Taking Mechanic to Court
- Thread starter Chomp
- Start date
Its called a minor case claim in WA, and costs around $90 to lodge, plus service costs. You probably fall under the consumer/trader jurisdiction too.
You might have some issues proving the work was faulty unless your mechanic is willing to rock up and give evidence at a hearing though.
What else did you want to know?
You might have some issues proving the work was faulty unless your mechanic is willing to rock up and give evidence at a hearing though.
What else did you want to know?
It may be all 100% accurate, but you will need to be 100% sure about what was discussed, what was promised, what was done and what was quoted.
How did he overcharge you?
We never quote on jobs - we only ever give ballpark estimates. Why? Because the very nature of working on a mechanical device is full of unknowns - bolts break, bolts are rusted in, other faults which complicate the work due to owner's lack of maintenance (extremely common) - the list is of possible things that can go wrong is endless.
From my experience in this industry; there will be way more to this story than you have described.
Mechanics are not in the business of overcharging someone in jobs with ballpark figures like yours, and then not fix it.
Many times a mechanical issue is difficult to diagnose due to where it might be - a broken crankshaft for example. You can't see it, and the car may still run even with it broken.
But to diagnose it is next to impossible other than a few symptoms which are mostly inconclusive. To find out for certain is extremely expensive (engine apart) and the thing is still not fixed yet.
And; people don't listen very well - they only hear what they want to hear as customers.
I'm not saying this as a mechanic workshop owner either - I have been in various forms of retail and customer service for over 30 years.
You say to someone their repair job will be "between $700 and $800 approximately" and guess what they hear?
$700.
So, the bill might be $820 because extra time was needed to remove 5 rusted in bolts or a broken bracket, or manufacture a part that can't be replaced due the age of the car or whatever, or it turns out the thermostat was buggered as well and had to be replaced, etc.
All the customer thinks of is; "they said it would be $700 and they charged me $820! I've been ripped!"
Last edited:
It'd be a very shiddy rebuild for that dough.
Even yer basic cylinder head gasket repair/replacement is always more than that - head testing, often the radiator is shagged,
and so on.
I don't even start with cyl head estimates below $2.5k these days.
Every time you do; say; a $2k max estimate - you get your @rse bitten.
What if you lose?
It's a long story, but i took the car back to him when it started displaying the same problems that he said he had fixed.
He had a two minute look and said it was a cracked valve cover (he replaced the gasket previously) and he would only fix it if coughed up another $1900 bucks and get a list of other stuff done.
I told him to FO so $700 later at another mechanics the problem is fixed hey presto, the bloke is a crook if you ask me.
I dont care if I lose in court, its only small claims, so no lawyers.
If he tells the truth he will lose in court, if he lies then I win on moral grounds, its not all about the money to be honest.
He had a two minute look and said it was a cracked valve cover (he replaced the gasket previously) and he would only fix it if coughed up another $1900 bucks and get a list of other stuff done.
I told him to FO so $700 later at another mechanics the problem is fixed hey presto, the bloke is a crook if you ask me.
I dont care if I lose in court, its only small claims, so no lawyers.
If he tells the truth he will lose in court, if he lies then I win on moral grounds, its not all about the money to be honest.
I must admit; that does seem a bit odd that the cover was cracked, and it went unnoticed when the gasket was replaced.
It's a big difference between !900 and $700 for the same repair, too.
But; these things can be missed. Car parts can be covered in all sorts of cr@p, and if it was hairline it might not have been seen..
You don't expect valve covers to be cracked, to be honest - very rare; so a close-up inspection of the cover itself is usually not going to be needed.
I guess what could have been suggested by him was to replace the cover for you, and not charge for the gasket a second time (assuming it couldn't be re-used after the cover was replaced). The labour would have to be charged though.
Valve gaskets are not usually that expensive, but depends enormously on what the car is. Anything European and a bit exotic - prepare to bend over a bit, compared to yer Confalcodore or Camry, etc.
How much was the gasket cover going to cost on it's own?
You would probably get a court judgment listed on your credit report. This could effect you for the next 5 years.
It will go to mediation first I think ? If I have a letter from my mechanic stating what the problem was would this be enough ?
No its not enough. You can't cross examine a letter. Look up the rule against hearsay.
And Terry has some valid concerns - litigation isn't something you just jump into on a whim or to win an emotional point. There can be serious costs and consequences, even at minor case claim level.
I had a similar but very clear cut case of work not done period
new clutch on a patrol with parts supplied. Existing clutch not faulty, just tired and preventative maintenance.
got car back, and not a single bolt had been touched on the bell housing........... grease and all.
I often do my own work, even to that sort of grunt level so knew it hadnt been touched,so took car to RACQ for "specialist report"
On chasing letter of demand and getting docs ready for Qcat, found out that said mechanic was evicted from his rental and had been doing similar dodgies with others.
Long story short,took some advice from a legal mentor and she suggested the price of "being right" was probably not worth it.
I just hope he got at least a weeks rent for my clutch kit on ebay
ta
rolf
new clutch on a patrol with parts supplied. Existing clutch not faulty, just tired and preventative maintenance.
got car back, and not a single bolt had been touched on the bell housing........... grease and all.
I often do my own work, even to that sort of grunt level so knew it hadnt been touched,so took car to RACQ for "specialist report"
On chasing letter of demand and getting docs ready for Qcat, found out that said mechanic was evicted from his rental and had been doing similar dodgies with others.
Long story short,took some advice from a legal mentor and she suggested the price of "being right" was probably not worth it.
I just hope he got at least a weeks rent for my clutch kit on ebay
ta
rolf
No probably not, but you could waste a lot of time and money pursuing something that doesn't have a lot of merit.
Why don't you get some legal advice on it at least? There are a few cost efficient short advice services around.
Did the bmw say the other mechanic's work was faulty because he failed to see the crack in the valve cover, or because his gasket replacement work was faulty?
So, was he saying the valve cover was cracked, when in fact the r/c gasket had leaked?
Just so you know; using a non-genuine part is virtually par for the course - unless it is the dealership for the brand of car you own.
The non-genuine parts are usually pretty good; but with anything in life; there is always the odd one that might fail.
We use mostly non-genuine parts for a few reasons;
1. Usually cheaper to the customer - they always want to spend less than more.
2. Genuine parts are next to no profit margin to us if we quote normal retail (the dealers make all the money on genuine parts).
3. Delivery times for non-genuine are often much quicker - customers want their car back yesterday).
4. 99% of the time the non-genuine performs as good as the genuine.
Sometimes you have to go genuine. Depends very much on the postcode and demographic of the car owner/s what they see as a fair price for work on cars.
I don't know your circumstances, but if you are a higher income earner, driving a Beemer, you probably don't care too much about the cost of the non-genuine versus genuine part.
It has an enormous bearing on which path we take for a repair on a car.
For eg; I have folks coming from places like South Yarra, etc for tyres (colleagues of my wife - doctors/surgeons). They don't even ask the price for the tyres on their X5, or Q7, etc - they just say: "Get me some".
Then you have the a-typical Dromana demographic who only ever want the cheapest everything.
They want a price on tyres, so I start at the top end, then work down to the....bottom end....and they still cringe.
Back to your boy; it would seem as though he didn't want to wear the cost of replacing the dodgy gasket.
