Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Virginia

I heard something rolling around in the sunroof of my car. I dropped my car off at a dealership with the request that they remove the debris from the sunroof. I feared that opening the sunroof myself would cause it to jam. The service technician, however, did exactly that - he opened the sunroof using the power sunroof button. The unit jammed open on the debris which caused damage to the sunroof track. The dealership called me and told me I had 2 options. Either pay $2300 to replace the entire sunroof unit or take my car back with a broken sunroof. I chose the latter option because I didn't think I should pay $2300 to replace a sunroof that their technician broke. Their service technicians disassembled the jammed sunroof unit, removed the debris and then reassembled the unit in a closed position and returned the car to me. They charged me one hour of labor (about $150) to reassemble the sunroof that they broke. Anyway, I would like to take them to small claims court; however, since I didn't actually pay the $2300 to replace the sunroof, I'm not certain that small claims court is the proper venue. I don't care about reimbursement for the $150 labor fee. I am requesting that the dealership replace the broken sunroof unit at no cost to me. When I made this request to the general manager of the dealership, he said that because the debris was already in the sunroof it wasn't his technician's fault for jamming it open. Therefore, he denied my request. So what is my legal recourse in this situation? Thank you.


Asked on 2/25/10, 6:51 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Get a second estimate for the cost of replacing the sunroof and then sue this

dealership for the lower amount + court costs in your local small claims court.

(The fact that you "didn't actually pay the $2300 to replace the sunroof" in no

way invalidates the basis for your claim.)

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Answered on 3/02/10, 8:46 pm


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