He said he had some health issues ****head. Maybe he just wanted to drive his damn car? OK I skipped over the last sentence... My bad..
Bad situation,best thing is as suggested go down get your car,settle with the shop and then decide further legal options. The shop you took the car to has already messed the car up enough. Red flag should have been when they told you they replaced the fuse box with fusible links. Shops like this feed on car owners not knowing any better . When all is said and done you are going to have more money in this car than its worth. Hopefully this shop owner is not here on the Hamb. Main thing is get the car in your posession . The one thing you failed to do on this whole car deal is explain what you hired this shop to do to the car in the 1st place . If you got a written estimate from them or just gave them full reign to do work to the car. Laws are there to protect the consumer but also to protect the business owner to.
DrJ at the beginning of the thread he said he became ill and could not work on the car, he never said that he CAN'T work on his car, he was just not able too do it at the time.
a couple of years back ,actually the last time i let anyone do anything other then align or paint my car i took a car i had to a guy who was written up in all the magazines and rec. by the manufacturer to install an accel dfi system in a car i had. well when he finally said the car was ready i go to pick it up and it was a mess. when i rev the car up and see flames shooting out the exhaust he says thats fine no problem . i realized right then i screwed up by letting this jerk touch my car. i estimated what the parts were that i could reuse and covered that in cash, put the other $1800 on a charge card and got my car out of the shop . when i hit home i meediately filed a compliant with my credit card company to stop payment . took me some time to write letters and stuff defending my position but eventually the cc company agreed with me
well got the car back and well already issues but not going back. Big one is that they welded the exhaust to the frame of the car. I asked why they did that as the engine does move from side to side (although minimally) when the excel is opened/closed. The owner stated "no, the rubber in the engine mounts absorb it all". What? He also stated it was done to prevent any exhaust rattles. He is right that the exhaust wont rattle....until the welds give. Electrical....still working things out like they did not ground the steering colum so the horn works without having to make a few changes. And them telling me that there must be a short in the dome lite since there seems to be a positive ground. They just would not listen to the fact that it was still wired as it left the factory and there were ways to convert it. I also find it strange that they push painless products but refuse to use things like fuse blocks.
It sounds like these guys are hacks. Like others have said, talk to a lawyer (civil) and your DMV or whichever State agency regulates repair facilities in your state (VA). This crew may not even be licensed or registered to work on motor vehicles. I don't recall what type of car you had them attack, but I hope that they didn't screw it up too bad on you. Recheck the electrical stuff soon, shorts can lead to fires quickly.
First,removing your fusebox just idiots . Second welding your exhaust to the frame ,just plain dumb*** idiots. Is this an actual business open to the public or a barn in the back of a s****yard ?
kngfisher Your rights are 1) go get your car during regular shop hours. 2) do some research on the net or with friends ,and take the car to a shop that cares,tell them the problems ,and let them write down all that they fix or find wrong. 3) don't bad mouth the first shop ,it won't help you at this time ... 4)after the second shop fixes your car you can cross reference the two shops invoices for over charge from the first shops work and then take the first shop to court for your loss... This is what I believe would be a good avenue to take. I wish I could help more ,let me know if I can . Good Luck .. Keep us posted and I hope you feel better...
Grandpa Munster would know waaay better than to weld an exhaust pipe to the frame. After all,he did build the Dragula in the ba*****t. Herman Munster on the other hand...
I'm with Vintage48; save some others in VA from some grief. I don't think it's illegal or unethical to name the shop; 'word of mouth' works both ways for a business.
Glad to read all the way through this and hear you finally got your car back. Where abouts in Virginia are you?
On naming the shop, you do have to worry about a defamation lawsuit, especially if you sue them. The good news is that defamation is notoriously difficult to prove in American courts. Bad news is that it is still very expensive to defend against, often it is cheaper to settle out of court. If you chose to sue, you will need to do***ent everything they did. Every part removed, and the approximate value of said part. Every part added, the value of said part and how much they charged for it. How much they charged for labor. An estimate for how much it would cost to restore your car to its previous condition. Finally you need to get a good estimate of how much value your car has lost. As said above, you will need a civil lawyer. Note that a lawsuit may or may not be more trouble than it is worth. Quick disclaimer, I am not a lawyer, attorney, legal professional of any sort, or qualified to give legal advice. Thus I really should have kept my mouth shut.
not going to name any names here but via a few sites around the internet that I was able to find they have lots of bad press already. Another work looks good from afar however under closer inspection it's more like....are you kidding me?
Thier pinstriper must be MAGIC, she's puling a brush with no line, and a line beside it, and not even looking at the job. I've gotta be watching what I'm doing!
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