Have you ever had a damage claim go to court?

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Have you ever had a damage claim go to court? If so, what did you have to do to defend it, and what was the outcome?

I give Sue a lot of trouble over this one. In my five years in law enforcement, I was never in court, but two years in a quick lube, and I’ve been in court twice.

The first case is the easiest to explain. We did an oil change, and six weeks later the girl calls to say her engine is blown. She lived locally but attended college two hours away. She said she drove to college, drove around while at school and then returned for the weekend, where the engine died on the return trip.

She advised us that she had the car towed the rest of the way to school because her boyfriend worked for a quick lube. She said the oil light came on twice, and both times the boyfriend told her to add oil and continue driving.

So, I obtained the sequence of events from her. She left home and the oil light came on less than 30 feet from the driveway, and then she drove another five miles before adding one quart of oil. Then, the oil light came back on 21 miles later, so she exited the highway, now 26 miles from home with another 83 miles to go, to add two quarts of oil. She then continued on the highway and the light came back on immediately; she applied the brakes and the car wouldn’t stop — the engine had locked up. So, she had the car towed 83 miles to school instead of the 26 miles home!

Her boyfriend got on the phone and told us he had inspected the vehicle and found the oil plug hanging on the last thread, with no tamper seal apparent and the entire front half of the engine coated in oil, including the brakes. He accused us of almost killing his girlfriend.

We ended up having the car taken to another shop for an unbiased opinion. The unbiased shop reported that the drain plug was on the last thread; the tamper seal was broken; the oil filter was on the last thread; there was oil blowback on the back half of engine; there was no oil on the brakes; and the dipstick was on the full line. Nothing else was inspected. One week later, we asked to view the car ourselves and learned it had been donated to Goodwill.

In preparation for the court case, I documented every conversation with the girl and her boyfriend. I drove to the girl’s residence the day of the complaint and took pictures of the driveway and street to the point where the oil light came on. I did not find any oil. I then drove her exact route, noting mileage of stops as well as how many automotive shops she passed with her oil light warning of a problem. I provided the judge with statements and photos, as well as the map of the route taken and the 54 automotive shops she passed. I explained that if the drain plug were, in fact, on the last thread, she would not have made the trip to school and back. I pointed out the inconsistencies between her boyfriend’s account of the vehicle’s condition and the automotive shop’s inspection, and how quickly the vehicle disappeared.

Of course, I pointed out that I did not want to insinuate fraud, but it looked that way to me. Then, I explained the driver’s negligence in the fact that within 30 feet of her driveway she had a problem but continued driving, and then passed 54 automotive shops that could have prevented the engine from seizing up. Could a loose drain plug lose enough oil to seize an engine? Sure! But could it go 982 miles, the mileage provided by the customer and independent shop, without a drop spilled and suddenly develop a problem? Could the entire situation have been avoided by having the vehicle looked at prior to the engine seizing? Or could someone have loosened the drain plug and oil filter in an attempt to do away with the car? And why would you tow a car 64 extra miles? Was this a fraudulent claim or just a negligent vehicle owner?

Apparently, the judge couldn’t find a satisfactory answer to any of those questions, and our insurance company thanked us for winning the claim.

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Have you ever had a damage claim go to court? If so, what did you have to do to defend it, and what was the outcome?

Unfortunately, we have had a couple of damage claims go to court. One involved a serpentine belt we installed on a car in which a used engine had recently been installed. The belt came off, but the customer ignored the battery charge indicator light and the engine-overheat light and continued to drive the vehicle until the engine finally overheated, blowing coolant everywhere. This resulted in the engine blowing a head gasket. The prosecution extended the case with a couple of hearings until we finally settled out of court. Our attorney fees were costing us more than the settlement.

The other case involved a lady who had not been back to our facility for over four months, and was run off the road by another driver. She bottomed out her car, knocking the oil filter off, but continued to run the engine with the oil light on until it locked up. The claim was that we had installed the wrong oil filter (the one on her car was longer than the dealer equivalent), and that if it had been shorter, no engine damage would have occurred. Our defense was that our records showed that the oil filter installed on her car was not ours. The judge ruled in our favor, stating that the owners manual and good common sense showed the car should not have been operated with the oil pressure light on.

Thank goodness all judges are not out to get the automotive aftermarket industry!

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Quote:
Apparently, the judge couldn’t find a satisfactory answer to any of those questions, and our insurance company thanked us for winning the claim.


Was this a small claims court.

I am no lawyer, but I thought the insurance companies were supposed to represent you in civil court.
 
My BOSCH mechanic had a customer who got "skunk" gas from a brand who had a known and publicized local problem, Mobil. The customer's fuel system was ruined from "gelling" and XOM would not pay. Well, my guy testified as an expert (at his normal $90/hr) and won! XOM paid.
 
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