Dealership damages vehicle while servicing
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Dealership damages vehicle while servicing
I want to know what legal options are available if a service technician from a Mitsubishi dealership damages my car while servicing it. He took it for a test drive, took a corner too fast, and ended up in a ditch. The dealership has acknowledged it’s at fault and will pay for the repairs if I take it to their mechanic. What about recovering the amount the car has now depreciated because of a serious accident that will be present on a carfax report? Aren’t they liable for negligence?
Asked on June 19, 2009 under Accident Law, Illinois
Answers:
B. B., Member, New Jersey Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 15 years ago | Contributor
If you sued the dealership, all you could expect to win would be the cost of repair.
The dealership should be willing to pay the cost of repair at their mechanic or yours, as long as it was a qualified shop that an insurance company would approve. But they might also be willing to take the wrecked car as a trade-in, for what they would have given you for it undamaged, on a new car, if that's feasible for you, because that might save them some embarrassment about the incident.
And it might be that a lawyer could make that last pitch more effectively, because if nothing else, having a lawyer call them for you makes it very clear that you are very unhappy about this. One place to find an attorney is our website: http://attorneypages.com
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