kr said:
And what would you suggest I do Matt?
After repeated attempts by Hyundai to fix my car I entered into
discussion directly with Hyundai.
Hyundai asked what I wanted. I told them I wanted my car fixed. They
said they would continue to try to fix it for as long as it took to do
so. I asked how long was acceptable? Weeks? Months? Years? How many
attempts? 3? 5? 10? 100? They would not make any promises. They
refused to replace the car with another or return my money despite
repeated repair attempts with no results and the problem still there.
After months of patience I contacted an attorney.
Tell me oh wise one what you would do so that I may gain from your
immeasurable wisdom.
Well, having been involved with one lawsuit in my life (and it'll be my
last), I can tell you that you will be better off trading the vehicle
back to the dealer for one that you like better. Or trade for a
different brand. Sure, you'll lose a little on the trade, but I'll bet
you'll lose a lot less than what you'll spend on legal fees.
I sued, in small claims court, a repair shop who botched a ring and
pinion swap on my 4x4. I sued them for about $1500. They came to court
with a lawyer and I didn't (not supposed to need one in small claims
court, right?). I still won a small judgement of $300, basically, what
it cost to get it fixed correctly by a Chevy dealer, but I didn't get
back anything that I'd paid the original shop (They quoted me $1000 for
the job and then charged me $2000).
However, what happened next shows you how the legal system and lawyers
work. The repair shop owner and his lawyer were livid that they lost
against a lowly citizen. So, they went to the Chevy garage and talked
to their mechanic. I'd written in my statement that in addition to
making loads of noise and running very hot, the rear differential had a
slight oil leak (which it did). When they asked the Chevy mechanic
about the leak, he said he didn't remember seeing a leak and by then the
vehicle had been repaired, including a new pinion seal, so there was no
evidence of a leak. This was totally unrelated to the essence of the
claim, but the lawyer went back to the small claims justice, said I'd
lied in my statement, and convined the justive to file perjury charges
against me! This is a fairly serious offense which can bring jail time.
The lawyer knew full well I hadn't lied, but she also knew that I'd
now HAVE to hire a lawyer to defend myself in county court against this
charge. I ended up spending $3000 to get the perjury charge dismissed.
You do the math. Tell me who won...
Don't believe me though, forge ahead with your lawsuit, but let us know
at the end what the final accounting is.
In my opinion, the best thing to do in a case like this is what I did
when Honda screwed me over on an Accord 22 years ago. Never buy another
product from the company, and tell everyone you come across about your
experience. If Honda had treated me right, I'd have purchased at least
four more new Honda's in the intervening two decades. And I know that
I've personally convince at least two other people to not buy a Honda.
That has cost Honda more than any suit I could have filed and has cost
me virtually nothing.
Matt
