Unreal. I thought you were kidding! They need to buy you a new car.. Unfortunately in my experience, cars just don't go back together the same after they were wrecked. I feel your pain. Good luck. I'd be curious to know though if the cop had any connection to this shop. (Friend, relative, etc)
-Stan
Ric, are you a professional victim? Dont' answer that please, I'm sorry for your bad luck. You do need to talk with an attorney, you will probably find out that you can sue for damages which may include your insurance deductible, the cost of a NICE rental car, and loss of "some value" of your Vette depending on how bad it is damaged.
Take pictures of your car right now, I mean right now, go buy a camera if you must. Do it tonight if you have to. Get the damages documented before it is moved, washed, glued, fiberglassed, or painted
- and get a shot of the odometer before it is reset. Don't fool around arguing with the mechanics or owner of the shop, document your damages FIRST, then let him know NOT to touch the car as you are meeting with your insurance company and your lawyer right away. GET the KEY and KEEP IT. DO NOT tell the guy who owns the shop that he is going to fix your car, don't waste your breath on him. You do not want him to do anything to your car. At least until you speak with your insurance company and your attorney.
The owner of the shop may just come right out and tell you to contact his insurance agent and he will pay for all repairs at the shop of your choice. There maybe no argument at all. Just a headache. I hope it works out OK.
Recall what I said above, it's all about damages, that's what you can sue for, damages, rental car, loss of use, loss of value, etc. You have to have damages or there is no good reason to sue.
Bones, Tallahassee '95 LT1 coupe '87 L98 coupe
Hopefully my insurance adjuster (USAA) will be by today to check out the car. I haven't heard anything from Robert Tau (that is a crummy move to me), so I'll probably have to take him to civil court for the deductible. I don't think USAA will go after him for the deductible. I think that's the way it works.... I've seen many Judge Judy and Marylin where people are suing for deductibles.
on 8/2/2005 1:40 PM RicSeyler said the following:
They won't be going after him for the deductible but if yours is like any of the insurance companies that I deal with, they damn sure will go after him for the amount it costs them to make your car right.
It's called subrogation rights. The carrier, by reimbursing you or paying for the damages to your insured property, assumes the same rights that you have to go after the person who caused them.
Hopefully, USAA will return your 'Vette to the condition it was in before Tau attempted to Tautal it and go after them for their money.
Ric, did you ever determine exactly what happened to your car after you dropped it off at Tau Automotive?
I just got a call from the owner, and at first he completely denied that the car was ever off the lot... (He was out of town the day I picked up the car) Then when I confronted him with the facts that the trip odometer had 2.7 miles on it and the radio was tuned to a station (after the battery was disconnected) without realizing what he was saying he immediately came back with "We test drive all cars"..............
I think he's just covering for the smartass mechanic... Plus I can see him not coming outright and admitting anything in a legal stance, but not a moral stance. So no I never got an explanation from him. But what happened while the boss was away the mechanic went joy riding, guess he couldn't resist trying the RipperShifter and seeing how the other parts on the engine and on the vehicle , ran. He ran the crap out of it and wrecked it. Maybe he spun out doing a burnout and hit something along the road.... arrrrgh..
Where it stands now, I am waiting for my adjuster then I will call him with what my adjuster says.... He offered to toss my paid bill of $305.00. My deductible is $250.00 but I said no, not at this point till I talk to my adjuster. I also told him I contacted my credit card company to dispute the charges. He said you don't want to pay us for the job? And I said I absolutely do not want to skip out on legit charges you worked for but I ain't paying for a $35.00 horn contact your mechanic broke...
(to me it's kinda bad Karma to try and not pay them for any of their work, even with the ridiculous crap of wrecking it and leaving grease and dirt and parts laying inside everywhere) Am I a sap? LOL
B> Ric, did you ever determine exactly what happened to your car after
It just flexed in the bumper cover and cracked the paint and the license plate delete insert will have to be replaced (cracked), along with all 3 sections of the spoiler. There is a chip in the hood and a chip in the windshield where apparently a rock skipped off the hood and hit the windshield.
Heck looking in the best light there were a few rock chips in the bumper cover from over the years so I guess that is something to look at, and the windshield had the 11 years of fine sandblasting from just being driven and a very faint wiper mark. I might have the body shop do the rear lower quarter panels while they have the car taped off and the gun out. There are a few chips on the lower quarters from over the years and faint staining from running 315's on the back.
But I'll tell ya living in Florida with the intense sun the white color was the way to go. If it would of been Red like I was looking for when purchased, it would be Pink right now, no matter how well it was kept waxed. :-) The white held up remarkably well.
Ric, Sounds like it might work out. Be cordial next time you speak to him. He might pick up your 250 deductible and tear up your bill AND apologize if you go away, that is, go away happy. Then you could just chaulk it up to a bad experience.
You know, you could get into a big deal where your lawyer can depose his mechanics and staff, depose him, find out who was driving or lying about who was driving, all of that testimony would just make a jury mad as hell. When I was working for a car dealer many years ago we were told from day one, never, ever, let a customer take us to court because there was NO WAY we could win. You could discuss this with an attorney for free. You should do that. Who knows, a sharp attorney may demand 2 or 3 grand in punitive damages for beach of duty or something or other. The Bone
Screw the deductible, this should not be on Ric's insurance at all. Ric should go in and ask for his insurance information and let them pay for it without any mark on his record. Then he should tell them to cancel all charges and fire the person responsible.
Agreed. It happened on THEIR watch, not yours. They are responsible for the car from the time they take it, regardless of the form and signature. It is a thing called negligence and that pretty well nulls out everything else. If they act responsible, and something happens (jet crashes on building, hurricane rips through) then it is your problem. If they leave it outside in the dark with the windows rolled down and someone steals it, that is negligence and they are responsible.
If you haven't talked to a lawyer yet, RUN to the phone at 9 am and start calling and talking to some.
Would you have bought this car if it had been wrecked? Probably not, and now it is. It will go to a repair shop, not a restoration shop, so it will be fixed, not restored, and that is a big difference. You'll probably sell within 6 months or gripe every other day for the next 5 years if you don't sell.
I have to disagree with your last statement. From what's been said, it seems that it's almost all cosmetic. The front spoiler get worn. ripped, etc... and replaced on Vette's all the time. The front nose will be fixed better than it was prior to the wreck, it already had nicks and dings.
There's also an actionable tort called "conversion," essentially unauthroized use of someone else's property short of theft. Sounds like the gentleman has a cause for action.
-- Vandervecken
I could be in the power seat for sure.... They never had me sign the Call For Estimate etc Check Box Section of the Repair Order, no sig from me at all, AND they didn't even have me sign the credit card slip either!!
I'm going to talk to my adjuster and let him see the car before deciding what way to go with it.
And yes it's all cosmetic. It w>Agreed. It happened on THEIR watch, not yours. They are responsible for
Got the estimate from USAA yesterday, $1500.00. Refinish the clamshell, refinish the bumper cover, replace the licenseplate insert panel, replace all three spoiler sections, replace the windshield.
I'm going to get the bodyshop I choose to do the rear lower quarters and the rocker panels also while everything is out and mixed.
why dont you take it to the dealer.......
But even with a terrible group of line mechanics at the moment it would of been better than where I went. :-)
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