Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Illinois

my name is kristal. I am writing because my car was repossed from my property on Oct.11. and taken to two diffrent locations. one where itsat for two days and then to an auction where itsat for ten days until i was able to retreive itafter i paid the money i owed on thecar.well, when i was schelued to retreive my car the auction called me about an hour before it was time for me to pick up my car and informed me my car was in operable. i was shocked because there was no previos problems with my car. they told me there was an oil leeak because of an oil pan that was cracked. i did not have any leaks in my car before it was repossede and had just had the oil changed a few weeks prior.i went to the auction anyway to see the car for myself. there was hardly any oil in it and my windshield wiper handle was busted and the car would not start and the engine was knocking. my car was damaged from the time it was taken from me. i paid th have my car given back to me and i still dont have a car. what are my legal rights and what is the appropriate way to handle this to have them liable for my carrepairs.i did not find out my car was damamged until i had paid off my debt to the finance company.


Asked on 10/25/10, 1:37 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Harvath Harvath Law Offices-INJURY case representation

Hi. I am an Illinois attorney. I practice primarily in the area of personal injury, handling car accident cases and work injury cases, and, based on your zip code in your question, I am on the other side of the state from you, though I do handle claims in nearly all parts of the state.

I thought I could just give you some basic information, in any event. It does sound to me like the car very well could have been damaged during the towing process when it was repossesed. Oil pans are at the very bottom of the car, and if something hits the car from the bottom, the oil pans are one of the first things to be cracked. It does sort of lead me to believe that, during the towing, when pulling the car up onto the tow truck, or lowering it, maybe your car struck the tow truck and cracked the oil pan.

The difficulty, of course, is proving this. I woud recommend talking to the place where your oil was changed, finding the mechanic who actually worked on it and see if he/she would be willing to write a very short statement that the oil pan was in good condition when it was worked on.

Ultimately, you will probably have to take the towing company to small claims court to potentially obtain reimbursement for the damage. However, if the engine had enough damage from no oil, the entire engine may need to be replaced. This is probably a few thousand dollars.

Also, you should have a mechanic look at it now, take a few pictures of the cracked oil pan and write a statement on how he/she believes it was cracked. You may get lucky and find a mechanic who is actually willing to state that the towing process likely caused the damage.

Finally, you should contact an attorney in your area and ask about filing a case in small claims court. Small claims court is user friendly and it can be done on your own, without an attorney. But you may want an attorney if that makes you feel more comfortable.

Hope this helps at least a little bit.

For convenience, I can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]. Thanks.

NOTE: This answer is for educational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. The use of this site does not create an attorney-client relationship or privilege between the user and the attorney responding.

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Answered on 10/31/10, 2:48 am


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