What are my options/legal rights?
 

This is an on-going saga trying to get my car out of the shop. For some background please search "flyrade" and review posts on engine temp gauge, auto insurance and is my mechanic blowing smoke.

I went by to check on my car yesterday, and very little - if any - work has been performed on the engine in the past week. We are at the 8 week point now since I brought the car in for him to service the a/c. He found some wiring that was eaten by rodents, and the insurance company paid $1,450 for the repairs. He said while he had part of the engine apart, this would be a good time to replace the timing belt, water pump, and plugs. I agreed.

Now he apparently has done much more work. The valve covers are off and he says he has replaced parts there, and retimed the cams. He never told me what he was going to do, and I never approved this added work.

In any case, all I want is my car back - and he won't complete the job. Now I have to think what are my options and what legal recourse do I have?

One option I'm considering is telling him if the car is not returned to me by this Friday that I'm going to get a flat bed and have the car taken to another shop. However, suppose that shop wants to take apart any other work that this original shop did - saying they can't guarantee any work without doing so? That will be a lot of added expense. Then suppose they get the car and some parts are missing? Who is liable? As you can see, a real can of worms.

Another option is to get in touch with the insurance company. Since all this started as a wiring problem, and he already paid to have it fixed, do they have any leverage with the mechanic to get him to complete the job?

A third option is to tell the mechanic if I don't get the court by Friday that I'm going to hire a lawyer to see what my legal options are, and to take him to court if necessary.

I also have to consider that he may have lost some critical parts to the engine, or that he does not have the skilled people to complete the job. However, he continues to tell me there is only a little work left and it should be finished in a couple of days. Of course I have no confidence in anything he tells me.

I would appreciate your comments, especially if you are a mechanic or a lawyer, and can give me an idea of my best options and what my rights are to get him to complete the work in a timely manner.

I don't know Florida law. However, if this happened in MI all work that was done without your approval does not have to be paid for. I would do some legal internet searching on FL law and see what you can turn up.

You're in a tight spot, unfortunately. I'd recommend against escalating to lawsuit threats just yet. It's a bit of he said-she said here, as the tech could just say you authorized him to fix the car by whatever means necessary. And then it comes down to who a judge believes. ($ involved not enough for a jury trial). Typically repairs must be authorized before work is performed. I believe some states require it in writing. But in this case, work had already begun, so it's hard to say where the authorized work began and ended. And he's done some work so he has sweat equity in it; if you refused to pay the bill he could sue you and put a mechanics lien on your car. You would be "unjustly enriched" if you received his free labor and perhaps free parts. This could be offset by the cost of having somewhere else fix what he allegedly damaged or failed to do.

Taking it to another shop, as you say, is not ideal at this point. But if you have no faith in the shop currently working on the car, what choice do you have? Tough call. :banghead: He says it will be "done" soon; set a firm deadline with him. And a good option short of a lawsuit that might spur him on would be to advise the tech that you intend to contact the state consumer protection office to see how they feel about all of this. Florida also has a better business bureau. I think the best option, unfortunately, includes allowing this shop to attempt to complete the work they've begun.

Not sure what to say about getting insurance involved. Did they select this shop? Didn't realize insurance covered rodent damage, either! Good to know. Keep in mind the shop also likely has its own insurance (hopefully) that will defend him if sued, and perhaps also pursue a mechanics lien against you.

So... Play nice but be honest and firm with him. Once its "done" get the car back and go from there.

There is a group in just about every state called BAR or Bureau of Automotive Repair. This group are like the better business bureau for cars. If you contact them they can act as mediators and if necessary revoke their licenses. If you haven't authorized work and they are charging you for it...that is one course of action you could take.

i would get the "done" date in writing. a write up of what has been done and costs. any invoice that you signed when you dropped the car off?

I would request a detailed list of parts and labour up to now, a detailed list of parts and labour needed to finish the car. See if you can identify what wasn't part of the deal (stuff under cam covers is not typically part of a tb job) and try to work out a deal with him about that. For example, invoicing a reasonable labor time and rate instead of book time plus the cost of parts instead of cost plus profit margin (this is for the not approved work). Also agree in writing a fixed date for when work should be completed. A deal is in the best interest of you both, you have your car back and in hopefully good running order, he gets paid for his work.

