ByeEnzo said:
Well, I went with my counsel today to see what the had to offer in terms of my damaged GT. The chief of their service and parts dept., and an underling to the GM met with us. I guess the GM was either too busy or wanted to avoid me. They responded to my demand letter of Monday. They had one of their adjusters look at my car at the body shop. This guy has no knowledge of the actual mechanism of the accident (push, swapped ends, ditch etc. - I still can't get a written or verbal account) but his report amazingly implies that some of the nose damage to my car occurred prior to the mechanic wrecking my car on 12/29/05. The photos show scratches going in 2 directions on the front aero pan under the car. Also the nose is fractured underneath where the pan attaches, and the clearshield is intact over it with some dirt under the clearshield. Their "expert" says that indicates previous damage before the shunt on 12/29. Never occurred to them that spinning the car and running the nose of the car into a ditch may have caused the "fracture" and dirt to get under the edge of the clearshield, in addition to explaining scratches in 2 directions. The oil cooler fins up front are also bent but the core is intact, but he says that may or may not have been caused by the wreck. Now gentlemen, I got this car with 3.9 miles on it and have not gotten near hitting a curb, driveway, or anything else up front. When the clearshield was applied, I inspected all aspects of the car and there was no damage to the nose top or bottom. They are just trying to throw a red herring into this whole deal to diffuse my claim (the glove doesn't fit). They also found corrosion on the aluminium under pans from the blown up battery. Not their problem, but this probably would not have been picked up if they hadn't wrecked my car and pulled the pans. Due to their generosity, Ford warranty will cover those parts, but it shows how marginal they are with repairs in general. My attorney friend and I got more info out of them than expected, in terms of where they are heading with this. After listening to this nonsense, we got up and left. We told them before they started their "dog and pony show" that only options one (new car) or two (refund) were viable and this car is "off the table". Based on today's "cluster" and general coverup of the incident, I'm inclined to start firing off letters on legal letterhead. I asked them what would happen if Wayne Huizinga (CEO of AutoNation) had a mechanic wreck his GT...would he get a new one? No answer from the oafs. Their total for damages is about $6K for parts and labor, but this does not include a new oil cooler, which they seem to want to ignore. Question to forum members... Knowing the history of this 350 mile '05 GT, how much if any do you think it is diminished in value? What would you do in this situation? I may go silent for a while, once the legal wrangling and letters go out. Thanks for all your advice. Peace, AC
Gee -whiz, really a shame, but not a shock. First, as already stated, you will not get anything in writing from the dealer admitting culpability. If someone at the dealer levels writes on a letterhead that they wrecked your car, their career will be equally wrecked at AUTO NATION.
You can see the old rule of deny, deny, deny is coming into play,
Second, take a referal from John Draenas and get a TEXAS lawyer that really understand collector cars, not someone that is learning from a forum and does real estate or general law, it will cost you more in the long run. Most likely you will need an appraisal from a senior appraiser specializing in cars and a member of the American Society of Appraisers. For what it is worth I have been doing market reviews and auction analysis for Car Collector, Hemmings, Victory Lane and Sports Car Market, so I would like to think I understand the basics, but in a court of law without the ASA affliations my testimony would not hold water.
Keep in mind, when an Impala gets banged up, a reasonable owner should be willing to take back a properly repaired car, and might be sucessful in getting a deminished value claim, dependednt on wording on the insurance policy.
But.... collector cars are different, unless this can be explained rationally
to a judge in a pretrial conference you are behind the 8ball. Chance are you won't be in a trial, but a pretrail conference is very likely.
If you cars damage will be on a Carfax report you have major concerns and very serious deminished values. I would be very concerned about concealed damage as well, so you are correct in asking for a refund or a new car.
The bad news is your legal expenses and other costs will be out of pocket.
Not a good day at all, I feel for you.
