Wednesday, November 2, 2005, I dropped my car off at a local transmission shop to have a mechanic determine why I was once again having problems with the transmission, that had been in their shop twice since March, 2005.

My specific instructions to the owner at 8:59 am on Wednesday was to "look at the car, determine what the problem is, call me back with the analysis and how much it will cost, if anything, to repair, and depending on the cost, I will determine at that time if I can repair the car or if it will have to wait until I have the funds.


I did not hear anything back from him on Wednesday. I called him Thursday to get an update. During the first call, he told me that he was waiting for the dealership to call him back with the cost of the parts. He put me on hold twice thinking that the call coming in was from the dealership. I told him that when he gets his information, to call me back with the repair estimate. He said ok.


I called him back at 1:23 pm for an update. At this time he informs me that the car is ready to be picked up. Total cost is $1700.00. I was stunned because this was not the news I was expecting to hear. I was expecting to get the "estimate only".


I told him that I did not authorize him to do the work and that he will immediately need to remove the parts that he put on because I am not prepared to spend that type of money and because he did not show me consideration by doing what I had asked him to do in the first place. He told me that he would not/could not remove the parts.

I asked him why did he do the repair without my authorization. He responded with "I told you whatever the cost was, I would work with you". That statement does not constitute an authorization or an agreement. It is just him letting me know that he was not going to charge me another 3,000.00 again.

I never verbally agreed to the work and I definitely did not sign anything. What course of action should I take against him? I want my car back with or without the parts and I'm not going to pay him a dime.

 

What type of car? I hope you're not having 2nd gen CL tranny work done at outside the dealer if you're under 100k miles!

Depending on where you are, the laws may be on your side. For instance, they may be required to give you a written estimate before doing any work. In many places, if you agree over phone they're required to make a note in the SOW who they talked to, at what time, etc.

I would continue to refuse to pay, and if they press the issue let them know to expect a call from your lawyer.

 

I thought every mechanic was FIRST supposed to call and tell you what the problem was and then get authorization to fix it.

I dont know how much it would cost in lawyer fees and everything to take him to court. Maybe you could just take his analysis of the problem and call other local mechanics and tell them and see if they could give you an estimate. And then bring him their estimates and if they are around the same price pay it or do half or something.

You were going to have to get it fixed anyway right? Try to see if you can get him to take off some labor price. Thats shitty that he is the owner and did that because you cant even ask to speak to someone higher.

Or since you already had it their twice, tell him that youre not paying for it cuz you never authorized work and this is a recurring problem you have already spent money on

Good luck

 

If you own a 2nd generation TL (99-03) your TL's transmission is under extended warranty for 100,000 miles which means you shouldn't have to pay a DIME.

 

Lawyer

 

Tell him you'll be picking the car tomorrow without the unauthorized parts.

 

small claims court to avoid the atty fees...also write in that loser pays all filing fees (usually 50 bucks).

 

If you live in California, its is a free repair.

 

I would recommend calling a lawyer, or your State Attorney General's office. This is a touchy situation, since the work has already been done and they have your car.

Whatever you want to do, make sure that you'll be legally clear of it. If you had to get the work done one way or another, then I would recommend trying to get some sort of a discount for the screw-up on their part, and/or setting up a payment plan if you can't fork over the money all at once.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

What did you sign when you dropped off the car?

 

I recall a similar story with one of those mechanic weekly letter readings in my newspaper. www.cars.com has 2 brothers that are mechanics that had a letter with something similar. You might be able to find that on that site.