Legal Question in Civil Litigation in North Carolina

Before you make the bold leap into court, you first need to start gathering evidence.

It may be that what the first place was telling you was the truth. You have a car that is 14 years old. Many things can go wrong and it may not be their fault. I am not sticking up for them but I am not a car mechanic either and based on what you tell me I can't decide if there was negligence or not so that is why you need an expert mechanic.

Look for an ASE certified car mechanic in your area. Its not a guarantee, but it is hoped that they will be competent enough. Have your car towed there. Have the mechanic go over the car and find out what is wrong with the car and why it will not run. Ask them about the heater core and the pump. Were these parts replaced? If so, take pictures. Get a written estimate in detail. Find out what its going to cost to fix the car into running condition.

Depending on what the second mechanic tells you, you are now ready to proceed. If it is shown that the first place screwed something up, or failed to accurately fix something or violated the NC motor vehicle repair act, then you can sue. Here is a link to the act:

http://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_20/GS_20-354.8.html

There are some other provisions so read the whole act to make sure there are no other possible violations.

Still, before you sue, you need to try and resolve this. You need to total up what you spent with them and decide what they fixed wrong or if they fixed something that did not need fixing. You then need to talk to the owner or better yet, write him a letter. Explain what happened and how the shop screwed up and then ask them to refund what you spent that you did not need to spend. Keep in mind that if they fixed something and did it right and the part needed fixed, they do deserve to be paid for that. If they tell you to get lost or fail to respond to your written letter in 15-30 days, then you sue the body shop.

You can sue in small claims for up to $5000. If they are a corporation, serve the owner or registered agent (you can look up the info online at the secretary of state for NC). If it is a person doing business under something otherthan his own name, there is a fictious names index at the courthouse. Find out the information and then you would sue the person doing business under his business name. Example: Jim Smith, d/b/a We-Fix-It Car Mechanics.

You will need the car mechanic that you took the car to come in and testify for you as to what he found out and you will show, through the mechanic, how the first shop screwed up. You will bring the pictures and show those to the judge and any letter that you sent to the first shop.

You can get a lawyer, but it may cost more than whatever you spent. If you do show a violation, you can recover reasonable attorney's fees. You will still have to pay the attorney, but attorney's fees may be added to any award that you get.