I'm raging way too fucking hard right now so I'm going to make this quick.
I've got a Honda Civic 09 that has not had working AC for the past 4 months. I was getting around just fine and working a hectic schedule so I didn't bring it to a shop until this monday. Took it to a shop and I get a call about 4 hours later telling me the car no longer starts and asking me if I have another key. Apparently that was going to do the trick. I didn't so they checked fuses and other bullshit and couldn't find out what was wrong with it. The owner of the shop was on the absolute fucking defensive about it even though I kept my cool and just simply told him I wasn't going to pay for any additional repairs. The day passes and by closing time he tells me that he will take it to the "dealership" the next morning.
Next morning the owner says he took it to the "dealership" and that they have more equipment and will be able to fix it. The whole fucking day passes by again and I tell the owner I need to know which "dealership" he took it to so I can get some shit out of the car. Well he gives the address of another shop which is not a fucking dealership and sends me off.
Today I find out from this other shop that it's the ECU and the replacement is going to be $1500. This is absolute bullshit because I've never had any issues of the sort before coming to this shop to get my AC "fixed". I had to miss two days of work while waiting on my car, and was misinformed about where my car was going. It malfunctioned while it was in the mechanic's hands and the owner is refusing to take responsibility.
How should I proceed to handle the situation? Is pressing charges an option?
>shop fucks up car and refuses to repair their own mistakes
Luke Morgan
get a lawyer, get the ACTUAL dealership to verify the outside shop is not ripping you off
Ian Allen
Yes, you can press charges. You can ALWAYS press charges.
Then what? The burden of proof is on YOU to show that the new problem with your 7-year old car was caused by the repair shop. To do this you'd have to get another mechanic to testify, with a degree of certainty, that what the first repair shop cause the issue with the ECU.
Good luck.
Anthony Johnson
Just to add... the second shop, who obviously gets business referred to them by the original shop, won't admit that the first shop caused the problem. So you'll need to take it to a third party.
Luis Perez
Aside from who's to blame, you really want a working car?
Do you have a buddy that can drive you to a salvage yard? Maybe you can pull a Honda ECU and save the money on a new one. Not sure how much a salvage yard will charge you for it, but it's gotta be less than new. Search on youtube for how to do it, it's not too much harder than taking apart a PC.
ECU's are about as easy to replace as a car radio, you just unplug the wiring harness from the old one and plug them all into the new. Then it either works or it doesn't.
As far as pressing charges, dude this is a civil matter. Nobody's going to go to jail over this. Go over whatever paperwork you signed. That's all you're really liable for. If anything was agreed to verbally, very hard to prove in court. They want paperwork.
So if this shop wants $1500 from you and you didn't sign anything with them saying you agreed to let them work on your car in exchange for money, you don't have to pay. If they failed to fix your car for money, you don't have to pay either. It's a contract - they fix your car, you then pay for it.
But you still have a broken car and you'll still need to get it towed back to your place or to yet another shop that can attempt to fix it.
And it's really shitty that the original shop you took it to broke your car and isn't making it right. That's bad. Ding them on Yelp and other places where people go to check ratings on local businesses.
There's a decent chance that the shop ruined the ECU, and they have insurance to handle incidents like that. Push the idea that they broke it, threaten to bring a lawyer into it, and follow through if they don't. You probably can't expect anything beyond the cost of repairing the ECU - they don't necessarily have an obligation to meet your schedule requirements.
Henry Walker
It would be a civil suit, not criminal charges.
Aiden Taylor
Hondas have a issue with the, fuck. forgot what its called, its a little brown fuse/box thing that costs like $40 that breaks a lot. its inside the fuse box under the hood. shit, this is probably what is wrong with your car. both my hondas had it, my parents honda had it break, and a friends civic had it go.
it would cause the car not to start.
Ethan Moore
And it's this kind of douchebaggery that makes ordinary people hate car mechanics.
How do you break the ECU recharging an A/C system anyway? You don't really touch anything electrical at all doing it.
Charles Bailey
Nah, they've demonstrated gross incompetence already, I wouldn't trust them at this point not to fuck up and oil change. Get your car back and send it to someone else or fix it yourself.
Adam King
>You can ALWAYS press charges. No you can't. Only the DA can press charges.
Ethan Richardson
>shop fucks up car Not a crime.
Lincoln White
>ECU's are about as easy to replace as a car radio Aren't there new codes that have to be programmed and VIN code changed (in the ECU), compatible keys, and all that shit?
Ethan Murphy
>7 years
this shouldnt be your first trip to the garage
were you trying to cheap out and go to some shade shack instead of a reputable but expensive garage?
