QUESTION
Is a costly bad advice regarding a car purchase grounds for small claims court?
Asked on Nov 17th, 2016 on Personal Injury - California
More details to this question:
I have the same car mechanic for 3 1/2 years for my Volvo. I decided to purchase a new used car from the used car lot. I called my mechanic and asked him to look at the car I was considering to purchase. He drove it around, checked around the tires, asked a neighboring mechanic who worked on this model, since it wasn't a Volvo, and told me it was a good car. I purchased it and a week later, I went to new mechanic that worked on that model and had to have $3,000 worth of repairs. He put it up on rack and showed me underneath why. I could clearly see. Now I want to sell my Volvo but it broke and my old mechanic said it needed $450 worth of work. I feel he should do the work for free and he accepted no responsibility and lied about everything that transpired. Now what do I do?
1 ANSWER
You probably have no case. You do not say you asked him to put it on an elevated rack to change the underside, nor is it clear that he would have spotted the problems [that you could see what the knowledgeable mechanic pointed out does not tell us that the first one would have known he was looking at a defect]. Did you pay him anything; if not, you often get what you pay for. If he is not the owner of the shop, your refusing to pay the $450 hurts the owner but not a mechanic who is paid by the hour for his work. If you go there with the intent not to pay, you can be sued. What type of warranty did the used car lot where you bought the car give you? You might be entitled to a refund from them for any defects they knew of but did not tell you about.
Answered on Dec 23rd, 2016 at 6:56 AM