic threatening to make me pay for it.

4. Them refusing to let me know what body shop and have it put in paper form for me, e.g. an invoice.

5. The over charge in labour costs.

6. Falsely promising completion dates.

7. Blaming me for the damage and not them

nuac

Mod
Sympathies on your experience, but you cannot get legal advice on this forum.

Leaving open for any general comments subject to forum rules

Suggest you consult a solicitor.

NUTLEY BOY

Not legal advice - just a skim over the relevant principles that occur to me.

Generally, this shows the danger of entering a contract without defining the terms first. In this case it would have been wise to get a written estimate before work started. That would then provide a clear statement of the principal elements of the contract i.e. work to be done and price. That would also provide a foundation for subsequent argument in relation to performance or not of the contract.

When a garage takes in a car for repair I would always see them as bailees for reward. That imposes certain obligations towards the owner of the car in terms of returning it and in an expected condition.

The breakdown of the hire car could be seen as a failure of contractual performance. The fact that it worked for a while might constitute partial performance !

If the garage is repairing certain damage done by them to OP's car at their cost it might be argued that they have no obligation to detail that work if it is not being charged to OP i.e. no contractual element in that respect but rather the provision of indemnity to the OP.

I would expect something like this to fall within the jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court on the basis that the garage is a business and the OP was trading with them as a customer / consumer.

OP needs to have a proper technical evaluation of both the qualitative aspect of the state of his car and the quantitative aspect of the repair costs. That would suggest retention of an independent assessor to examine and report on the vehicle and the costs. The car might have to be seen in the garage by the assessor who can discuss repair costs as well.

OP may have to pay garage to get his vehicle back. If so, it might be worth paying by credit card -not a debit card. If defects are found requiring further rectification OP might be able to exercise the charge back option on a credit card on the basis that service paid for has not been provided.

And finally, I would not pay for repossession of my vehicle without making it patently clear that I was doing so conditionally upon examination by my assessor of the final repair and entirely without prejudice to my right to seek financial rectification if there are problems. The company of a witness would help there.

Paslew123

Thanks for the overview. I got the car back today and the condition is terrible. They painted over the old paint and it's already falling off as well as having damaged the seals. Will be going in to a solicitor on Monday on hopes there is something to be done as it will cost me thousands to fix the damaged panels, respray and replace seals.

Losty Dublin

How old is this car?