Blown engine. Need legal advice.

[Taxman]

Whoo, that's good to know! Your a good man Jaye!

He's one of my best friends. He'll buy it from me though. He won't let me give it to him. That's just how he is. He's a good sum'bitch.

 

[weather man]

Small claims court be best bet. Shops hate going and will usually try and work something out.

 

[skwerl]

Sounds like the motor had a lot of issues when it showed up. The shop didn't do the install, and was the second shop to try and tune it. If all they did was hook it up to the dyno and press the gas pedal, how could you think to hold them accountable for unresolved, preexisting issues which led to the motor going kaplooey?

 

[Rasmus]

I don't know of any shop with a dyno around here, that makes customers sign anything.

Also, I'm going to play the Devil's Advocate for once, and say that in this situation, I don't see how the shop can be held liable; stock 3V with a blower on it means shit happens. The shop didn't do the install or build the motor, and it sounds like the car had a bunch of issues before it showed up there. I do feel bad for him, though. Windowed shortblock: been there, done that.

 

[05xgt]

Ever consider consulting an atty?

 

[Steedman07]

If it were me, I would take this as an opportunity to help the guy out, and at the same time, maybe make back some money in up-sell. Its like going to a service department for a free brake inspection and a free oil change, then the selling begins..

But I agree with most everyone, they arent liable for shit, nor should they be legally..

 

[psfracer]

Maybe I missed it, but how much power and how much boost was he trying to get out of the motor and procharger?

 

[46Tbird]

A good friend of mine just put a Procharger on my buddy's 05 GT with the stock block. The engine had less than 35k miles on it. He took it to a local shop to get it tuned and there was some issues with it running right. They couldn't get it worked out so he took it to a different shop. Turned out to be a bad blow off valve or something to that effect. Swapped it out and they put it on the Dyno and it ran out of fuel at 4500 rpm even though he put a BAP on it. They charged him to put a GT500 fuel system in it. Then they put it on the Dyno and blew his motor up. It there a rod. Prior to this it had shown several codes relating to the 2,3, & 4 cylinders. They said it needed plugs or whatever and put new plugs in. They never did a compression test or even suggested something might be wrong.

Your buddy brought them a car that had a bad blowoff valve, a bad BAP, a stock engine, a blower installed by 'a friend', and it came from a shop that couldn't get it tuned right.

So the shop that didn't do any of the fuel system and supercharger installation, and didn't do the initial tuning is now liable for the engine because it blew up on their dyno when they were trying to iron out the issues that they didn't cause in the first place?

Good luck with that one.

 

[CPRsm]

No insurance I know of will pay out on something like this unless theyare sued and lose.

I don't think you're friend has much of a leg to stand on unless he can prove it was a shop mistake or negligence. Just because they were tuning it when it let go doesn't automatically mean they are to blame or should be responsible in any way. That's not to say they had no part. Just that it's not a game of tag and who ever is tagged last, foots the bill. Know what I mean?

 

[Taxman]

Atty agrees. No recourse. It just sucks all the way around.

 

[fdjizm]

Shitty situation I feel bad for him, if he brought and unmolested car there it would probably be a different story.
You can't account for what other shops did, it could have been one run away from blowing up in the last place because of what they did or did not do.

 

[HellsBells]

Atty agrees. No recourse. It just sucks all the way around.

I'll chime in here even though you have your answer already.

There's no cause of action here. Waiver or no waiver (and then there's the whole legal question of if the waiver is enforceable, most waivers of negligence are not legally enforceable). I think if you were to take this to court, the defense would likely argue assumption of the risk, amongst many other things, if your buddy's case even survived a motion to dismiss (unlikely).

 

[Taxman]

Your buddy brought them a car that had a bad blowoff valve, a bad BAP, a stock engine, a blower installed by 'a friend', and it came from a shop that couldn't get it tuned right.

So the shop that didn't do any of the fuel system and supercharger installation, and didn't do the initial tuning is now liable for the engine because it blew up on their dyno when they were trying to iron out the issues that they didn't cause in the first place?

Good luck with that one.

Yeah I know T-bird. I was just mad. It just sucks.

 

[braupe]

I'm sorry to hear this about your pals motor. Thats never fun.

As far as the dyno waiver, I have never had to sign one the fews times that I have hit the rollers.

What are you replacing your motor with Jaye?

 

[Doug M]

Sorry about your friend's ride Jaye!, good luck to Y'all.

 

[Stang2003]

I don't think the whole blame is being put on the shop just think he would like a little help from them on the replacement. Cut some of the labor or sell parts at cost something. I know the shop and they are great people and honest people and I truly believe they will help come up with a fix.

 

[klaw]

Any time you modify you take chances. I can't see how this could be on the shop. For that matter I can't see how your friend could even think of asking them to cover it. It sucks but it's the chance you take.

This!

I realize that and so does he, but there are safe modifications. If they thought there was even a chance his motor wouldn't hold a stock Procharger then they should've told him. He wasn't pushing the limits at all.

Why should they tell him anything? He should have done his own homework. He obviously was pushing the limits or it wouldn't have puked all over the floor.

Small claims court be best bet. Shops hate going and will usually try and work something out.

really? extortion?


My 0.02:

However "nice" or "good guy" this car owner is, it sounds like he's playing a game well above his financial league. Now that it's gone bad for him, he's trying to stay in the game by looking for ways to get everyone else to pay for his problems. He needs to suck it up and deal with it. If you guys are his friends you'll tell him that rather than looking for atty's etc. This whole scenario belongs in the WTF thread.

 

[weather man]

really? extortion?

You take the money to tune. You take some responsibility for what happens. Motors don't pop by themselves.

 

[muztangman93]

10psi on a procharger is capable of 500rwhp so that's definitely at the limits. Ive signed wavers at some and not at others. If it pops on the dyno it pops its unfortunate. Would be nice if there was an insurance that would cover it. Sounds like there were a lot of issues involved before they got ahold of it themselves. All could have been contributing factors. Plus they literally could have done something stupid by accident an it happen. There is still nothing that can really be done.

 

[Bill220]

10psi on a procharger is capable of 500rwhp so that's definitely at the limits. Ive signed wavers at some and not at others. If it pops on the dyno it pops its unfortunate. Would be nice if there was an insurance that would cover it. Sounds like there were a lot of issues involved before they got ahold of it themselves. All could have been contributing factors. Plus they literally could have done something stupid by accident an it happen. There is still nothing that can really be done.

No insurance company would go near that kind of risk. There are way too many variables.