Legal assistance.

ChrisB

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OK. I bought all the parts to do my brakes and starter for the LS. I brought it to this local shop close to my house. They told me $70/hr to do the work and it wouldn't take more then 4 hrs to install everything.

I agreed since I didn't want to do the work myself and left them with my car, and a set of keys with remote.

I already had the brakes in the back seat. And due to some shipping issues with the starter, it took me a week to get that. I dropped off the starter and they told me they would call me when it was complete.

Well, they call me the next morning and advise me that they lost my set of keys... This was my first problem with them. I tell them I have a spare and they sent a mechanic to come and pick it up from me.

Well after all of that they give me a call about 4 hrs later telling me I'm all set and I can come pic up the car. I head over to pick up my car and head into the garage where I see a group of 5 mechanics standing around the front of my car.

One of them tells me before I see my car that there was another problem. Apparently when I bought my 20" chrome wheels I was misinformed that they DID not need a spacer, the reason they fit when I first put them on was because the pads were so worn down. Well the garage put on the new brakes and went to back my car out of the bay when the caliper scraped my 2 front rims. Well, I didn't think it was that bad when I was in the garage, but now co-workers are noticing the damage and advised me that I should have the garage repair/buy me new rims.

What are my rights as a customer? Thanks

And before anyone asks, I told them to make it an even $250 for labor because of the lost keys.
 
I wouldn't think it was the garage's fault that you didnt have spacers. Granted the should have noticed when the put the wheels back on. You might want to go after the shop that sold you the wheels.
 
You bought the parts outside the shop. Its not the shops liability in most cases like this but even so still, I wouldn't imagine the pads creating this problem the caliper is in a fixed spot.
 
Well, yes and no. The caliper is mounted on slides, so as the pads wear the caliper can adjust to the decreased pad thickness. So while it always bolts on at the same spot on the rotor, its distance from the inside of the rim does change over the life of the pad.

Either way, I don't think that you can hold the shop resposible for this one.
 
I wouldn't imagine the pads creating this problem the caliper is in a fixed spot.

The calipers float on pistons that attach to the caliper mounts - that is how brakes equalize the pressure and keep centered on the rotor as the pads wear down....


I not likely you have a case against the shop - since the parts on the cars were not properly installed (incorrect offset) it's hard to blame them for the issue. You would think they would have caught it when the remounted the rims - but....
 
If you noticed that it wasn't right, why did you drive it away. I would have wanted a solution to the problem right there. I don't think you have a case but if they are a reputable shop, and not some corner "Maw and Paw" gas station, they might offer some kind of help to make you happy. Never hurts to ask.
 
I think they should have spun the wheel by hand if even just to check if the brakes were sticking or anything. That would have caught the problem. A simple visual inspection would have caught it. They should have caught the problem before it trashed your wheels (and possibly your brake system... did you check for damage to them?)

They broke your stuff, they should pay for it.

p.s. Make sure to get enough out of them to replace that key... the key itself is not cheap since it has a RFID tag in it, and if you have only one key left now, then you need the dealer to re-program the replacement which costs a lot of $$$. $30 won't cover it. And what about the keyfob (remote)? Same deal... not cheap, needs dealer to re-program (if you have only 1 left).
 
You can buy fobs (remote) on EBay for about $10.

As far as programming the fob(remote) if you have 03+ you can reprogram your own up to five remotes thru a series of ignition key on offs.
 

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