Basically I have an old car. All estimates given were verbal. After everything, the total ended up being 6k of work. I can finance about 3, which leaves 3 for me to make cash. In the event that I cannot pay the bill, what will happen?
I assume my car will get repossessed by the mechanic and sold at auction, but how will this affect my credit? Will this affect my credit at all? Has anyone had a similar situation where they were able to settle on the final bill? Any insight is welcome and appreciated
Dont leave out the chance they can take you to court.
DIYer advice: buy a bicycle. I know that sounds harsh. Also buy some cheap tools and learn how to work on cars. When I was young & broke, my car wouldn’t start so I rode my bike to work in the rain. Great incentive for learning how to work on cars. If you have a long commute, then you need to move closer to work. You can’t afford a long commute.
My son is a doctor and rides his bike to work every day, even in rain or snow. He does it for exercise, but there you go.
Most likely will not give you the car back until paid. In my state- Eventually if the bill isn’t paid he can file for a mechanics lien and get title to the car. It’s a process, but doable. The shop doesn’t want to do this, they have better things to do. But a shop can’t have cars there forever.
It depends if you own the car outright and how much it’s worth and if the shop would want the car instead of their payment. Most likely what will happen if they don’t want the car they’ll sue you and the judge will make you pay and if you don’t have money they’ll go after any property you own. Don’t forget depending what state they can also add storage fees for up to 60 days on top of the bill.
What’s thw year make and model car? What condition is it in? Maybe you can offer them the title or the title and partial payment.
It doesn’t matter if they own it out right. A mechanics lien overrides almost everything. We put a lien on a car that the customer still owed on. The dealer attempted to repo the car, but we wouldn’t let them unless they paid the bill. For whatever reason the car dealer let us keep the car and we sold it for double what the bill was on the car
What you mean it doesnt matter! It makes a world of difference if it’s paid for or not. If you put a lien on a financed vehicle, the bank pays or takes care of it almost instantly. Whereas if it’s owned outright you have to go through court and sue and then still not get paid.
We have put liens on vehicles that we’re financed and vehicles that weren’t. Neither involved what you mentioned. The dealer that financed the vehicle didn’t want to pay the full bill, we put a lien on it and sold the vehicle. The last one we did was owned outright by the customer. We put a lien on the vehicle and now have a title in our name. No court involved.
What you mean it doesnt matter! It makes a world of difference if it’s paid for or not. If you put a lien on a financed vehicle, the bank pays or takes care of it almost instantly. Whereas if it’s owned outright you have to go through court and sue and then still not get paid.
Well that’s unfortunate for everyone. I’ve had that happen. Someone ok’s work that’s more than the car’s value. Then they don’t want to pay and pick up because they have second thoughts about being upside down. So now the shop has a lot flower sitting around. I get it, repairs are expensive, but very frustrating.
Have you talked to your mechanic about the bill? Most mechanics will try to work with you about bills, especially big ones
I’d like to hear more about how the bill got higher than the estimate. That could likely play in to your options.
I once dropped off a 68 impala because my brakes didn’t work. I was 18yo and the car was not in good shape. I asked my boss to pick me up from the shop on his way to work and I’d arranged transportation home from there when I got off work. He drove a brand new Lexus, the first model they ever made. Anyway, they called my work a couple hours later and said I need front brakes and brake hoses and it would cost less than $200 and would be done the next day. I said ok. Long story short (too late) the bill was $1800. They said that basically everything they touch broke from rust. That had installed new calipers, brake lines, ball joints, tie rod ends, front shocks and a master cylinder and sent it to another shop for an alignment. I told them I’d payed $600 for the car and didn’t have the money. I asked why they hadn’t called me before they did the work and they basically said they figured it was a project car and my dad should pay. They saw my boss and his car and thought they had a rich kid and his muscle car. I’m the end my boss did take care of the issue and all I paid for was the original $200. Man that car rode so good after that!
Why don’t you post here what’s wrong with the car and then get advice on what to do, not do, try to diy?
Best bet see if you can make payment take on a second job if you have too
Can sue you and go after you personally for unpaid bill by getting a judgment against you. And send it to collections… so it can definitely damage your credit… and I would think they will go after you in court… technically they legally have to… because they have a car just sitting on there lot in order to reprocess the car and take it at value for part of repairs they have to get court order and sue you for damages
So to keep you out of all of this is best way for all parties involved… is to try to make a settlement… maybe you surrender your car and pay 2k… something like that… if it goes to court and your a no show they will get default judgment against you… and you will owe 6k+ and intrest is about 9% arp… shop will probably take a big loss and send it over to collections and sell your debt to a lawyer for pennies on the dollar. And this lawyer will try to collect the will put a lean on the car for sure… but will try to collect money from your work by garnishing your wages if they can… and will be a hold on you selling anything like house or cars for 10 year’s… length of a judgment can go longer if they refile it but probably not… so if you try selling a house you will have to pay collection company intrest and dollar amount of judgment… at the time… if you try fighting it in court the hear say of cost for repairs really wouldn’t help you too much because if they are smart they will pull up call record’s… remember it’s who ever wins will have to show with abundance of evidence showing you more then not agreed to cost… you can declare bankruptcy chapter 13 or 7… depending on which is best for you… I would first try to settle it. If not go to court and try to fight it all else fails bankruptcy or try to wait it out for it to expire in 10 year’s… but I can’t give you legal advice but this I think are your options and what will happen… but best option is try to settlement and see if they agree if they really want to push it and refuse then court and or bankruptcy and make them lose it all… so that’s why I would say settlement is best for all parties involved…
Don’t stiff your mechanic. Your duty next time is to get an estimate in writing and advise your mechanic what your spending cap is, and any repairs beyond that are with your approval only.
Your mechanic has to eat, too. It’s not in his job description to alleviate your financial woes.
I believe in most states, it’s the mechanics responsibility to give a written estimate, and it’s also state law in many states that the shop requires a signature before performing work. I’ve been a mechanic with my own business for over 40 years and it’s been a common practice for my business to do this.
Verbal authorization is allowed in some states. Written is always better. That still doesn’t stop a customer from being a scum bag and abandoning the vehicle after authorizing the repairs. If the work we are doing approaches the value of the vehicle we will get a 50% deposit on the repair. If the work is much less than the value of the vehicle, and the customer doesn’t pay, we put a lien on the vehicle and sell it and are allowed to keep the profit.