Robwsup

Ok here's the short version of a long story:

I decided to have my car painted. A guy at work has a shop in his backyard and does painting/body work on the side, about two cars a month. I ask him how much to paint my car,and he said $600-$700 for materials, and another $600-$700 for labor, so a total of $1200-$1400.

When I bring the car to the shop, I inform him that I don't want anything masked off, I want to disassemble the car and replace all the rubber (seals, gaskets, mirror gaskets etc). I disassemble the car myself, creating no extra work for the shop.

During prep of the car for painting, he finds some Bondo that he believes needs to be replaced, I say do it, and he says it will be extra. I ask him if we are looking more like $2000 for the job, and he says that for $2000 it'll look like a show car. He says it will take 3 weeks to complete the paint. I give him $1000 up front and have given him $900 more since then. That was in May.

So now, 3 months and a week into the original three weeks, he says the car is finally ready. He kept bringing in other cars and putting my car on the back burner, then it just sat in his shop from July 5th to mid-August. The car looks decent, but definitely not a show car. It looks like what you would expect from a $2000 backyard bodywork paint job.

The problem is that he says the $1900 I have already given him will only cover the labor. He says the materials will cost me another $1350! He wants $3250 total. He will not let me take my car, and has parked his tractor (yep, tractor) in front of his shop door so their is no way to get it. He says I owe him $1350 and he will not let me have my car until I pay him. I asked him why the deal changed from ~$2000 and 3 weeks to $3250 and 3 months. He said,look I've been through these kind of things before and I'll get my money, oh yeah I'm charging you $45 a day for storage until I get my money.

He does this work all "under the table" to avoid business licensing, taxes, fire code, EPA paint shop rules, etc. So I have little or no paper work, no written estimate etc.

What the hell do I do?

Minus000

My suggestion, call the police and explain. If they will not help you reposses your car after showing them the registration, explain that you want to take him to small claims court. I imagine he will relize he has much more to loose from the goverment finding out about his undeclaired earnings that trying to squeeze more money out of you.

Mr. Avionics

Sounds like "you pays you money, you take you chances" situation.
Might oughta find a friend with a BIGGER tractor.

MachSchnell

Break his kneecaps with a baseball bat.

Or, you could call the cops, report the car stolen, tell them you know where it is, and sic them on his lying scum a$$...you have the title, he has no signed bill, he has stolen your car. Period. I would cancel your checks while you are at it, if at all possible.

Tom R.

im not sure how legal this is, but since he doesnt have a shop he cant put a mechanics lien on the car. sounds like he stole your car, and is holding it for ransom. take it from there.

Travis - sflraver

you are obviously not being intimidating enough. Ask him nicely for your car and then if he says no go to the police station and get a police officer to accompany you. When asked all you say is "Its my car, here is the title." Do not answer any other questions about the work or anything. When the guy says " you still owe me money" all you reply with is.."its my car, here is the title."
no paper work , works both ways you know. It was painted, we had a deal... wheres the paper work. All you know is thats your car and he has it. Thats all that can be proven.
You have to go in with just as much ***** as he has when you deal with people like that. He's being a hard a$$, then you be one to.

Travis - sflraver

If you call the police, dont explain. Your explanation of the deal that is not on paper can only work in his favor. The only thing they need to know is he has your car and thats it.

Robwsup

I have filed a property claim and delivery with the court house and it basically works like this:

I pay $55 and fill out forms.
They serve him papers as the defendant
My court date is October 2nd
On Oct 2 we both go see the magistrate judge and tell our sides of the story.
If the judge rules for me, I get my car, if the judge favors him, I gotta pay $1350 I guess.
Only problem is, that it is 30 days away. If the judge rules for him, do I owe him 30daysx$45 storage fee=another $1350!!!
I am so pissed.

Mike1982

YES!! Call the police and tell them, either way it is illegal to hold your car until he gets his money. If he wants the money he will have to sue you. Call the police and meet them there that way you can drive it away, also you might want to take a spare set of keys with you incase he "LOST" them. Then you can get a counter suit for the key plus you can take him to court for taking so long. You can tell the judge that too. Either way, he CAN'T keep your car no matter what. That is like someone locking you out of you house because you didn't pay the person to put new locks in it.

seb928s

Yep call the cops if that doesn't work then you need to file small claims suit and he will probably give in then if not he will be screwed over. Plus 2000$ is a lot for a paint job anyways so it should look really good.

Mike1982

I don't know, you guys do have a VERY good idea of not saying anything about the deal. I wonder if that would work since he has your key. You would have to think of a story for that like it was in your car and it wasn't locked.

Travis - sflraver

I guess all us Floridians think alike.

Mike1982

Speaking of paint jobs, I live in northeastern Ohio, Akron, does anyone know where to get my red '86 944 Turbo painted? I want a good job and not just sprayed on quick. If anyone knows where to go let me know because I am thinking of doing it soon. You can also drop me an e-mail at Michael_Radak@hotmail.com

Robwsup

Thanks for all the support, I tried to talk to him nicely before I went to the court house. I told him we needed to talk about the price hike and that I would meet him in the middle and give him ANOTHER $600 for a total of $2500. He just restated that I owe him $1350, and it'll be $45/day for storage, and he will get his money.

Robwsup

quote:
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Originally posted by MachSchnell
Break his kneecaps with a baseball bat.


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I guess all us Floridians think alike.


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Yeah, I'm from Jacksonville, FL originally, and I thought about the whole kneecap thing!