The factory way to time the cams is to remove the cam/valve covers and it would be really dumb to not replace the gaskets that come off when you remove them. So this is completely normal for a shop who doesn't know about the Porken 32vR tool for timing cams. What takes 6-10 hours can now be done in 30 minutes.

From the timeline of your posts, it actually sounds like he is working on the car and trying to get it done quickly, I'm sure he doesn't want the car there any longer either.

One place to start reading - Florida Department of Consumer Protection:

http://www.800helpfla.com/motorveh.html

^^^^^ Sean

Good point, that makes sense.

I think the question I would ask is what did he see that gave him reason to suspect the cam timing was out? it is not unreasonable that the chap might not know about the 32VR tool that some of us use these days but anyone who knows anything about these cars also knows that trying to do the timing with a new belt is not the best thing to do albeit sometimes there is no choice. Was/is he checking the timing with the old belt still on or is he trying to do it with a new belt? If so, why?

Doubtless Sean can advise you how best/what to ask in this regard. Similarly you might also indirectly try to find out if he parked number 1 cylinder at 45 degrees to protect the valves. It is one thing knowing about the infamous 928 timing belt/water pump but it is another thing knowing how to do it correctly and I would want firm evidence that anyone working on my motor in that regard knows exactly what he is about.

If the parts he is replacing amount to cam cover gaskets then that is how it should be- if it is other parts again I would ask questions. In any event, there is no way he should have barelled into the cam cover without your specific permission irrespective of his motives/suspicions. There is no linkage between replacing a timing belt and cam timing other than ensuring the cam wheels are in the correct relative position when putting the belt back on.

Whatever you do, give the chap the benefit of the doubt until such time as you are sure he did something decidedly dodgy. Hopefully he is not covering up something stupid like allowing the valves to clout the pistons- highly unlikely but stranger things have happened when the appropriate requirements have not been met.

Regards

Fred

I live 20 minutes from you. We grab my truck and trailer. Load up the car and parts and take it somewhere else to be serviced properly. Problem solved :)

Problem NOT solved, car still not running. Could actually be the beginning of larger problem.

I'd like to hear the mechanic's side of the story.

Besides cam cover gaskets, it could be normal to replace the chain tensioner guide or whatever that is called. However, I'd be concerned that this mechanic is "looking" for items to repair thinking he has an open checkbook.

What started as an A/C service turned into an overpriced electrical repair on an otherwise normally operating vehicle. Then while he is in there might as well to a T/B and WP, but Oh, I don't have the cam timing tool.

Trying to assume the best, but some of this sounds fishy. I've changed one timing belt, WP, and completed an intake refresh in less than 8 weeks, working part time slowly learning as I went.

If it were me, I'd insist on an itemized list and dollar figure on what has been completed as well as an itemized list and estimate on what he is still planning. From what you have provided, there is no good reason why your car shouldn't be back in your possession by the end of the week. How much "hardball" you want to play is your call, but I wouldn't play much until I regained possession.

Not sure if this will work for automotive repair, but possibly paying with a credit card will allow you to dispute the charges after you regain possession. The few times (twice in my life) I felt ripped off, I did this and won both times. Then there is the whole mechanics lien thing protecting them too so it could back fire, but then again may gain you independent arbitration without going to court.

Very wise advise^^^^^^me thinks.

If in California, a vehicle owner told a shop he was going to contact the Bureau of Automotive repair.....that shop damn well should/would quickly pay attention and get things resolved. The BAR isn't the agency that any shop "wants" in their shop.....right or wrong.

You need to check and see what you have available in Florida, to protect you.

I'm still betting that the valves are bent, from some "rookie" playing with the cam belt.....

I already weighed in on this. My position, which I have done before is to demand a current accounting of work done. Up to right now, and give him a written statement to stop work(a stop work order) that states no further work is authorized or will be paid for. You can tell him that you can't afford anymore repairs at this time. Pay his bill, take your car on a flat, and inventory all your parts, and bolts, etc. Get it away from him, and then discuss the rest of the work with a better qualified technician near you.

