Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Michigan

This is tricky because this is a dispute between brothers - disputes between family members or close friends are always harder because you don't want to ruin a relationship over something minor. Legally, based on the facts you've told me, the damage to the car was not your fault and I don't think your brother could prove it in a court, especially given the age of the car, the fact that lack of an oil change does not generally cause damage to a drive shaft, and the lack of any agreement between the two of you regarding maintenance for the car, or who would pay for repairs. With a car with this amount of mileage, anything could have gone wrong with the car - like the engine or transmission going out - which most likely would not have been your fault. Even blowing a tire is generally not your fault, and could be because you ran over a nail, or the tire was old.

I don't know the history or the type of relationship that you and your brother have, but to me it sounds like he is being very unfair to you. If he chooses to spend money on a car that old and of such little value, that's his choice. A "reasonable person" would not do that. #1, the 'damage' is not your fault, #2 there was no agreement as to who would pay for any repairs, #3, a person borrowing a car is generally not responsible for repairs that fall under normal wear and tear (such as new brakes), and #4, the cost of the repairs compared to the condition or value of the car is unreasonable.

The fact that your brother is demanding you pay all or part of the repair costs tells me that he is not reasonable and that there are other "issues" with your relationship. He either clearly thinks this is your fault or is just trying to get money out of you. I would respond to him, in writing if you think that's necessary, stating that you did not have any agreement regarding repairs, the allegedly broken drive shaft is not due to any intentional or negligent actions of you, the car is old and anything could have gone wrong at any time and would have had nothing to do with you or your actions when using the car, and that the costs of the repairs are not reasonable based on the age & value of the vehicle. For those reasons, you are not liable for any damages, nor are you going to pay him anything.

Unfortunately family members and close friends do manipulate each other, take advantage, or otherwise don't treat each other properly, and your desire to please your brother or maintain a good relationship with him may influence your decision or make you feel guilty. However, like I said, you are honestly not responsible for what happened and would have no legal obligation. If your brother loaned you the car for free and was doing you a favor, or has helped you out in other ways, then it's your choice if you want to help him with the costs of repairs, but just don't let him blame you or make you feel guilty when the damage was nothing caused by you.

This should teach you an important lesson - anything can go wrong with a car - new or old - when you are borrowing from a friend or family member, and the situation can get trickier if someone doesn't have insurance, like for a car collision or a major repair - like the transmission going, but yet because you were driving the car at the particular second when the damage occurred, they may think you should pay, or you may feel guilty.

I had a family member who had an older sports car with a manual transmission (stickshift) and he let my cousin borrow it for a few days. While my cousin had the car, the clutch went out on it, which is a repair that can cost more than $1,000. Yet, my family member said "it's not her fault - it was gonna go sooner or later. Of course my cousin felt bad, but it honestly wasn't her fault, and my family member handled it properly - she knew it had nothing to do with my cousin driving the car, was just a fluke and bad luck, and my family member did the right thing by paying for it to get fixed and not even asking my cousin for any money.

Good luck - I hope it gets resolved and you two can move on and not let it affect your relationship.