It seems like the only other alternative would have been that the shop determined the car wasn’t fixable, and then you’d have to have the car towed to your home. So the damages to you for their “mistake” are the 700 dollars paid less what it would have cost to tow the car home in the first place, which I think would have been 300-400 dollars. This leaves maybe $350 in potential damages to you. And you’d have to prove they in fact made a “mistake”. They’ll say to the judge they can’t see inside the engine, and based upon what they could tell by looking and listening, they were just doing what they thought based on their experience would be the most likely action to get you back on the road.
This doesn’t look like a winning small claims case to me. I’d spend the time and money you’d spend on this case to instead get your car fixed or the engine replaced.
@TC910 I agree with the others, $700 while it sucks is not worth the hassle of driving 20 hrs to fight it… My only addition would be did you pay by credit card?? If so you maybe able to fight the charge thrugh the credit card company… However with that said the mechanic did the job he said he would do, you got the car home. Everyone is safe… I really dont see any Malintent from your story…
Dont forget that It is COMPLEATLY possible the drive home made the issue worse, to the point where now it was obvious to the other mechanics.
It seems to me that the shop that replaced the defective seal went to work on the car immediately to help someone that was stranded 10 hours from home. The shop may have postponed other jobs for other customers to make the repair. The shop had to redo the job, presumably at its own expense. I, personally, would be grateful for the shop making a repair that got me back home. While $700 seems like a lot, I had two vehicles that hit a major service point at the same time. By the time the fluids were all changed, front brake pads installed and I don’t remember what else, I was close to the $700 point at my independent shop.
As Lt. Columbo would say–“Just one more thing”. It is very easy for even the best of mechanics to misdiagnose or not completely get to the root of a problem. I was 40 miles from home in my Ford Maverick when the high temperature warning light came home. Ironically, I was a block from the dealer that sold me the car five years earlier. The dealer’s mechanic diagnosed the problem as a leaking freeze plug that was behind the transmission. In order to replace the freeze plug, the transmission would have to come out. The service department told me that they thought I would make it home–they filled the radiator and I wasn’t charged anything. Well, I did make it home and took the Maverick to my trusted mechanic. He made the same diagnosis and removed the transmission. Howeer, the problem wasn’t the freeze plug, but a leaking heater core. Apparently, on these old Mavericks with air conditioning, the location of the heater core made a leak appear as though it was the rear freeze plug. The mechanic did not charge for the labor for removing and replacing the transmission, even though another shop had also misdiagnosed the problem. I wanted to partially reimburse him for his labor for removing and replacing the transmission, particularly since he had always been good to me, but he wouldn’t hear of it.
What’s wrong with fleet cars? I don’t think the OP can blame former fleet use on this issue. I’ve bought, owned, sold, and even professionally driven lots of fleet cars. One statewide delivery company that I have done business with has four '06 and '07 PT cruisers, among 40 others. All of the PTs have over 160K miles, and one has well over 200K. ALL have their original engines with only standard maintenance. Most “fleets” get very regular maintenance, probably more regular than a lot of privately owned vehicles. After all, fleet cars are out there making money for their owners. If they break down, they don’t make money.
If you want some idea of how your case will go, go back to your two local mechanics, tell them you are going to sue and ask them if they can say with absolute certainty the crankshaft bearing was broken two weeks prior when the first mechanic looked at it. They will say no. You can not prove and have no real evidence the bearing was broken when the first mechanic looked at it. Your argument hangs on what you believe the first mechanic should have deduced from the seal problem and maybe finding some kind of contaminant in the oil. He may be able to give a reasonable explanation for the technician’s comment about the shavings. Otherwise he will correctly state that contamination in the oil could have meant a lot of things only one of which was a symptom of a bearing problem. He can also state there is no reasonable way to know if or when the bearing would fail based on the seal failure. Your husband’s knowledge will work against you. He could have questioned the technician about the presence of metal shavings. He made an informed decision no to. Perhaps he was in a hurry to get home. Your ability to get home at minimal cost will also work against you since you had the ability to play it safe and leave the car for further diagnosis if you had asked for it. The first mechanic did not rip you off. You received something of value for the $700. Two weeks later when you called to report the leak returned, his suggestion you take to car to a local mechanic indicates his willingness to warrant his work against defects in his materials and his workmanship. Since the new seal likely failed due to the bearing that broke sometime after you left the shop he has no obligation to refund your money. Let me pose a question. What would your stance be if the mechanic charged you $1500 to disassemble the engine just to be sure and found nothing? Would you want to sue him for not knowing the bearing was OK? You are the victim only of unfortunate circumstance.