Hey whatsup everyone. This is my first thread and my last one as well. I haven’t really posted a lot on this forum but instead just read everything and really just absorbed all the information. You guys have been a great help throughout the years and I thank everyone for everything you’ve done.
Now for my story. I bought my car in May of 2008, an 05 se 6 speed and started modding it as soon as I bought it. My mods included the stillen front lip, street scene grille, roof spoiler, 2007 rear spoiler, nwp spacers, nwp bop, r2c intake, motegi racing rims.
On Saturday I dropped my car off at my mechanics house, who lives in the town over from me because I had to go back to school for the week. He was to drive the car to his shop in Clifton to install new shocks and struts, and he did just that and they were installed, I’m assuming on Tuesday. I got a call from my mom at around 5 am from my mom telling me my car had been totaled. According to her the Chatham police department contacted her telling her that my mechanic had crashed into a telephone pole. But that’s not the end of the story, this happened at 4 am. When I heard this I was devastated. What I know so far is he drove all around the state of New Jersey “test driving” the car. So far I know he was in Edison, where he rear ended another car, and side swiped a guard rail, and another incident in Morristown which I’m not currently aware of. Some mechanic right lol. Apparently he wasn’t intoxicated or under the influence of anything, and he claims he doesn’t know what happened and that he was test driving the car on 287 and heard a noise from the tire. First off whats a mechanic doing with a customer’s car at 4 am? So as of right now, were assuming he basically went for a joy ride in my car throughout the state of New Jersey and his reason is he doesnt know what he was doing and he admitted to getting in a fight with his wife.

Anyway heres photos of before









And heres the After
(Note:my car was spotless before i dropped it off, no food or anything)






Well its been great brothers. I loved my Maxima. I'll always have respect for fellow Maximas. I've learned so much from this forum. Thanks to everyone. Enjoy your cars. Peace

 

Crazy!

 

sorry to hear man, what an a$$ mechanic. hope you'll get good $$ for a new car, any in mind?

 

wow thats crazy!! i hope everything works out in your favor.. i donno what i'd do to the mechanic..

 

Wow man...unfortunately you wouldn't get much for suing the *****, you're only going to get what insurance pays out, presumably his business insurance will cover it. Get everything you can for the inconvenience of the situation, at least 3-5k over blue book retail should be your goal...plus anything you recently invested in with respect to Mods.

I'm still dumbfounded by this...especially all that food in the car...WTF???

 

WTF happened to your shifter handle??? Did he take it with him?

 

I'd sue his ***.

 

Ok my mom got off the phone with the insurance company today. There giving me $12420 for the car. Not bad. But my insurance is now going after his insurance and his business insurance, so we'll see what happens with that. My mom also talked to him, he said he'd pay for everything and that he admitted to fighting with his wife, which is why he had all the food and cigarettes and garbage in my car. My moms also going to try and get some cash out of him because of the fact that i put so much money into the car. I guess we'll see what happens.

O yea i pulled the shift **** off. It was declared totaled. i figured id keep a little something of babys'

 

That fool is a piece of **** and I hope he gets what he deserves. Your ride was beautiful and it was great having you on the forum.


Are you getting compensation for all the damages and everything? What are you getting next?

 

Sorry situation get a lawyer and sue Mental anguish,lost time ,and inconvience etc

 

Speechless!!!!

 

This is absolutely crazy, the ***** on this guy

 

damn dude, sounds like that seinfeld episode where the crazy mechanic steals jerry's car

 

 

wow **** was clean i cant even look at it after the fact... it sucks bro i live up near clifton too wheres this shop at??

 

Wow, what a *****. I am amazed at the ***** it take to do this to someone else's property just b/c he was pissed at his wife. You know he did it on purpose and it wasn't an accident. I'm sure he burned out your clutch and trans as he ragged the hell out of your car. Soory for your loss. get yourself a new car and a new mechanic and let us know how it works out for you.

 

I understand your situation. I had a 91 Chevy Z71 I dropped off for a mechanic to fix/repaint/restore up in south carolina. he kept it for a month and called me once a week to tell me how great the progress was coming. then three weeks went by and he wasnt answering his phone or calling me back so i went up there to check on it and it was at the bottom of a hill at his house with dents all over it and a tire missing. total damage was $7k but i could only sue for the amount of the truck ($1500). long story short i brought it back to atlanta and got everything fixed and running again.

three years later i still own it and i wouldnt sell it for anything.

 

You can sue him but he is probably impecunious so you would get a hallow judgment. Its best to take the money and let the insurance duke it out.

 

sorry to hear about your ride. that mechanic is a complete a**bag. hope to see you back in the forum soon

 

Not so cool. I don't know what I would do if this happens to me.

