Sue Body Shop - Bad Paint Job + more: Hi there, I had taken my car into a body shop to get it repainted. They told me 3 weeks and $3000. Fine. After 3 weeks I called. My car was not ready... I was told "next week". That went on for another 3 weeks or so. I finally got it back, and: 1) Overspray ALL over the front Radiator 2) Over Spray on my PASSENGER SEAT.. doesn't come off. 3) Paint job is horrible, the whole car is like an orange peel and there is HUGE drips in 5 places 4) over spray on my exhaust. It was stainless steal and is now sprayed black 5) were suppose to fix a rim for me, painted it wrong colour. its been 6 months now I have heard nothing, dont have my rim still (and no spare tire = illegal here) 5) some side marker lights on my rear bumper are not working anymore. I dont have a reciept for what was to be done
Ronald's answer: Not having a receipt only makes it tougher to prove what was supposed to be done. Your issue is not that. When you take a car to a repair shop for them to do any kind of work on your car, you have the right to expect the work will be done right. And unless they use special language to avoid giving you a warranty, in most states you automatically get a warranty that they are going to do the work in a "good workmanlike manner." That basically requires that they do the repair or service work right. If they don't, then you have a right to recover damages for what they do wrong or the damage they cause (or, if they don’t return the car at all, for the value of the car itself). But you have to be able to prove that the reason for your new problems is something that the repair shop did or did not do. In other words, you have to be able to show that it was fault of the repair shop. The first thing to do is ask the repair shop to fix it. If they won’t do it under their own warranty, then you have the right to get it fixed somewhere else and then hold the first repair shop liable for the repair cost. If the cost is less than a thousand dollars or so, you may be able to sue the shop in your local small claims court without needing a lawyer. Doing the repair work badly may also violate other consumer protection laws in your state. Because the law is different in each state you need to talk to a local Consumer Law attorney. Call your local attorney's Bar Association and ask for a referral to a Consumer Law attorney near you or you can go to this web site page for a Free Online 50 State National List of Consumer Law Lawyers (http://www.ohiolemonlaw.com/ocll-site/ocll-locate_local.shtml) and find one near you (lawyers don’t pay to get listed here and most of them are members of the only national association for Consumer Law lawyers, NACA.net). But act quickly because for every legal right you have, there is only a limited amount of time to actually file a lawsuit in court or your rights expire (it's called the statute of limitations), so don't waste your time getting to a Consumer Law attorney and finding out what your rights are. If this answer was helpful, please check the box below.
What chance do I have of winning a claim against a dealer for promoting and selling me a vehicle with a rebate: I purchased a vehicle with a rebate sold to me by a dealership in the form of a cash back rebate. To obtain the rebate/cash back voucher I was to wait a specified amount of time, send documents proving I purchased and paid for the vehicle. I lived up to my part however the company the dealership partnered up with closed doors and left no forwarding address. My contention is that the dealership partnered with and sold a program as a tool to entice customers to purchase vehicles, that both the dealership and their partner gained financially therefore I believe the dealership is liable for the promise made to me as a willing participant/partner in selling the rebate program
Ronald's answer: You might be right but you will have to prove it in court. If the amount is less than a thousand or so dollars then you can file a claim in your local small claims court and you would not need an attorney. Often, dealers keep rebates like this type smaller so that if they don't pay them, then people give up rather than pursue it, so the dealer can make more money off it by not paying a larger quantity of smaller claims and making enough profit off it (overall) to afford to pay off on those few who actually are stubborn and don't give up. Doing this can be a violation of most state Unfair & Deceptive Acts and Practices laws (these are called "Udap" laws by Consumer Law lawyers). Every state has a special "Udap" law that makes it illegal for a merchant (or car dealer) to do anything that is deceptive (some state laws also forbid any unfair acts too) to the consumer and that can give you even more legal rights. To find out for sure what your state laws say and what your rights are, you should talk to a Consumer Law attorney near you. You need to talk to a local Consumer Law attorney who deals with this kind of case (it's called "autofraud" or car sales fraud). Call your local attorney's Bar Association and ask for a referral to a Consumer Law attorney near you or you can go to this web site page for a Free Online 50 State National List of Consumer Law Lawyers (http://www.ohiolemonlaw.com/ocll-site/ocll-locate_local.shtml) and find one near you (lawyers don’t pay to get listed here and most of them are members of the only national association for Consumer Law lawyers, NACA.net). But act quickly because for every legal right you have, there is only a limited amount of time to actually file a lawsuit in court or your rights expire (it's called the statute of limitations), so don't waste your time getting to a Consumer Law attorney and finding out what your rights are. If this answer was helpful, please check the box below
Car dealership lied to bank and the loan is in limbo -how do I fix it?: I went to a car dealership as soon as I turned 18 . I traded in a 2002 maxima that I owed 12,000. The dealer told me he was going to pay off my trade. I know better now but, I did not realize at the time that it was going to be done by adding the money to the cost of the loan on the new car. I most likely signed something consenting to the amount of the loan. I the contacted the bank and they asked me some questions. It was then that I discovered that the sales guy lied to the bank, and that the bank would have never made the loan otherwise.. He told them I made twice as much, that I had been employed twice as long, and told them I was a veteran of the navy to get the Navy credit union to buy my loan. The bank told me to stop paying. 2 years no payment no repo. What do i do?
Ronald's answer: No payments being made, and no repo taking place. So far, you're pretty lucky. But that's probably because the bank knows it has a "bad deal" and a bad dealer on their hands. The danger is, of course, it won't last forever. You really do need to see a local Consumer Law attorney to find out what your rights are in your state because every state law is a little different. Car dealer ads that say they will pay off your trade, as you now know, usually only tell you half the truth. To generate extra money for the dealership, a dealer may tack on top of your regular loan amount a lot (or even all) of the loan payoff. In the car business, this is sometimes called "stealing the trade" and and modifying a credit app is sometimes called "penciling" it and in most states it's illegal (you can read more car dealer slang term definitions here: http://www.ohiolemonlaw.com/car-dealer-dictionary.html). You need to talk to a local Consumer Law attorney who deals with this kind of case (it's called "autofraud" or car sales fraud). Call your local attorney's Bar Association and ask for a referral to a Consumer Law attorney near you or you can go to this web site page for a Free Online 50 State National List of Consumer Law Lawyers (http://www.ohiolemonlaw.com/ocll-site/ocll-locate_local.shtml) and find one near you (lawyers don’t pay to get listed here and most of them are members of the only national association for Consumer Law lawyers, NACA.net). But act quickly because for every legal right you have, there is only a limited amount of time to actually file a lawsuit in court or your rights expire (it's called the statute of limitations), so don't waste your time getting to a Consumer Law attorney and finding out what your rights are. If this answer was helpful, please check the box below.