porschefig

OT: SUVs
SUVs (argh!!!) are you ever sitting in traffic and realize that if you hit one the bumper would hit midway on your hood and then prolly hit you next
and THEN there's thes ones that are lifted that would just hit you
i dont understand bumper regulations

On Topic: sorry i work in lawyers offices but i know nothing

Flight_951

Imagine if someone tripped over that cap and broke an arm or worse. Then they'd really have a lawsuit on their hands. It doesn't matter if the cap is upside down or not, it's a hazard, which has now been proven with the damage to your car.

I thought your letter was written well enough. I'd also consider mentioning in your new letter to Exxon that when you contacted the food place about this issue first, their response was hostile and inaccurate. Exxon may be interested to keep tabs on how their business partners treat customers.

Contact the supplier that delivers the fuel to that station for their response as to how the cap should be installed.

Lastly, I thought a countersuit needs to be filed within a certain timeframe of being sued, not after a verdict already has been rendered. Maybe someone can shed some light on that.

Would this case still fall within the $ value of a small claims court case? Either way, a corporation is required to have an attorney present for the case, but you as an individual are not. This situation is a huge hassle for everyone involved, but it's a cost of doing business for Exxon and that food mart.

SidViscous

If anything it shows why SUV's are preferable over regular type cars for everyday driving.

They are less likely to bottom out on an upside down manhole cover placed by some Assclown gas station attendant.

Luis de Prat

OK Sid you're right, I'm wrong. Maybe we should all drive SUVs instead of a 944.

SidViscous

Actually my only point was that your SUV reference was completely irrelevant, and to blame the SUV is mind boggling.

I stubbed my toe, damn SUV's

Luis de Prat

Please forgive me!

Lead Foot 944

WTF.....I can't believe that the gas station would have such a cover in the way of traffic....I bet your not the first person to hit that thing......


Damian

Zero10

From the looks of it in the pictures, it has been hit before.
Damn SUV's.
It should be illegal to drive a suv with blacked out windows.
I almost drove under one last night, guy rode the brakes the whole way down a hill, then out of the blue just stood on them and skidded to a stop. Except he had all-seasons and ABS, and I have winter tires and no ABS. That was a mighty close call.

Sorry, had to throw that in there since the SUV bashing started!

Scootin159

While I can sympathise with your anger.....sounds to me like you were tailgating.

K27

Wow, sorry to see the damage to your car, looks to me like that thing is a safety hazzard in the first degree.
What if it got whacked and the sparks exploded the place??
Oh by the way I have a pan if you need it for a reasonable price.

cheers
Lance

roco16

Ok guys, here's the update on my plight of the busted pan:

I decided to give the company one more chance at taking care of this problem, and good things are happening. I carefully wrote the following letter to the corporate president, not just the regional manager:
********************************

March 2, 2004

Mr. Jimmy Jones
C.E.O. The Jones Company / Flash Foods
102 Lee Avenue
Waycross, GA 31501

RE: Damaged Vehicle



Dear Sir:

I am writing this letter to inform you of my dissatisfaction regarding a recent claim I made to a Flash Foods representative. Enclosed is a copy of the letter and corresponding photos that were sent to the Regional Manager of Flash Foods, describing an incident that occurred at one of your places of business.

Shortly thereafter I received a telephone call from Sherry at Selective Insurance. I was informed Flash Foods has no liability for the damages incurred to my vehicle. She explained to me that the gasoline cover is considered a road hazard and should be taken up with my car insurance. She then told me they would counter-sue me for attorney expenses in the event this matter is taken to court. I feel this is a standard response and it deserves reconsideration. The filler cap is an item at gas stations that people routinely drive over. Road hazards are items out of the ordinary that people are expected to drive around: such as potholes, cinderblocks, mattresses, or as Sherry put it, like a baby in a box in the middle of the road.

Consider the danger posed by a seemingly low cover for a flammable substance. From the photos it is obvious other cars have hit the same object. How many more cars will nick this cover before one sparks and causes a fire?

