Legal Question in Personal Injury in Illinois

I went to a dealership near my home to look at trading in my truck for a new car. The dealership allowed my husband and I take leave our truck in their lot while we took the car home over night to test it out. We decided that we wanted to shop around and weigh out our options at a different dealership, so we took the car back. Once we arrived at the dealership our truck (that was sitting over night (1) night in their lot (that was gated and locked) had been hit. The dealership after some back and forth admitted to the accident being their fault and replaced the bumper on the car. The car is having some problems running and many error messages on the dash. I think now I will have a mechanic check out the car and sue the dealership. What should I do? What area of law would this fall under?


Asked on 8/31/12, 8:14 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Alex Arezina Alexander I. Arezina, Attorney at Law

This is considered the law of bailment/negligence. Basically, they undertook the duty of safekeeping your car as part of a possible car sale transaction. It sounds like they already admitted fault since they repaired your bumper, but apparently whatever happened also caused some mechanical issues. If you think the mechanical issues relate to the dealer's negligence, rather than possible wear and tear of your truck, then you should have them make the repairs. If they won't do this voluntarily, they have insurance (garage liability/garagekeepers coverage) that covers these things and you will need to sue them. If they won't repair the car at your request, then you can file suit in Cook County (you are showing a Palatine address for location of dealer?) for small claims. There is a small filing fee and you should be able to serve the dealership via certified mail. I am suggesting small claims because it doesn't sound like you are talking about a claim that is larger than 5K or so. I hope this helps.

If you want to discuss this further, feel free to email me at [email protected].

Alex

Read more
Answered on 8/31/12, 8:42 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Personal Injury Law and Tort Law questions and answers in Illinois