The important key now is to stop the bleeding. The only way to do that is pay the demand, whether it's right or not and get your car. If your car is being held pending payment, then pay under protest, and once the car is back in your hands, you can investigate the small claims process if you feel that you've been duped into unauthorized work far beyond the scope of what you authorized.

A judge(or JP, or magistrate, whatever) will not look kindly on one of those drag it out stories where the car just keeps getting more, and more, and more piled on it over a long time. This is the kind of stuff that a reasonable person might consider a scam method to unjustly enrich the mech at your expense.

Get current bill, give stop work order.
Pay bill, tow car out.
Investigate new shop.
Sue mech if you think it's worth it.

Get it out of there. If he can't do the job in 7 weeks, there's not much chance another week would get it done. Sounds like he is in over his head. Pay with a credit card & put it in dispute until you can have a shop that knows the cars verify there aren't bent valves etc. document everything.

Yep, I was thinking the exact same thing.

To escalate things before you have the car back is to take on a lot of risk. Don't tip your hand. Be polite but firm that you need the work completed and your car back. THEN place into dispute with the credit company. If the work turns out to be poor or unneeded (per a qualified third party), if your credit card company is good, they will reverse the charge. Then, it will be in HIS ball court (the current mechanic) if he wants to challenge.

Request all used parts! You want trophies of this experience.

Again – you guys are great. After reading all of the above this is my current plan of action.

I'm going to see my mechanic tomorrow morning. He said he was shooting to get me the car tomorrow. I'm sure that will not be the case. If this is so I will tell him all work must be completed, and the car in my possession, by noon on Monday. This will give him the rest of the week, and the weekend, to complete work on the car. If he has the car to me by noon Monday then I will pay the bill and take further action if required. However, I will tell him if he does not have a car to me by noon Monday I will put the whole matter in the hands of my attorney. My reasoning behind this is that it gives him sufficient time to complete the project. If he does not do so, he is fully aware of the consequences.

It's hard to believe that this repair work has been going on for eight weeks now and he has not received any payment for his work. You would think he would want to get the job done as quickly as possible and get paid. Thanks again for all your advice, and I'll keep you advised as to my progress.

Holy ****, Greg agreed with me? I should frame this. :thumbup:

when u see him tomorrow...put in writing your deadline and "time is of the essence"...check spelling...this way there's no dispute of the deadline he must adhere to and have him sign and date it as well

In Florida, all replaced parts must be returned to you if requested. This has been FL law for some time, it may have changed, but I doubt it.
At least you will have the old belt, water pump, etc. Don't accept any excuse, he will know the law.
Dave

Paul, I wish you the best in getting your car back running and not getting ripped off.

I don’t have a dog in this race and don’t know enough about it to choose sides but to me it seems like this thread is turning into a witch hunt.....:icon107:

Again, best wishes on the outcome Paul.

NordicSaab - thank you for your kind offer. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

No worries. Offer is open if it comes to that. As far as the shop you are talking about; Is it by chance Jefferies (sp*) off of 41 Bypass in downtown?

No - this is Eric's Auto Repair on Clark /Stickney Point in Sarasota.

I used to take my car to the Scott Shop.

Who works on yours?

For the moment me :)

Mine is a complete restore, but also a 5 speed like yours :thumbup:

I know of this place, not because of auto repair, but because I drive by it a couple times a year on my way to Siesta Key. He's the dude working out of an old Shell gas station with a miniature Statue of Liberty out front... LOL, just down and around the corner from where Pee Wee Herman got caught messing with his junk.

Sounds like you have a good plan and I hope this works out between you and him.

That's the place Kurt. He has always done good work for me before, and I hope he will complete this job with the quality workmanship he has given me in the past. We had a nice talk this morning. I told him I have been a good customer for several years now, and he has always serviced my 3 cars. I pay my bills on time, never give him a hard time and even recommend him to my friends. But now this delayed work on my car has to stop - I have to get my car back sometime. I told him he has 3 days left to work on my car this week. If he can get it to me on Friday I'll be a happy camper and we can put this behind us. And, if he can't get the car ready by Friday then he also has Saturday and Sunday to work on the car and I can pick it up Monday morning. However, if the car is not ready by noon Monday then I will be forced to give the matter to my attorney. This means going to the Better Business Bureau, the consumer protection agency and the Atty. Gen.'s office as well as to court. This would be very complicated and expensive and certainly nothing that I would want to have happen. I believe he fully understands my position that all I want is my car and to pay the bill and put this behind us. I sincerely hope he will put his best efforts forward to get me the car by Friday. Let's hope that's the case.

hope it all works out!

