Guys, let me help you recap the incident.

There's a recall for EVO for water leakage... my brother checked his car and found that his carpet is damp. He thought it was caused by the recall he read about... without knowing it was caused by a hole drilled by the Audio Shop when he took his car in to get a Security System installed. He took the car to the dealer and expect it was cause from the recall they have on the EVO.

Dealer checked the car and turns out it was due to the hole drilled by the Audio shop. He contact the Audio shop and the Audio shop won't pay the charge. The Audio place is willing to work with him but won't cover any cost as of now. Now back to the dealer, since they put the labor into the car, they expect him to pay up the labor and what not.

Advice again... work with the dealer to get your car out. We'll take legal action later. Just don't do anything illegal for the time being. Think...

 

no doubt big bro... i just got back from them. they're willing to cut the charges over half. it's freaking long's monkey ***' fault, mostly, and the ignorance of a supervisor. i talked to the shop manager, and he's cool. we're trying to get my car out today...

 

What the heck did Long do?

Here's the info. I got from someone who's been through small claim court:

Your brother needs to call or go to the county couthouse that the action took place in. St. Paul is Ramsey, Mpls is Hennipen. He needs to talk to the small claims court administrator and get the paperwork. Then he needs to fill it all out and then submit it to the same administrator with the admintsrative fee, which should be in the neighborhood of 50.00.

I do not think there is a minumum, but there is a maximum of I believe 5000.00.

How long? well it depends on the backlog in that county, Ramsey is worse then Hennipen for the backlog, usually. He will get a court date where he will be able to present his evidence to the judge as does the defendant. After hearing all the evidence the Judge will usually send both parties out of the court room to try and reach an agreement. If he is not able to reach an agreement the judge will take the information and make a decision within a week I believe. He will then mail you a copy of the decision.

Now just because you win does not get him his money, if he chooses not to pay, then your brother will have to get the court to enforce the judgement. The shop then would have a lien against the property or the business. I am not quite as sure of these details as Toyota paid me within a week. But the court administretor would be able to give more details on that part.

Hope that helps

 

I hope I'm not too late in replying but here goes anyway. BTW this is good advice for everybody.

The dealer (or mechanic/shop/etc.) can NOT hold your car for payment of any kind. This includes work that you DID authorize and possibly not satisfied with. The dealer holding the car without your consent falls under the Tort of Conversion and is illegal. They can put a lein on the car for the work done but they can NOT keep your car.

I would demand that they release your car or call the police and have them come and get your car back. After that you can fight them and the stereo company about the money.

eNut

 

just like i said..... unless you signed something you are not libabe by "law"............ i have one of the biggest law firms in NYC as a tenant in the building i run . Proskuer and lerose...... i talk to these lawyers all the time...on a everyday basis...... and they are the ones that told me if there is no contract signed for work you can't be held responisible for things you didn't authorize them to do..... if you agreed verbally to pay then they can try to make you pay but it won't hold up in court unless they have it recorded....
"go get your car back"

 

here's the follow-up. sorry it took so long, but i've been pissing and moaning about everything...

sort of speak, i went ahead and confronted the shop manager. after careful detailing fo the recall procedures and the steps taken by the mechani, we came to a conclusion that all work was done according to recall procedures, and that it would be treated as such. nothing was done to "fix" the problem, which was NOt gonna be covered by recall and warranty, so the manager asked if i was gonna be paying for anything. i told him that it would depend on what he would do for me.

after a few more hours, we came to an agreement that they would fix my leak, give me new carpet, pay for half of my car rental, and the total would be no more than they price of labor... roughly $350. i looked at the invoice for the carpet, it it figures roughly $500!! ouch! oh well, i went ahead and decided to go through with the agreement because i was sick and tired of the focus, and of the other store... legal actions are still to come for the full price of what i had to pay... thanks for all of your help in my ****ed up experience!