Auto repair story, consumer rights verus the rights of business owner

When it comes to car repairs, everyone has their story.  Repairs and how to deal with the mechanic or the auto shop are often among the top complaints that I receive.

Marion Forsythe definitely has a story.  He’s from Macon but says his 19 year old daughter lives in Savannah. He told me that months ago, she took her car to a local shop that was recommended by a friend.  “It wouldn’t crank, it wouldn’t start, so she had it towed to the place.,“ he tells me.

Forsythe says the 1996 Pontiac was in good condition, at least on the exterior and had quite a few current and or new parts.  On Tuesday, while in Savannah, he questioned his daughter about the car and she reportedly told him that about five months earlier, she’d gone to the shop and someone there told him they “didn’t know where the car was.“

So on Tuesday, Forsythe went to the shop himself.  “I said where’s my car and they kind of hesitated and said it’s up in the country and I said well can I go up in the country and see the car and they said it’s too far for you to go.we’ll bring the car down so you can see it, “ he tells me.

The owner promised the car would be available on Friday so we went back to the garage with Forsythe.  He was concerned about the outside appearance of the vehicle, saying that the window had been left open and the interior of the car had gotten wet over and over.  The car did not appear to be driveable.

One of the owners of the shop told me that it had not been months, but in fact over a year since Forsythe’s daughter had brought the car in.  He had a part receipt dating back to August of 2008.  When I asked him why the car had not been on the premises on Tuesday when Forsythe came by, he said “because the woman left it last year.“

The owner said he had initially tried to fix the car by installing a new computer.  When that didn’t work, he said Forsythe’s daughter did not return calls and did not come back to the shop.  As time went by, he said the city tagged the car and told him it would need to be removed.  “that’s when I moved it myself to a lot my dad owns out of town,“ the owner told me.  “I was trying to help her in case she came back for the car.“

The owner also told me that legally, he could have charged storage after ten days.  “So you do the math since I’ve had it for over a year,“ he said.

In looking at the car, Forsythe seemed convinced that some parts had been removed. The owner said all the parts were still there and that nothing had been removed. He said he would put the car “back together” the way it had been, but neither man necessarily expected it to drive. 

Forsythe indicated to me that his daughter had given the owner “cash” over some months for repairs.  But the owner said that was not he case.  He said the daughter had not even paid the 60 dollar towing charge in July of 2008.  “I have not received one dime from this young lady,“ the owner told me.

Neither side showed me receipts.  After about 30 minutes, both the owner and Forsythe came to an agreement that the car would be picked up next week after the owner works on it a bit more.

The owner told Forsythe that he wasn’t out to cheat anyone and that if that had been the case, he would not have produced the car or stored the car without a charge.

Ross Howard from the Better Business Bureau told us that he couldn’t make a judgement about the repair issue, but said the owner is right when it comes to the storage charge.  “Most garages have limited space,“ he says.  “If they haven’t heard anything back from the people and they’re storing the car, they do have the right to charge a storage fee. And after a certain point, if the car is sitting out on the street, the city can say we’re going to tow it away so that fits exactly with this particular situation.

Howard says it’s wise to build up a relationship with a mechanic.  “start with small repairs like oil changes and see how they do on the small things before you give them a big repair and always get repairs and estimates in writing.
And he says if negotiations do break down and you are not going to use that shop, be aware that the consumer is responsible for figuring out how to remove the vehicle.