+1

Fair enough. If I were you I'd also say something ~ "There are a lot of knowledgeable guys online following the story and willing to offer advice. So keep me posted and call me if you run into a problem. Status reports help build trust." In a friendly and helpful tone.

This is like a bad dream – only it never gets better, just worse.

The last time I saw my mechanic was Wednesday morning. I told him I hoped he could get me the car by Friday, but if not he could work on it over the weekend and get it to me on Monday. Here it is near close of business on Friday and no word from him. I told him if he did not get me the car by noon Monday that I would have to put it in the hands of my attorney.

I called a recommended attorney today, explained the situation, and asked how he could handle it if needed on Monday. He said there was not much he could do to force the mechanic to complete work on my car. He recommended I leave the car there as long as it takes for the job to get done and then take the mechanic to court for any excess charges. I forget the legal term he used, but the idea is to file a complaint with the court and then pay the bill under protest. Then the court would decide how to proceed.

Another option, which I think is better, is to hire a truck to take the car to another shop where the work can be completed. This would mean finding another shop, have them inspect the car and do an inventory of parts, manage the transportation of the car to their facility and then complete the job. I would have to pay my mechanic for his work so far, and then dispute the bill if I pay with Visa, or take him to small claims court.

There is always the possibility that my mechanic will work over the weekend and get me the car by Monday. However, I am not very hopeful that will be the case. Right now I would feel grateful if someone would come by and just shoot me and put me out of my misery.

Tuesday we said, go get it.
Wednesday we said, go get it.
Thursday we said, go get it.

Friday...you haven't gotten it yet?


Monday, go get it.

I suggest being firm to keep him moving along but do not badger them with lawsuit threats. Just stay persistant and maybe offer up some advice to them to look here for tech tips. Also supply them with phone #s to a few of the trusted vendors here to make sure they are putting on the best availble parts. In the end a lawsuit will be much more trouble than waiting a few more weeks if that's what it takes.

" I told him if he did not get me the car by noon Monday that I would have to put it in the hands of my attorney."
---

IMHO, you just escalated this into stupid.


He'll do nothing, and end up with your car on his lot under a mechanics lien..because he can.

You said "Im not interested in working with you anymore, but I'll let you keep my car".


We'll know where to find a cheap 928 at auction now...if you dont -get- the car, now, or 9a Monday.


"What do I owe you right now"

Pay it

Tow it.

i just don't like towing a car somewhere else that is already apart. It would be really tough to find someone to work on it at this point. I know I hate touching something that someone else tore apart. I really believe the OP needs to keep communication and civility with the current mechanic untill it is done. As I said, provide him with information to make his job easier. Does he know about Dwayne's Garage tech writeups?

My original advice was to let him finish. Your lawyer said the same. Listen to someone with legal training. Or not!

Good Lord.

I sure hope my spidey senses are in tune enough to avoid a situation like this.

Ive carried two race cars home as shells on that advice.

If someone cant, they -wont-.


This guy, cant.


Legal advice isnt always practical advice..no matter how true, accurate, and well meaning it is. I dont think this guy is capable..

I think this is a cut your losses kind of moment. For some reason or another the mechanic has not completed the work. This could be due to lack of expertise, experience, motivation, operating capital, or all of the above. Either way it seems that the car will not be completed in any sort of timely fashion.

If I were in your shoes, I would be going to retrieve the car. Pay the mechanic whatever is due in parts and APPROVED work and be done with that relationship. If you want to continue to pursue afterward, you can. I know that in situations like this (for me), pursuing action is usually not worth the time and emotional investment.

As stated before I live close by if you need an hand for any reason.

Nothing he is doing is THAT HARD.

You advocate that he pays this mechanic 2x what it should cost, to follow someone else's writeup, on a job and car he's not familiar with?

Hello??

A good mechanic has resources. A good mechanic wont take a job he knows he's not familiar with.