I am certain that as CEO of a reputable, award-winning company, you care about the satisfaction and safety of your customers. It is for this reason I inform you of the danger posed by the filler cap. I find the response by Flash Foods and Selective Insurance unacceptable. Please understand that as a responsible driver I am aware of road hazards, and if I did not feel 100% justified in pursuing compensation I would not waste neither your time nor mine.

Thank-you for your time and consideration.


Sincerely,




Robert Combier

*****************************************

In the mean time I replaced the oil pan, op gasket, motor mounts, rod bearings, rod nuts, intake manifold gaskets, updated windage tray, updated idle octopus, bypassed the cycling valve, all bolts removed with brand new 10.9 grade bolts, installed LR vacuum lines, and wrapped the cross-over pipe with Thermotec exhaust wrap. Big thanks to Ian at 944Online and Dave at Lindsey Racing. Below is a pic of my clean, fixed, updated engine.

The car was running like a top for about 120 miles while I was taking it easy to break in the rod bearings, before the OIL PAN GASKET BLEW OUT and started an OIL FIRE to my crossover pipe. That was not a good day. Thankfully I was able to put it out quickly and clean off the corrosive powder before any permanent damage occured. So, I ordered another gasket, and the EuroParts ETC oil pan gasket retention rail for fixing this weekend.

Well, just today, the Flash foods insurance lady called me to say that out of their good will and faith, they are sending an auto appriaser to quantify the damage to my vehicle. Woohoo! This made my day. I have had a string of bad vehicle luck and it was good to see things turning up.

So my question is, what can I do to maximize the return I get? The appraisers are going to see my garage with the old, broken pan, and a half dissassembled engine again as I will be in the middle of changing the pan gasket again. I only have receipts from Ian (~$460.00) for the parts I got. Can I expect anything more? What about the 30 hours I spent on this repair?

Thanks for reading this and for your comments and advice.

-Robert Combier

PS Thinking of naming my car "The Pan"

UDPride

Roco-

Horror story. Just read it for the first time. Anybody who says that gas cap was on right is either on dope or that gas cap was designed specifically to tear the front end of cars off. Why not just stick a damn sprinkler in the concrete.

I think the lesson here is at the low level, the response you get is always typical. In order to ever get anywhere with large companies, you need to speak with the boss's boss's boss's boss. Only at that level will they listen to you and not dish out the canned answers. They are the ones who make decisions in the company. The flunkies at the low level just follow orders. Thats all they do.

As far as the reimbursement, I would have just taken it to the Porsche dealer and had them do it all. That way reimbursement would have been straight as an arrow (i.e. heres the invoice for repairs). With you however, you sourced parts yourself at a discount most people are too dumb to purchase themselves. You also performed much of your own labor. Applying a price to your labor could be difficult. I would suggest asking the labor charge per hour based on a qualified Porsche mechanic locally and the estimated hours that mechanic feels the labor would have been. If the estimate on labor would have been $70hr at 30hrs, then ask for $2100 in labor not including parts.

As for inconvenience and all that stuff, I dont think you see a dime. The best you can hoep for is reimbursement for parts you purchased, labor you entailed, and any remaining parts/labor to fix the problem that have yet to be bought. And in the end, I think thats all Esso is responsible for.

UDPride

By the way, I wanted to pat you on the back for being VERY diligent and taking those photos RIGHT after this happened. Those photos ultimately saved your rear end. Had you come back a day later or hesitated, they would have just denied denied denied. With those photos -- and mind you they are GOOD photos too (how many times do you see people taking TERRIBLE photos not demonstrating their case very well?) -- you covered your *** as good as you possibly could have.

I keep a disposable camera in all my glove compartments just in case I need to be crime scene investigator when something bad happens to cover my butt in case Im damaged.

jonnybgood

Glad to hear you are getting a more po$itive response from those guys. You did not mention the cost of the pan or was that included in the $460?

Oil fire sounds scary. Good luck

triscadek

They can claim not responsible and even put up all the signs they want but that won,t change who is-they're blowing smoke.