Legal Question in Consumer Law in Florida

My car went in for maintenance namely a timing belt i also told them to change the water pump, cam pulleys and drive belts for said vehicle.

The car was running perfectly fine manufacturer of the car Kia recommends belt replacement at 60,000 mi the car had 79,000 but again ran perfectly.

I dropped the car off the night before and put the keys in the indoor mail slot about 3:30 the next day i get a call does this car have a remote start i said yes Oh was the response i wish i new that the mechanic said as he proceeded to tell me that his man almost lost his hand in the engine as the car tried to start remotely.

At witch time the timing belt they were working on fell off and threw the engine out of time thus destroying the the valves on my engine making my car junk.

First off the remote start will only work by pressing A/B on the key fob further i called the alarm company and they told me the only way the car could remote start is by pressing A/B physically.

I believe what happened is that they reinstalled the battery cable at witch time the alarm went off in a panic to shut it off they went to ignition and fumbled with the remote pushing buttons to shut off the the alarm at witch time they hit A/B physically thus causing remote start and causing massive damage.

Then i was told they had to remove the battery cable to stop the alarm.

Now they say sorry will work with you for repair but it will be 13 hrs labor machine shop charges parts extent of real damage is unknown .

I believe they are negligent in that why was the battery connected to start with if it was not the man would not have almost lost his hands and the engine would never have been able to remote start in any way.

They want me to help pay for the damage.

I think they were negligent for connecting the battery it was unsafe and caused all the damage .

Do i have a case to prove negligence?

Please help me.


Asked on 8/08/10, 6:48 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Shelly Schellenberg MI & FL private practice

Generally, when you take your vehicle to a repair shop, the mechanic in charge or Owner of the shop is responsible for the safekeeping of the vehicle. If a mechanic is injured in the process of repairing your vehicle, the auto repair shop is liable to the employee, as a hazard of the business of being a repair shop. The repair shop is responsible to train and oversee the work of its employees. This includes teaching them about self-start automobiles (this is not a new concept).

You will need to take all of your paperwork to a tort liability attorney who can sort out what type of liability the shop-owner had to you and to his employee. In the event that you must take your vehicle to another shop to get repairs, make sure that you get detailed written statements as to the problem, the cause of the problem, the repairs performed and the cost to correct. Car repairs can be expensive, but a reputable mechanic does not attempt to pass on his mistakes to a consumer. Hope this answers your question.

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Answered on 8/13/10, 7:06 pm


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