He could follow Dwayne's writeups just as well, for free.

If u take the car out of there and u have someone else finish it, and it does have few bend valves, who is responsible?.

The first mechanic will blame the second guy and the second guy is going to blame the first guy.

Leave car there let him finish the job.

Pay by credit card only no cash.

At least thats what i think anyway.

I dont think he'll finish it, ever, and it'll be a basket case.

If valves are bent..tow it, find out now, sue.

Then there is no 2nd mechanic i the mix.



This isnt a new song being played here...just some of us here haven't heard it before.

First of all I would like to thank everyone for your very helpful ideas. It's obvious you have given my situation great consideration and that you feel my pain. What is so unbelievable is that I have been going to this repair facility for several years with this and my previous 928’s as well as my other cars. Eric has always treated me fairly, done excellent work and I even recommended him to my friends.

Let's hope all of this is behind us come Monday morning. However, since this has been going on for so many weeks now, at best I'd give myself a 50-50 chance of coming home with my car on Monday. After considering the many ideas you all have presented here, as well as a talk with my attorney, and conferring with my neighbor who is a retired insurance executive, I have decided on the following course of action if needed.

I will tell Eric he has put me in the position of taking whatever legal steps are necessary to get my car repaired and back into my possession. These steps include the following:

1.File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
2.File a complaint with the Consumer Protection Agency.
3.File a complaint with the Florida Attorney General’s Office.
4.Call both the local Channel 7 news and Channel 8 news consumer help lines to see what pressure they can bring to bear on Eric from a media point of view.
5.While at the repair facility I intend to dial 911 and ask the dispatcher to send a patrol car to have Eric arrested for the theft of my car, fraud and conversion. Conversion is a new one on me, but is defined as the following:

A conversion is a voluntary act by one person inconsistent with the ownership rights of another. Its criminal counterpart is not typically theft but rather criminal conversion, which differs from theft in the lack of intent to deprive the owner of possession of the property.

I will tell the patrol officer that I want Eric arrested for these charges so he can be placed in jail and post bond to be released. This will show Eric the seriousness of my position and get him into the legal system.

Should placing him under arrest not work, I will then proceed to the Sarasota courthouse and start proceedings to bring him to small claims court.

I also intend to leave on Tuesday to visit my son and his family in San Francisco for the following 10 days. This will put me home in the latter part of next week. This should give Eric more than sufficient time to complete work on my car, and will also provide the time needed for my first four steps to take effect. Should the car again not be ready on my return I will take whatever steps are necessary to have the work completed at a different repair facility.

I hope you all agree with the above course of action, but if you feel I am making a mistake or should take some other course of action, I certainly would appreciate hearing from you. I don't know that I have ever heard of such a situation before, and I certainly hope you never have to go through what I had been going through for the last several weeks.

Had a similar engine rebuild experience at a "friend's" shop on my 951. Took them a year. i didn't threaten legal action, but when they did finally focus on getting my car put back together it was rushed. The rebuild only lasted 4500 miles before things started falling qpart due to improper torque. AND when it blew a head gasket running the stock boost they accused me of cranking the boost up to high and suddenly didn't have any time to work on it.

I sold the car as is and the next owner found all kinds of problems due to the rushed build. Bolts missing and or broken off AND the pistons weren't sized correctly, too small for the bore, scratching the cylinder walls enough to scrap the block. Also found they did not install the turbo I provided instead put a larger one on that was too large for the displacement making the turbo non-existent until over 4500 rpm then it would hit so hard you couldn't keep the tires hooked up.

That experience is why I am now driving a normally aspirated 928 GTS...

Yowza Flyrade! You are pulling out all the stops on this one!!

Well, yes, that's the way to go. Really. you have only two options... A) pretend that Eric is still your best buddy in the whole world until you get your car back, or B) go all guns a' blazin. Looks like you finally got fed up enough to choose Option B.

Please keep us posted on this saga!

Yes, it sounds like you are going the Nuclear option. Keeping the pressure on is one thing but I would sure leave the 911 out of it. Not only is it a bad idea but also someone may need the system that day that has much more important needs.

Drastic measures for sure. Definitely leave 911 out of it. As mentioned above, there are more important needs for 911. And, someone has to pay for it; you could likely get a bill. If you feel compelled to initiate an arrest, call the county sheriff. That is their job.

