My day in court

[mdrush]

For those of you who remember I was the one who took his blazer to a "quick lube" change and ended up having it towed out. A reman engine later and tons of headaches my small claims case is finally being heard tommorrow morning.

The guy who replaced the engine will testify that all mains were spun and the truck was registering 10 PSI of oil pressure when he pulled the old engine. We've also got evidence that shows the oil cooler was full of shavings.

They will counter that this was a pre-exisitng condition that just happened to surface during the oil change and fuel system cleaning.

I will argue they forgot to put oil back in the truck and sat it running for 10 minutes while they put the fuel system cleaner through the vacuum line.

needless to say the truck died and after an hour of trying it finally turned over and ran with 10 PSI of pressure and a loud low pitched knock. I had it towed to a garage.

Wish me luck...anyone with last minute advice ?

[BlazerLT]

Keep us posted, they are screwed, that can't argue against a mechanic.

[ZL1power69]

this happened at jeffy lube right? when you go tomorrow, just go in with a calm, respectful attitude and the judge will treat you the same way. with the mechanic as a witness you should have a good chance of winning. pictures of the damage would help too or if you have the actual damaged parts like a bearing or somethin like that to take with u

[twistedtech]

As a tech of 23 years and had my azz in court once in that time I learned ! VERY important thing.The dude in the big chair is a judge,not a tech.He has no clue of anything you or the other is going to say.He will ONLY take what is written as proof of what is being spoke and will only take pro advisement.I was surprised when it all went down.He seemed to be listening but after I realized he didn't understand,he just took what he was told and read and judged from there.If it was me,I would have a few lic tech's along side that can prove the diff between a long drawn out engine death or a sudden lack of oil death.I'm tellin ya dude, pull out all the stops here.When I went, I hammered the judge so hard with proof that he stopped the case have way through and went off the record to talk to the kid about who was really puttin to him and he hinted to the kid that it was not me.He then through the case out.Don't go to court with 1 tech, go with like 2 or 3,pic's,articles and whatever you can think of.But hey,it's your case.

[BlazerBoyLT98]

Any update on this?

[JoulesWinfield]

Originally Posted by BlazerBoyLT98

Any update on this?

Yea...WTF? Did mdrush get hauled off for contempt or sumpthin?

[mdrush]

Sorry for the delay everyone !

We presented our case and it went well however only the lawyer showed up for the defense...they had Subpoena'd the former "Speed lube" manager as a witness...she didn't show.

Since they had "proof of service"...the judge decided that he would issue a written ruling after he had researched precendence in cases where a witness under Subpoena fails to appear. The defense asserted that though no fault of their own the witness should be arrested and the trial continued. Needless to say I was dissapointed as i had expected a verdict that morning

After 3 weeks the judge ruled last friday that the motion for continuance was denied based on a higher court decision and ordered for a judgement against the defendent for the full amount. My lawyer called this morning and I have a check. After 11 months this thing is finally over.

The defense attorney really grilled the mechanic....they asserted it was a coincidental oil pump failure that caused the damage. We had written testimony from GM that stated based on the condition of the "cam gear/distributor", the fact that the oil pump shaft was not damaged and the correct orientation of the oil pickup tube that the facts were inconsistent with the likelyhood an oil pump failure.

The other thing they went after was the age of the vehicle...they testified that a remanufactured GM engine was unresonable due to the age of the vehicle.....luckily we had valuations from NADA and KBB that showed the retail value of the truck prior to the "oil change" and testimony from a dealer stating the vehicles value was reduced to $ 200-500 based on the engine damage.

I will tell you though that contrary to popular belief this would have been difficult to pursue without a lawyer. They made a total of 4 motions prior to trial and 2 during the trial....as someone on this forum once said...."justice costs"...in my case a total of 800.00 in lawyer fees....but at the very least I got a new engine out of it.


Mike

[JoulesWinfield]

Well congratulations!!!


Im very glad to hear that they at least had to buy a new engine for their ineptitude.
I have heard more than one story similar to this one where a $15 dollar oil change cost $4000 or more.

On a side note, Im surprised that the judge wasnt sure what to do about a Subpoena'd witness not appearing. Its called "Failure to Appear" based upon a court order. I think this is a misdomeanor in most courts.

Chaulk one up for the little guy.

[BlazerBoyLT98]

Yes congrats