 

the shop was near the pathmark off of 46. i think its Paulison ave.
I went to a lawyer who is a family friend and they said to try and handle it personally with him and if he doesnt cooperate then come back. My moms trying to get at least 5 grand out of him, for all the money i put into the car and all the stuff he put me through and if he doesn't comply then were going back to the lawyer.

 

$5,000? Thats it?

 

im trying to be realistic since i bought the car for around $17000. We're really tying to get $10000, that way i get everything i put into the car back. but i dont know if thats going to happen

 

I hope that lawyer is willing to provide services for free, otherwise you're getting money to pay his bill...

The only way people ever get a payday is if it's over an injury claim, never over personal property.

Something you all have to remember when it comes to accidents and suing, You get depreciated value of the property period. They may try to take into consideration some of the mods, but again, applying a depreciation to it. Take it to court, you'll be paying lawyer fees if you're lucky.

If this mech was smart, he's stop taking your calls, and wait for your insurance company to subrogate his insurance, and see where his company is willing to take this. They might give you a few bucks, be glad if you get anything.

To be honest, $5000 plus the $12k from insurance sounds high. I'm presuming the 12k is the bluebook retail for the car, right? If you get anything close to that from him out of pocket, take it and run. Because once you get the lawyer involved, you'll be paying him 30% or more.

 

This pisses me off. I hope he gets what he deserves, and your car was clean btw.

 

I all I have to say is WOW. WTF.

 

i would get the insurance $$. then sue him for incident, and when all said and done... beat his a5s!

 

thats why id NEVER trust some dude to keep my car and drive it somewhere to do work. if its not done in the shop where he works, then im not leaving it. i know people have taken my car for " joy rides " cause i wrote down the mileage and 1 time took a pic when a bodyshop added 36 miles to my car. the pic was of the odo and they still tried denying it, like i would just take a pic randomly and it was right after i left the shop like 5 minutes later. they will use it for runs for lunch and to pick up parts and etc. dikheads. sorry about your car bro. it was a nice ride man.

 

this is heartbraking i think i would be balling in tears.

 

are you at least parting out the good mods you have on the car. Seems like a waste to leave it in a totaled car. The insurance will allow you to take what you have added to the car.

 

Couldn't he also press criminal charges against this @sshat? Technically it should have been considered grand theft auto at the time of the incident.

 

that is correct. If it went to court, I am pretty sure you would win, with or without a lawyer present. just stick with the stolen vehicle routine and you are good. If he didn't have anything in writing saying he could test drive your car at 4am in three different cities, then you should not have a problem getting compensated completely. I would go after him for what you paid for the vehicle, plus all the extra costs of parts including rims/stereo/etc.

 

No chance he would be charged with GTA unless the owner lies and says the guy "Stole" the car. The minute you tell the judge that you gave him the keys it's no longer theft.

 

Dude, that's f'ed up. Sorry to hear about your car. Going after him may get you a few extra $$, but not much, especially if you have to pay for an attorney.

 

Not exactly true, you gave him the keys to take the car to his shop. Not to Vegas. Therefore he stole the car. If you gave your keys to your friend to go to the store and they took off to mexico, that is stealing your car. Also he is your mechanic not your friend in this situation.

 

That's exactly what I was thinking...

 

The car was given to him with keys in hand, and the car was not presumed missing at any point. He put on additional miles and trashed the car, therefore he's liability is to repair damages, or replace. In the case of a total loss, it's the blue book value of the car period.

It's not going to fly as a criminal grand theft no matter how you try to rationalize it. This isn't a rape case where she started out saying ok, then said stop, then he continued. It was a car that was given to the guy to drive. It doesn't matter if it was outside the agreement of services, it was still handed over.

Let's say the car didn't get destroyed, just drove it around. He's be liable in small claims court for the additioonal miles of wear and tear on the car, which might be an Oil change, and some tire life. Even at $1.00 per mile, that's chump change when it's all said and done, maybe an inside/out detail ta boot...but still, not grand theft.

 

Well hes apparently missing. His dad who must be in his 70s is running his shop while hes gone. His dad claims he is in the hospital, but for reasons unrelated to the accident. I think hes in a rehab of some sort but who knows.
My uncle talked to his dad about reimbursing me for the money I put into my car and hes not being very cooperative. So im going to our lawyer on Friday and see what he thinks. If he cant do much, maybe the thought of going to the lawyer will scare him into cooperating. We'll see what happens

Well anyway, Happy Thanksgiving everyone

 

To be honest, you are really taking this thing well maybe you are still in shock but man i would track him down and kick his butt. ruin ever car he has when he gets back. I guess thats my bad side speaking.

 

At the minimum, get the word out through word of mouth, your local newspapers, or tv stations, radio etc., that this guy is a crook and advise the public not to do business with him or his shop. Castrate the man's business and ability to earn in the future, that may be your only justice.