As far as your car, we haven’t heard his side of the story so I can’t voice an accurate opinion. But, I would venture to guess that:

1. He is unaware of your perceived urgency (and this thread) due to lack of communication.
2. He truly is busy and tending to “cash flow” jobs first. (Relates to item 1)
3. He is in over his head and is procrastinating.
4. He is a crook and doesn’t care after getting insurance payment for wiring repairs.
5. He messed up and bent valves and doesn’t want to deal with the big $$$$ mistake.

If you do proceed as outlined above, I would first find a shop that is willing to work on the car because no matter the reasons for his delay in finishing it, your intended actions will without doubt insure that your car will not be satisfactorily completed by his shop. If it is returned to running, it will be quick shoddy work just to pacify the current situation.

What a horrible situation in which to be entangled.

Good luck with the outcome and surely you’ll keep us informed.

Again, just get it out of there. You are just escalating it. They won't arrest him, it's a civil matter. Do you think he is going to do his best work with TV crews etc. there?
No matter what, it probably will have to be redone by another shop. Why add the expense of an attorney? If you proceed with an attorney, his hourly rate will probably be double what it would cost to have a good shop fix it correctly. The winner will be the attorney, not you. Threats and pressure probably aren't going to work. Be practical, it's just a bad deal. Get it over with.
Sorry it happened to you.

Show up with a tow truck. Pay for what HAS been done, right then and there. Take the car home. Have a QUALIFIED shop inspect the motor for damage/ finish work. If it doe have damage, take him to civil court.


But GET IT OUT OF THERE!!!!!!!

This isn't a criminal thing unless you try to make it one. I don't see much upside in the conversion deal. He's not holding a gun to your head, you can get your car anytime you want. Pay his bill, get your car - no conversion. Now, if he were to start selling parts off the car, or try to sell the car without the mech lien process to take title, that would be a conversion.

The attys have said let him finish(if ever), then try to recover in small claims. This is a fools errand for three reasons. You put yourself at his mercy to finish the car, and do it right(fat chance). You pay whatever demands he makes, cause now you've pissed him off, and everything he does, and everything he charges is going to be whatever inflated rate he feels he can get away with. We call this the "F_U" pricing model when we want a customer to feel pain. Last, you are out the money, but have the car back, and now your future is in the hands of a judge or magistrate or whatever, and here you are, a Porsche owner in front of the judge whining about your bill from an honest, hard working class slave - servant of the people with grease under his nails. Who do you think the judge is going to side with? You can afford it, you've got a damn Porsche! How DARE you come to court and complain about a repair bill, be lucky the guy doesn't counter sue for even more money, you rich, Porsche driving bastard. All bad.

People who have done actual business(not paper shuffling) have explained what to do, but you seem to want to escalate and turn this into a day-time drama. You aren't going to 'win' here. There is no upside anywhere. Even if you get your car back, will it be right? Will you have gotten a reasonable price? Will you be happy with the whole deal?

Stop the bleeding. It's been explained so I'm done here. Best of luck, if you don't want the car let us know where it is so we can go get it from the mech after the lien.

Very well put docmirror. ^^^^^

^^Ditto.

Bring your checkbook, hire a rollback, make it good, give the shop guy a clean easy way out.
Absolve him of "responsibility". Whatever it takes at this point, no "small claims later" unless there is some sort of hoodwink/sell off parts/etc weird situation that arises, which I doubt. Give the guy a way out that is lasting and binding.

Any mechanic that accepts 928 into the shop, but doesn't specialize in them --- can't possibly make money on them. Black hole. Smart shops reject the 928 unless they specialize in them or can call-in a real hobbyist to support. Can't possibly fix them without tens of hours of hell learning how. I'm taking master tech level german mechanics, audi, benz, etc. Can't do it and make money.

If you don't get that, on your way home, sell the car/basket. Because that fact aint gonna change.

A non-(odd complicated historic supercar) mechanic stupidly accepted the oddball vehicle (its not a "car"). You stupidly brought it there.

All high drama, and useless.

Show up, write check, tow it.

No drama, just business.

BTDT.

