To lawyer up, or to give up?

I'll start with the cliff notes version of the story, but this could get to several pages if I filled in all the details.
Long story short, I'm debating fighting a scam artist or just giving up and losing one of my trucks.

I live in New England, where the conditions eat vehicles.
Last year, I was in and out of the hospital a lot, so my father decided to help out and take my one-ton in for a new inspection sticker.
It didn't pass- it needed some body work. It started out as floor pans- but before you know it a couple months have passed and they've replaced the entire cab.
THEY screwed up and destroyed the wiring harness, and wound up hiring a new guy to fix it, which took a lot of man hours- obviously they should be eating that... but it appears they've chosen not to.
Long story short, the truck is ready, with a $15,000 bill. I could replace the truck with a nicer one for 10-12k. If I had never brought it to them, without the sticker, it would have been worth maybe 3-4K as a yard truck... which is all I really wanted out of it, but I figured if I could keep it on the road for the cost of floor pans that would be worth it for towing.

As it sits, the VIN doesn't match my registration. The truck still doesn't have a sticker, I think it needs some brake work still- this shop is a "body shop" that only does body work. We do have the old VIN plate- the plan was to swap that over, the place that we got the replacement cab from is set up to do that.
Since dropping the truck off, I've personally bought some $600 in parts, and my father has some $900 more since he fronted for the replacement cab.

I'm NOT paying the 15k bill- even if I wanted to, I'm closing on a house next month and simply can't spend that kind of money.
As I see it, I have four options:
1) pay the 15k - not happening
2) hire a lawyer and fight these guys
3) steal my truck from their lot- my keys don't fit it anymore so that could be hard as well as questionable
4) give up and just let them have the truck. I have the title and current registration, but they don't match the vin currently on the truck.

So- what would YOU do?

 

Sounds like the shop is stuck with a truck they can't do anything with.

 

Option #4
Sell the title to them for 3-4K
But it sounds like they are shit bums so it may not be that easy
Good luck

 

I'd fight any work you didn't authorize. An attorney consultation shouldn't cost too much and give you a better sense of what it would take to resolve. If you walk, they might sue you. Good luck

 

I'm with the consult an attorney thought. I don't know Maine's laws but all it may take is a strongly worded letter from an attorney to the shop for them to back down. The attorney could also direct you towards other venues that could help you fight this.

 

No quotes, no signatures, no contracts- although my father was the primary point of contact so I don't know what he may have verbally authorized.
There's no way to rack up 15k in body work- this place advertises $50 an hour body work.
They cut the wiring, and then fixed it- best I can figure they feel they can bill me for their time to fix their mistake.

With nothing in writing, I just don't know what to do.
I'm tempted to throw a GPS tracking device in it and then rescue it from whatever scrap yard it shows up in- it's only got 33,000 miles on the clock.

 

If nothing in writing, then you or your dad is screwed. You need to have valid proof before you go further with lawyers.

 

Just out of curiosity, how dose the title and current registration not match the Vin currently on the truck?

 

Cab was replaced, so the VIN sticker on the doorjamb is different.

 

OP, I would contact the local DMV. Out here in CA., when you change bodies/cabs, all the VIN numbers and their documentation are required to be registered with the DMV. Show them your paperwork, maybe they can advise you. This is how they clamp down on the "chop shops."

 

I would both get a legal consult and look into filing a criminal complaint.

Different states have different laws about unauthorized repairs and how it falls under deceptive practices.


Go to war, but do not do something stupid like stealing the truck back. That instantly puts you in the wrong.

 

This this and more this. They broke it that's on them. Period.

Consult a lawyer. Don't want to risk them declaring it abandoned and trying to charge storage fees

 

From the outside looking in, it "seems" that your dad was just trying to help, and likely made some mistakes along the way. I'd start with asking your dad some hard questions since he was the point of contact and you're going off hearsay at this point. You should probably know for certain what he did or didn't authorize the shop to do before you try to do something irrational. Hope for the best, and keep us posted!

 

If I am not mistaken Maine still requires a state inspection correct, that is what started this whole story...

Without WRITTEN consent and an Officer signing off on a VIN swap ,this should be a case for Lawyers too handle...

Good luck and I agree with others.... DO NOT break the law just to get even...

 

Sub’d

 

This is true re the mechanic's lien, but the sticking point of it to me is that the shop did significant damage to the vehicle's wiring and are trying to get OP to pay for that too.

As you said different states are different laws. I went through this in MA some time ago where I brought a car in for an estimate and the shop instead did the complete repairs which I had not authorized. The vehicle was about 12 years old and worth very little so it would be clear that I wouldn't want to drop big bucks on it. Long story short they eventually removed the part and said no charge just take it. I had half a mind to ask them to reinstall the old part just on principle but thought better of that.

 

I haven't had time to talk to them yet this week, they run odd hours and don't like to talk over the phone- very face to face kind of people.

As for the lien- even IF they had the title and were able to make the vin match it somehow, and take ownership via law, and then paid another shop to do the work it still needs to get a sticker... they could sell the truck for about half what the bill is.
The whole situation is lunacy.

 

Where is this shop? Do you reach out to channel 13, is the shop big enough that some bad press will sway them?

 

The shop can claim your vehicle with their lien without your title if you don't pay the bill at all. Then they can do whatever they can do with your vehicle, even they can fix the VIN match between paperwork and vehicle. Then sell the vehicle. After the vehicle is sold, the shop can get money back from all the fees for paperwork such as new title, registration, etc.

If you want the truck back, then talk with the shop or lawyers and take it to somewhere else. If you don't want the truck, then let the shop have it and move on if you think that truck isn't worth much to you.

I have had that happen to me before.... My car was towed to the shop and my dad authorized the service without talking with me about it.. I talked with the shop guy and I told him that it wasn't me authorizing the service. He figured that since my dad never answered shop calls. The shop kept my car since then. After many tries on phone call to my dad, he finally answered, I told him he owe me a car since he authorized without my permission.. so I got a car from him...

 

Walk away