Our Car Saga Part 3

In April I made another trip out to his place with a friend. If the car was outside, I was going to drive it home. But no, it was either inside his garage or he was driving it. We knocked on the door and tried calling him but no response. We even drove around the area to see if we might see him driving it. He said he'd leave it outside for us to pick up.

Then, we got someone who does repossession work to contact the mechanic and then go get our car for us. When he went to the mechanic's house he didn't answer the door. Through the window he saw him sitting in the living room watching TV but he looked comatose. So, he contacted the police thinking the guy was dead or very ill. Finally, when the police arrived he came to the door proving that he was indeed alive.

But, he refused to give up our car to the repossessor. He claimed we signed papers authorizing him to hold the car and work on it - that was another big fat lie.

The police couldn't intervene because this was purely a civil matter. Once you willingly give your keys to someone you can't claim your car was stolen.

So, we were done with the games, lies & excuses and we contacted a lawyer.

Our sad car saga Part 2

What came next was the circus of lies and/or excuses:

I was sick.
I was visiting my sister.
The electricity went out.
The weather is too cold.
I had to fix my relatives car first.
I have to wait for someone else to grind down the valve.
I'm finished and I'll bring the car tomorrow (heard this one several times).
The car's finished and you can come get the car (except the car was locked in his garage and he was conveniently not around when we scheduled to get the car).
I didn't get your messages.
I didn't get your letters.
I didn't think you wanted you wanted your car.
I couldn't work because the weather wasn't sunny.

And so it went until April. Then, we took the next step...

Our Sad Car Saga, Part 1

Last January our poor Malibu had a valve spring break in the engine. We towed it to a repair shop who quoted us a price of $2,500 to $4,500 depending on the type of repairs. Yikes! That was as much or more than the car was worth.

Then, we remembered a guy who was a friend of a friend. He had done work for us before and we thought he might do the work cheaper. He works out of his own garage but is a master mechanic.

He verbally quoted us a price of $1,200 to $1,400 with a down payment of $800. The only caveat was that he couldn't finish the work for a week.

We called a few days later to see how he was doing with the car. He said he wasn't done yet.

Then, a week or so after he was working on the car, I am very certain I saw him towing the car away from the original mechanic's place. He claimed he was working on the car when he hadn't even begun to work on it. This was the first lie of many lies to come.