I believe a shop may have broken my car when they were fixing a totally non related issue,I left the car there for over a weeks time and picked it up with the coolant buzzer and warming light on
They are denying that their guys took it out and messed with it.

I would be interested in folks who have had to handle a situation like this on either side as I have attempted to reach resolution without going legal.I plan on a independent. Inspection to see what's up.

My feeling is of now is to do small claims as it will be less,than 5k.and will limit my exposure.
I'm goiing to be classy and not name names suffice to say not a rotary shop,if I get the judgment then I will be,ok to do it then.

Thanks.

 

What was the car in the shop for? Are you low on coolant? Coolant buzzer and warning light can be on for electrical reason.

 

When they wrote you up, didnt they write down the milage?

 

What exactly was the problem that you brought it in for and what is the new problem that has popped up?

Big thing will be linking what the shop did to the new problem. We would need to know what the problems are to tell if there's a relationship or if the problem happened just coincidentally.

Dale

 

What was your car there for originally?
If you were getting a rear toe link replaced and now coolant buzzer goes off that's strange, but if they were doing a fuel injector replacement then it's completely possible something was bumped and age caught up with the brittle wiring harness.

At any rate, it's going to be tough to prove that your coolant buzzer was not going off before you brought the car in to the shop. It's your word against the shop.

 

They were doing something not mechanical, not under the hood,more interior.

After I picked it up I now have the problem of consuming coolant and having no pressure when removing the pressure cap, more than a electrical issue,it could be electrical but unlikely

 

Unfortunately there was not mileage..I asked "we usually do but not on this occasion"

 

They were asked to fix radio ground loop/hum,thats it.That was the only problem they were to fix the ground loop.The car was solid temps solid and good motor,

I picked the car up with the buzzer/light on about a week later only to find out of the issue when I'm driving away.

 

Yes this is the only reason I came here to post,to see what my chances are in small claims.

So will having a rotary shop break the motor open and report back help?

 

I would say you have zero chance without documentation of mileage. A 5 minute google search shows coolant seal failure and coolant loss in general as a common issue on these cars. I wish the best as it sounds like it was likely over heated and you lost a coolant seal.

 

Yes unfortunately.

We know there was some event while in their hands to actually prove it is another thing.

 

That sucks, do you see any other evidence of a joy ride? Maybe call and request a private meeting with the owner and ask him/her to really press their techs.

 

Any business near by that may have video footage of the entrance/exit to the shop? Monetary incentive may motivate someone to look through the footage.

 

Or a coolant seal land let go due to corrosion, in my case, it happened overnight (on a DD FC)

 

Its possible of course and probably the reason I have kept civil.

 

I would check this out.

I feel your pain. I am in a situation as bad or worse with an individual. I get coil overs put on then have an abs sensor go bad. (Later when I replace the rotors I see a fresh hammer mark on the sensor). Brand new wheels scratched and dented. Oil coolers blowing then a blown apex seal. I feel your pain and it can be a real big pain. I could go on. The point is you need to choose your battle. If you can do some investigation and see some other shops cameras or even witnesses that would be awesome. By all means if you see the car leaving the shop I would hammer them like they have never been hammered before. I for one and pretty sick of the BS. Good luck man.

 

Devil's advocate - if a car can't survive a test drive without blowing a coolant seal... is it really the shop's fault? And they will say they were test driving to confirm the repair if caught on camera or whatever. Pretty standard.

These are older high performance cars. Unless you have maintained the car obsessively the chance of a failure coinciding with another repair is probably higher than you think.

 

Test drive for radio work? Move the car around the shop maybe, but there's no need for test drive.

 

Yeah, well, you know, that's just like your opinion, man. The shop could have been thinking differently. It's 100% subjective is my point. Subjective doesn't fly in small claims court. Been there and seen it.

He really needs an ironclad case for it to be worth going after these guys and it just isn't there. It'd be a different story if he had them on video doing burnouts out back, but a road test to confirm the noise is gone while the car is being driven isn't an unreasonable claim unless they agreed to not drive the car beforehand.

That's all beside the point because there is no proof of normal driving let alone abuse of the vehicle and the work they did can't be linked to coolant seal failure.

This situation sucks and is shitty luck. I'm just playing devil's advocate because I think OP should just move on with his life and get a rebuild if there isn't a smoking gun in the shop's hand.

 

Most radio "humming" or interference changes with rpm/drive speed so that would give them the out for driving.

 

Yeah.... sit in neutral and rev the motor. No need for a test drive.
I do think they could get away with a test drive unless there was video of them doing donuts or something that showed obvious abuse. It does suck and could just poor luck.
I would not accept that "the car is old" and it just happens mentality though.

 

Sorry about the bad luck. I had a customer years back that was new to his fd and brought it to a quick oil change place thinking he was doing the right thing and getting all the fluids changed. Turns out they didn't correctly burp the coolant system and the motor overheated. Shortly after a coolant seal let go. He brought it to me to confirm the coolant seal failure and I rebuilt the motor, documenting the entire process. I don't believe he was ever able to get any compensation from them unfortunately. These companies usually have powerful disclaimers protecting them and to me going to court over a few thousands of dollars usually isn't worth the time. I know its your money and the situation sucks but unless you can prove that the issue was a direct result of their actions or negligence, it isn't going to be easy to get compensation. If you wish to pursue it I would find an attorney in your area who deals with these types of matters for consultation and get their opinion..

As for road testing the vehicle, I agree that it may have been warranted to vary the rpms and load if you were trying to have a radio noise issue resolved. However at my shop I road test vehicles as little as possible and always inform the customer. I also have a 2 million dollar policy should anything happen.

My advice would be to poke into it a little further and verify that it is indeed a coolant seal. Could be something as silly as a pinhole leak not allowing the system to recover coolant from the overflow. If you need help feel free to contact me.

 

I'm trying to negotiate with the shop owner and was on the phone with for about 30 minutes,I have asked for him to find the miles in/out as it would at least rule out hooning by one of their guys,its been 5 days and have not received anything....yet.

I appreciate all the advice but I have a shop pulling the motor this week and If all is well we will rebuild with new seals.
It may or may not give us any real clue to what occured,we will see.