Hi guys. I need some advice. October last year I a brought my Nissan 300ZX TT, had been recently re-sprayed and was in exceptionally good condition. For the road worthy I had to put new catalytic converters in. I took the car to an exhaust center for this job. During the course of having the exhaust fixed the car had the front lower lip ripped and cracked while it was put on the hoist. (Owned the car less then two weeks and it was already damaged.!!!) I noticed this when I picked it up, I was told to go get a quote for the repairs. What has now been three months of time wasting, getting my own quotes, taking it to their repairer for a quote (waste of time) . etc etc. The quote came down to replacement bar, the plastic couldn't be welded, $400, paint $300, remove and re fit approx $150. Now I've been told the guy can get it fixed for $250 they are going to fibre glass or resin the the damaged area. Where do I stand here? Do I have the right to demand a new front bar? If I have to I'll take this one to court, but what do I have the right to ask for? Thanks for any advice / help. Cheers..Clint
Mate is the bar fiberglass? Fiberglass can be repaired, and you would only except the car back, when it was repaired to your satisfaction and nothing less. i dont think you can demand a new bar if the old one is repairable. I just hate these kind off stories, F/wits should not touch a zed!
Pics of damage First Pic Second Pic Third Pic Its the standard front bar, so its plastic. But eveyone who looked at it said it was a plastic that couldn't be welded. I quoted the cost of a second hand replacment front bar, for $400 from a reco place. The brand new item is worth double that.
I see what you mean clint That bar is screwed beond repair, i wouldnt want it back on my car even if it could be repaired. Frount the dudes and hit for a new bar fitted and painted,if they dont go for that,the fall back would be second hand fitted and painted. The fact is they damaged it, and they should restore back to its condition before it entered there shop (hope you have some shots off it in one piece) they are libile! if all else fails get some legal advise, it usually only takes a phone call from someone like that to get some action.:thumbsup:
Cheers I think i'm now at the point where i'll have to take legal action. The shop is now just wasting my time.
Re Bar Im no lawyer however courts generally rule on whats is fair and just. It is then fair and reasonable for the shop to rectify the damage to the same condition as it was before hand. How they achieve this is their discretion not yours. You must allow them the opportunity to rectify before legal action against them otherwise they will argue they werent offered the chance to rectify your honour. Failing that sue the incompetent bastards. My 4cents worth.
hmm Yeah i hear what your saying. And my only defense to this is, i had to point the damage out to them. I was lucky i even saw it before i left the place or i would have had no chance. They didn't want anything to do with it, sent me off to get a repair quote. Now when it turns up to be expensive they start looking for the cheap crap way of doing it. The other thing is i don't want to give my car back to them. Its already been 3 months, who knows how long they'll take the car for if i do give it to them. I want a cash settlement so i can have the car repaired by a repairer i trust. not sure if i have that right though. Plus the last three months has been a merry go round of time wasteing. I rang them today, i was told they had a guy who could fix it for $250, but he is no on holiday till the end of jan, and they couldn't remember his business name. This quote comes out of no where, they can't provide me it in writting, nore has this guy even seen the car!. So i've put a letter together tonight, asking for a settlement in 7 days, before we settle it in court.
You did the right thing You have alowed them time to repair your cars damage, they are now just hopeing youll go away, or except some shitty fix. go the legal way,it may take a bit longer, but it will be repaired correctly:thumbsup:
That's easily repairable ...>> They should be able to repair it so that you'd never know it had been damaged. I had my original bar repaired after someone reversed a tow bar though it.
Give them hell You shouldn't have to deal with drawn out crap like that. I had a mate that had a drawn out running with some mechanics who screwed him over, they offered him settlement that he wasn't happy with so he just took them to the small claims tribunal (part of VCAT) and got what he wanted and what he was entitled to. You don't need a lawyer or anything.... Just go and state your side of the story to the judge who hears the same stories every day about people trying to dodge their way out of rectifying their mistakes. From what you've said I wouldn't be to worried about losing, because the guys from the garage wont be prepared to state any case. Ofcourse I can't gaurentee anything.... but I have a mate who works there so I've got a fair idea of how it all works. Anyways, goodluck with it. P.S. Give me a PM if you want me to ask my mate who works at VCAT what he thinks of it all.
You cannot fibreglass a plastic bar to repair it. The shit wont stick to the plastic. Easy as that! The dicks probably think it is fibreglass.
Exact same thing happened to me. Only I didn't know if it happened coming off the hoist at the exhaust shop or the suspension shop as I only noticed it the next day. I bit the bullet and ended up buying a perfect used bar for $200 and getting it painted and fitted for another $350. I was happy with this because the first bar wasn't perfect, although acceptable. I would get what money I could out of the exhaust shop and arrange to fix it how you like.
clint ..contact neshy, forum member, for preliminary legal advice .. ..and at the end, i would think that you should not settle for less than total restoration back to the condition in which you delivered the vehicle to them .. they are stuffing you around, big time ..!!!:thumbsdown:
Clint even the polyurathane bars can be fixed, depending on how bad the damage is, yes i have seen the damage but can't comment whether it's fixable or not. There is a place in Moorabbin can't remember the name thought try them. Maybe someone else will know the companies name. Cheers Joe.
Take it to a plastic welder. I've had this done to various cars before. The results are very good, and generally result in the plastic weld being stronger than the surrounding material. Not expensive at all.
