My car fell off the lift!!!

I brought my car to a local shop for a simple state inspection... I got a call from the owner telling me that the car fell off the lift... It pinned the mechanic and they had to lift the car to get him out from under... He's hurt but will be OK... He's in the hospital now... The car is banged up... Rear quarter panel, door, hood, and rear wheel assembly bent up, plus other stuff I think... The owner says he will fix everything for me at no charge (duh!!) and it will be easier without getting insurance involved... What do you guys think?? Advice???

That type of thing does happen every now and then. Just make sure they fix it right and afterwards find another shop.

We had a 1 ton nearly fall off the back of a 2 post lift. Thankfully my Waterloo toolbox (Made next door almost) caught the bumper and held it up!

Get insurance involved!!!
If he says "no reason for insurance", its because it will benefit him, NOT YOU!!!
Get the claim filed and go to another shop for the repair work...
BTW if his employee got hurt in this matter, isnt inurance already involved...?
Just a couple thoughts...But take them to heart...

I'm with stangbuster on this one, if he says it's best to not get insurance involved, he's looking out for HIS concerns and doesn't give a flying fuck about yours besides trying to make you happy enough to keep you away from his insurance company. I say this needs to be reported TONIGHT but since that isn't possible DO IT TOMORROW, BUT have his shop fix everything while you are reporting it to his insurance company, that way you win both ways. you get your car fixed for free, and you get an incompentant shop manager in a LOT of shit with his insurance company, even if they do nothing he'll have a stack of paperwork as tall as he is to fill out and you'll have a free fix for your car.

BY ALL MEANS F.U.B.A.R. HIS CAREER!!!!!

I guess I'm the odd one out here. But IMO, enough damage has been done already. He said he would fix the car for free. That means you dont lose anything. Besides, he has to fill out all the paperwork for the medical bills (assuming there are some that the mechanic's insurance doesnt cover) and trying to fix the shops reputation. Because there is no doubt this went unnoticed by the city. So he doesnt want to lose more money over this ACCIDENT which it was by getting insurance involved. Plus, how is this situation at all the owners fault? How does an accident that had absolutly nothing to do with him make him incompetent?

Filing a report with insurance is a waste of your time, and a waste of his to get it sorted out.

Don't make the situation more complicated than it already is. Your car will be fixed for free. The mechanic will be OK. The owner already has enough to deal with without you throwing "the book" at him. So why act like a jackass? 9/10 you will not profit from an insurance claim. Find another shop and put this all behind you.

I brought my car to a local shop for a simple state inspection... I got a call from the owner telling me that the car fell off the lift... It pinned the mechanic and they had to lift the car to get him out from under... He's hurt but will be OK... He's in the hospital now... The car is banged up... Rear quarter panel, door, hood, and rear wheel assembly bent up, plus other stuff I think... The owner says he will fix everything for me at no charge (duh!!) and it will be easier without getting insurance involved... What do you guys think?? Advice???
You don't take a car to the garage to have bodywork done, You take it to a bodyshop. I would have the insurance company to look at the car for your best interest. This guy might screw your car up worse performing the work himself. Some people are multitalented and can do bodywork & mechanic work,however if it was me? I would take the car to a bodyshop. Once you agree on letting the garage owner fix your car, your screwed if he didn't do a great job.

Hence the idea of a contract il agree with porsche guy the owner is not in direct responsibilty it was one of the employees most likely the mechanic in the hopsital. Accidents happpen no one is perfect and fucking with someones lively hood isnt the best way to benefit. What satisfaction you get out of that. The owner said he will fix everything this could be him fixing it himslef or sending it to a body shop, im pretty sure he doesnt want anymore bs to come out of this so hes going to do what he can to fix it. Since it sounds like a FWD car it sounds mostly cosmetic besides the wheel assembly which can be replaced.

Hence the idea of a contract il agree with porsche guy the owner is not in direct responsibilty it was one of the employees most likely the mechanic in the hopsital. Accidents happpen no one is perfect and fucking with someones lively hood isnt the best way to benefit. What satisfaction you get out of that. The owner said he will fix everything this could be him fixing it himslef or sending it to a body shop, im pretty sure he doesnt want anymore bs to come out of this so hes going to do what he can to fix it. Since it sounds like a FWD car it sounds mostly cosmetic besides the wheel assembly which can be replaced.
A legit shop would have insurance to cover the accident. I never said to make it harder on the shop owner, I just simply said take it to a bodyshop to have it fixed. I can't tell you how many times somebody said they "could fix it" and fucked it up even worse. If this guy chooses to have the shop owner to fix it..........He should get everything documented to cover his ass, incase the dude does make it look worse than it already is.

Hey guys, I think I made out OK it what has been a lose-lose deal for all involved... The shop owner absorbed all the costs for what the car was originally brought there for... Which was a NYS inspection, brake job all around, new tires and a few other things... That added up to about $650 that he ate... Plus he did the body work as best he could... It's not perfect but for an old car it looks OK... The car was also inspected by another body shop that I picked to make sure there was no frame damage from the fall... In addition the owner paid me with a personal check for the rental car I had for this entire week... That was another $200 out of his pocket... So I feel not so bad about this right now... The guy who made out the worst is the mechanic who got hurt... He's out of the hospital, home, but can't return to work for a few weeks... I have no idea what kind of medical insurance they have...

These kind of situations happen and nobody can really win from them. From what I see, you got the lesser of 3 evils (your car being damaged, your shop spending a boatload of money over an accident, or you being in the hospital). So I guess this is about the best you could have hoped for...

Good Call

Yeah... I had people telling me to sue the bastard, take him to small claims court, call the police, insurance companies, etc etc... But all that would have done was prolong the agony and probably with insurance involved get the car totaled... That would have left me with a small check, un-repaired car and everyone pissed off... The only thing I did to kinda cover myself was file a report with my auto insurance company... But they had no involvement since the car was under the shop owners "care, custody and control" at the time of the accident... Thank god this happened to my POS Mercury Tracer and not my nice Impala LS!!