Aaron Phillips
Option 1: contact a lawyer about a civil lawsuit
Option 2: read up on the procedure for small claims court in your state and try your hand at it. Not sure how relevant my advice would be depending on where you live, but I've taken 2 separate businesses to small claims court over the years and won both times
That said, you will have to have, in some way or another, someone willing to testify that the shop actually did something wrong, or proof that you coul present in front of a judge that they acted in a malicious way. A legit threat of legal action might be enough to force the shops hand if they really are trying to poke you in the rear
Grayson Hernandez
I deal constantly with niggers like OP getting all riled up saying we broke their shit, but have absolutely no way to prove it, and in actuality quite often they knew fucking well that it was either already broken or just about to break when they got it to us.
for fucks sake I had some idiot army fag trying to get us to replace his rear pinion seal for free on his 15 year old truck, because he says it didn't start leaking until after we changed his engine oil.
and stupid shit like that is the reason the shop will usually get the benefit of the doubt in this situation. because niggers like OP bring in broken shit and try to get it fixed for free.
Jace Morales
It goes both ways. You have terrible/crazy customers always looking for something for free. You have less than reputable shops willing to do anything to make a buck
I had a shop here in NC try to pull something similar on me. The service dept at work couldn't squeeze me in for annual state inspection, so I took my ML up the road to a chain mechanic. Guy came out 30 minutes later with this laundry list of bullshit that was wrong, added up to several grand worth of repairs, told me there was no way he could pass the car in the shape it was in, was dangerous to drive, all that jazz. Every single thing on his list of faults was made up
Eh, small claims is only good if someone owes you money. It's a breach of contract, basically. And if they've demonstrated that they don't have the ability to fix it, trying to make them fix it will probably end up making them break more stuff. Can't compel incompetence to be competent.
Cut your losses and move on. Fix the car.
Logan Turner
>Eh, small claims is only good if someone owes you money
I don't know about that, that wasn't the case either time I went. You can sue for damages, which is what I did both times. Provided OP could actually make a case, he can sue them for damages and lost time, then take the money to get the car fixed elsewhere
Chase Brown
>this thread
As already stated op, you have two options. 1. Get it fixed somewhere or fix it yourself and move on with life.
2. Put a lawyer on retainer and go all in with threatening a lawsuit. If they balk then prepare for a court battle. Expect to pay to have a Honda tech go over your electronics and ECU to truly determine whats at fault. Even then expect the process to be long and drawn out with no guarantee that you will win.
Gabriel Watson
OP is a fag. Sue yourself for being retarded
Jace Roberts
fucking crooked shops
Always check online reviews and forums before going to an unknown shop. Also, take photos and record video of the state of the car before turning the keys over.
Samuel Ortiz
>private prosecution. There you go OP, no go nail that faggot to the wall. And be there to video the arrest.
John Martin
Here in California if a shop goes over the agreed upon quote without explaining why and getting the okay from the customer they can be held liable.
Robert Sullivan
What was broken that caused the ac not to work?
Mason Johnson
Civics are suppose to be reliable so this is kinda shocking. I'd sue in small claims court for sure. In the meantime, get the car fixed asap on your own dime. No sense in dwelling on it.
Anthony Gutierrez
yup, at least for semis that is you can tell who doesnt wrench on Veeky Forums
Ryan Lopez
Refusing to own up to their own damages is user.
Aaron Kelly
T O R T O R T Now fuck off you stupid shit
Charles Brooks
that is adorable...
Benjamin Rogers
>not working on it yourself
Hondafags ladies and gentlemen.
Levi Brooks
>burgerclaps in charge of consumer protection
Nice
Jose Thomas
no you can't press charges, this is not a criminal offense. You can however sue for damages but of you want to win you have to prove the first shop damaged your car and your word isn't good enough. You will need a statement from another shop, preferably a dealer, that the shop caused the damage and how much it will cost to repair.
BTW: used and refurbished ECUs are much more cheaper than new ECUs from the dealer, save yourself some money
Leo Stewart
>burgerclaps in charge of consumer protection Generally, it goes republicans in charge of consumer protection (state attorney general) means businesses rule since the AG is not aggressive at pursuing investigations against businesses.
Kayden Ward
lol ecus dont die. they fucked your car 100%
Gavin Green
>having a political view this narrow minded and idiotic I honestly feel sorry for anyone who knows you well enough for you to open up about your retarded ideas to.
Luis Davis
DAs dont handle small claims court you autismo
Leo Ortiz
Main relay. My 2001 accord had that problem.
Christopher Ross
>small claims court You can't press charges in small claims court retard.
