So, I hit the road at about 9:00 this morning, to wrap up my last-minute holiday business. I was driving by the place where I usually go to get my oil changed...saw they were open, with no line...saw that I was about 500 miles overdue...figured, ah, why not?

They got me in and out smoothly in about fifteen minutes. I head up the hill to the shopping plaza, about three miles away; as I'm pulling into the lot, my car...just...dies. Of course, I'm like, "FUCK." Try to start it again- nothing. Not a sound.

35 minutes and one tow later, I'm back down at the lube place, pretty hot under the collar. Turns out that whichever assclown changed the filter didn't make sure to pull off the old O-ring, so all of the oil shot out of the doubled-up seal. I called my brother-in-law, who's a mechanic, and he told me that, for my car to have died as a result of this, there had definitely been some significant damage. He said that, even if they could fix it up and I drove it out of there, I should take it to the dealership garage on Monday for a full eval of the engine, and proceed from there re. the lube garage.

Well, they had it up on the lift...I was hovering very close by, didn't want to miss a word or a look that was exchanged. Bottom line is, my engine (and this is an '05 car with only 57,000 miles) is fucked. They couldn't even turn it by hand.
Merry fuckin' Christmas.

I talked to the owner at length- he *seems* to want to take care of it fully ("I'm behind this 110%, we'll take care of it, whether it's out of my pocket, or done thru my insurance...")...but we'll see.

I left the car there, and he said to call early Monday "...and we'll talk about where we're at and come up with a game plan." He gave me a '97 Taurus to drive around in; I quickly found that the tires suck and that it has tranny problems. Tried to bring it back, and the owner was gone. Called him at his home; now I have to go out tomorrow morning to meet him there and exchange for a better vehicle. Utterly ridiculous. I gave the guy no quarter regarding where I stand; I'm going to be taken care of, one way or the other (I really hope we can stay out of court...but I'm fully ready to go, if it comes to that).

ANYWAY...to add insult to injury...I arrive home today to find that I missed the mook delivery (apparently, it needs to be signed for...? Did everyone need to sign for theirs, or am I just special?), and now have to wait 'til Monday morning to go pick it up....dammit! Mook goodness would've been a nice balm, at the end of this day...

Alright...rant over.....thanks for indulging me....

This almost exact same thing happened to a buddy of mine but it was with the rear end. The drained all the fluids and didn't fill it back up. Anyway long story short. He burned up the rear end and damaged the drive shaft. He ended up having to sue the place to get it all taken care off. So keep anything and everything the give you and go ahead and find out engine prices and everything. Fucking sucks man sorry to hear.

ungawa222 - That friggin sucks so close to the holiday - ass wipes prob wanted to go home to get there shopping done - Hope everything works out for the best.

WRT signing for the mook - I also had to sign for mine

Sorry to hear that it happened. Some advice..get everything down in writing immediately. Even have them sign something that says they'll take care of it.

It'll back up your case in case something else goes wrong and they deny it.

Thanks guys; my anger has steadily dissipated since I got home...

Yeah, I've kept good track of everything that's gone down thus far; it helps, too, that the cop who arrived at the scene of my breakdown has been super-helpful. He called me at home about 45 minutes ago to ask about what happened after I got back to the garage, and to say that I should feel free to call him as a witness should this end up in court. Add to that my wife's brother's expert input on this situation, and I think I'm in pretty good shape. It'll all work out in the end (I'll at least get a new engine out of the deal), even if it might be a pain in the ass gettting there.

Remember too that part of your damages here is reduction in the residual value of the car ... that is, after the repairs, it's either got a repaired engine, or a replacement one (probably a rebuilt, not new) and is no longer 'numbers-matching,' and thus it is worth less than it would have been if this had never happened.

This is also true in almost any accident beyond a ding. In an accident, whatever insurance covers the damage is also liable for the reduced residual value, but unless you bring it up and claim it, they will simply NEVER pay it voluntarily. There are companies online that will (for a fee) assess the impact on the residual value and give you a number. My sis did this after an accident recently, and the residual-value check was another $1600 beyond the cost of her repairs.

CC

sorry to hear this - wishing u more luck in ´08!!!

...no mook in berlin either but lots of tourists, some from us and a
which is great - however family & girlfriend, both will appreciate
being mookless a lot!