Expert: Charles W. Field - 7/31/2007

Question
I am writing to see if I have any recourse.  I brought my car to a auto shop last Wednesday and told the attendant that I thought I needed an alternator because; the car's battery/brake light flashes when I accelerate and goes out when I take my foot off the gas pedal.  Now I have no power and cannot start the car.  I was told that the mechanic was out of town and would look at the car on Thursday.  The next day I telephoned the shop and was told that it was my distributor was bad--so the mechanic put in a new distributor.  The next day I was told that the problem may be in the electrical system. Since I could not speak with the mechanic, I went to the shop after work.  The mechanic ask me to come with him--he opened the hood and began to me that he had burned out two distributors.  He explained that something in the electrical system was grounding out the power.  I ask him what about the alternator.  He was puzzled.  I told him why I brought the car in in the first place and he said that he was not aware that I had ask to have the alternator checked.  He then said that the alternator could be the problem and thank me for bringing that to his attention.  By now he had dismantled part of electrical system while studying the electrical schematic.  This is now Saturday afternoon.  He ask me to wait until Monday and he would order an alternator and that the job should not take any longer than two hours.  I telephoned the shop on Monday afternoon about 2:00 P.M. and was told that the alternator had not arrived yet--the mechanic said that he would call me when the work was completed.  I did not hear from the shop Monday and decided that one more day would not hurt.  The following day (Tuesday) I telephoned to see if the car was ready and was told that the mechanic had a personal emergency; however, he left a message at the shop stating that the car has to be taken to the dealership.  My car has been with the shop for six days and all I wanted was an alternator.  The reason I brought my car in is because I was told by another shop that the alternator was failing.  I was not prepared to leave the car then (yes it was still running).  I was quoted a price of $630 (parts and labor), now I am afraid that the cost may skyrocket with the dealership involved.  I did not ask to have the electrical system dismantled (I only wanted an alternator).  This was problem of miscommunication between the original attendant and the mechanic.  My question is, am I liable for additional costs that the dealership will probably tack on to my bill?

Answer
The answer may well depend on the reasonableness, within the industry, of the folks you have dealt with. Your first order of business is to get an independent mechanic that you trust to go over all your documentation and the timeline of events. If you wind up wanting to pursue legal action, you will need this input anyway. Then, based upon what your mechanic says, you might want to consider consulting with a local attorney about what remedies may be available to you under the laws of your state as well as filing a claim in small claims court for unnecessary and/or wrongly performed work.