I'm going to chime in only because I have been in this situation. I hired a shop who belonged to one of my "friends" to install a roll cage in one of my race cars. 3 months later the car was incomplete and what had been done was so bad that it had to be cut out and redone. I explained the dilemma to the shop owner and he agreed that he was in over his head. I paid him a couple hundred dollars to legally settle the account. I towed the car out of there and ended up paying 2.5x what the cage should have cost between settling with the first shop and paying another shop to correct the problem. The reason I am offering this story is IT WAS THE BEST DECISION I HAVE EVER MADE WITH THE CAR.

I paid quite a bit of $ but I got the result that I wanted. (As stated before and by many) I don't think you will ever get the result you want out of the current shop.

This is going to hurt no matter what you do. I would strongly advise you negotiate what you have to get the car with a paid invoice and get in out of there. Then pay what you must to get the car back on the road with another shop. The other coarse of action you have planned will do nothing but create a difficult, frustrating, and time consuming process which really inst going to bring you any closer to the desired result (your car back on the road).

Here's my similar story of woe. I had my plane based at a local airport, and I hired the guy who I rented from to do my annual insp. He agreed that I could do an owner-assist where I take off the insp panels, clean, simple stuff and he would do the legal insp and fix what was needed. I got a base price for the inspection of $650 which was reasonable. So, he gets started on it, and everything he looked at had some defect. I mean everything. He squawked the radio tray for having the wrong screw in it holding the nav radio. Absolutely ridiculous stuff. Sure, he was trying to run up the bill. So, on the last day the plane was 'airworthy', June 30th I said I was going to wash it in the back. I pulled the plane back there, washed it, put the inspection panels on and flew it away. Sent him a check for $650 because he did in fact do an inspection and got another mechanic to finish the job at another airport. Lucky I never gave him the logbooks, or I'd be screwed.

This situation will only get worse the longer it stays there. The mechanic can easily sabotage the repair just to get you out of his misery. You must mitigate the situation yourself. You can easily pay the bill take it to a 928 specialist then sue the bastard for all he did wrong. This have to be documented by the 928 specialist or 928 expert. Now you have grounds for getting your money back.

Great news – almost.
Today was the day to get my car back so I went to see Eric earlier today. All the engine and wiring work is complete, and he has completed a test drive. However, nothing can go that easily. In his final check he has found the clutch slave cylinder is leaking, and a part in the stick shift needs to be replaced. Naturally he has to order these parts so it will be a couple of days or so at least until the car can be driven home.
I am leaving tomorrow to visit my son and his family in San Francisco, and I will not be home for the next 10 days. I told Eric when the car is ready I will have a friend come to pick it up and pay my bill with my Visa card. He said that would be fine.
I imagine since there is so little work to be done that he will do it quickly so he will get paid. At least I hope so.
Again I would like to thank all of you for your concern and your advice. I will be so glad to get home and have the car in my driveway and this whole mess behind me.

glad it is working out to your satisfaction

Glad I was wrong and this all worked out :)

That is fantastic but I wouldn't have anyone else pick it up. I believe it to be extremely important that you receive the car and only after a satisfactory test drive.

If you feel compelled to do something sooner, just make a partial payment now that the car is running and the balance when you pick it up.

Glad it looks like it's all going to work out civilly after all.

+1. Do not "mail in" this last chapter. Smart move to charge it, though.

*whew*

Glad it's ok, thats a rare outcome.

:)

Dray-muh --- averted.

go get car yourself. Check the bill, check the car, check everything.

Hopefully this is a good result and good that you gave the chap a chance to deliver.

Let's hope that when you do get behind the wheel again all is well. If by any chance it feels less than what it should be get it checked out by someone who knows what they are looking for. A simple compression test or better still, a leakdown test may well be appropriate.

Either way, fingers crossed for a good outcome and do let us know how it goes.

Fred R

I'm glad to report that my 928 is safe and sound in my driveway. I'm visiting my son and his family in San Fran and did not want the car sitting at the shop for another week or so till I get home. I had a friend check out the car, pay for it with my Visa, and take it to my driveway. He says it drives great.

However, now there is the bill to contend with. It's a lot more expensive than I was led to believe. The cost for repairing the wiring was $1,450 and was agreed upon with the insurance company. Not a problem. However, the additional work of changing the timing belt and water pump were to be on me. I'm not sure how much this was going to be, but it was supposed to be less expensive because a lot of the work to get to the parts were already covered by the insurance claim. However, now I just paid an additional bill of $4,617 for this work - but since I have not seen the bill I can't say what was done and what additional parts were used. However, I did ask for the used parts, but he did not save them.
My plan right now is to review the bill and track down the retail price of all the parts he claimed he used. If there is a problem there, I'll ask to see his invoices to make sure he even ordered them. I'm not sure what I'll do about the labor charges.
Thanks again to all of you for your interest, concern and support. I hope I never have to do the same for you.

sounds like you got a great deal on your car repairs,
go home give a it a wash and drive it like you stole it!

Drive it like you stole it ehh?

Just a ballpark here but $4600 for a TB and WP with new pulleys is just about double what the going indie rate would be for that car. Most good shops will run $1900-2800 incl parts.

YMMV

I was quoted $4-5k by my mechanic and over $5k by the dealership. Sounds about right.

One guy here paid 10,000 for little more than a TB job at northern VA dealer.

928 is a classic, but a mechanical / electrical outcast. You brought it to the wrong shop.

Suck it up, honestly, and drive it for enjoyment.

So is the engine running right then?

He doesn't know. He had someone else pick it up for him ... and pay for it .... :nono:

dont forget the wire issues and other clutch parts installed,
Id say he got a deal for all of the work that was done.

Note retention the belt at 1200. miles

^^ I agree with Stan, sounds like he got a deal and if he thinks that a shop is going to charge for parts what he can get them for off Amazon he's nutz.

If the car is running correctly then I'd say it was about fair market price for said repairs. A reasonable rule of thumb when it comes to repair is to shop the parts first... take that price and double it for "cost of parts"... then double it again for "cost of parts installed".

This is one of the reasons I find enjoyment and satisfaction out of doing this stuff myself. If I add back what I've spent on tools... LOL, I'm probably about even.

Hope you are enjoying your time in SF and arrive home safely to a car that is ready to be driven.

I didn't see where he had clutch parts done. If that's the case, then the price is ok if it's all working well.

Doc see post 59 for the extras after the car was running.

The law in FL is that all replaced parts must be offered to the owner. It may have changed, but I doubt it. The idea is to protect the customer, it doesn't always work, as most shops have plenty of used parts to offer! On a 928, it is less likely. Not sure what the remedy is however.
Dave

I just got home from my visit to San Fran to see my son and his family and am happy to report my 928 is perfect. I drove it all day today, and missed it so much I could hardly get out of the car. It starts and runs great, and I took it up to the red line just to make sure there were no problems.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was concerned about an inflated bill. The pre-arranged cost to repair the wiring was about $1450, and my additional charges were $4617. When I originally heard that I thought it to be too expensive. However, on inspecting the bill I feel a lot better about it. First of all he used all O E M parts. As an example, you can get a timing belt for about $50, but a Porsche timing belt is $110. He used the Porsche timing belt. He also replaced the water pump, valve cover gasket sets, rollers and tensioners and a lot of other parts that I'm not familiar with. The total parts cost was right at $2300, or half my bill. Considering all the work he had to do I am certainly not displeased with paying about $2300 for his labor. From what I have read in the previous posts, this does not seem to be excessive.

Also, while he was doing this work he noticed the slave master cylinder was leaking slightly, so he replaced it as well. He also noticed the stick shift had a worn part in the mechanism and replaced that part as well.

Looking back on this, my only real complaint now is that it took so long to get the job done. All in all it was nine weeks. And the real problem is that he lied to me so many times saying the job will be complete at a specific date with no intention of living up to that.

Again, thanks to all of you for your concern, support and input. It is much appreciated and I hope I never have to do the same for you.

Glad to hear you are happy with the car, the end result is sometimes the best way to look at an ordeal and just dismiss the BS that it took to get ya there.

Glad all is well.

At first thought the price seems high but all things considered it appears fair.

Be careful with your redline running until after the belt inspection / tension check at 12 to 15 hundred miles.

Have fun enjoying your 928 and stay safe.

Peace,

DPM