You will not be able to sue for loss of time or any type of emotional distress or suffering. Filing such a suit would more than likely make you look unprofessional to a judge. You don't want to seem greedy in my opinion.
There is very little an attorney can do for you in small claims court. In most cases he cannot testify or speak. He would be able to advise you beforehand, but it's not worth the kind of money you'd have to pay for his hourly charges, and it would be very difficult to locate an attorney to help you out much considering the very small stakes involved. They are not going to be real interested in your case.
Since the dealer says the tranny was rebuilt than surely he has a copy of the receipt for services that he could give you. Get it! Just a copy will be good enough so that they don't try anything screwy in court. If he says they threw it away, or no longer have it, try to get it from the mechanic (who in all likelyhood will not co-operate). If they cannot provide any paperwork, then either the work was done illegally, or it was never done, and that is exactly how the judge will see it.
File your suit.
You've now got one witness, get the receipt, and the opinion of an independant mechanic on why the tranny failed, and that the Pro 5.0 was not the problem, and this suit is over. You'll win easily.
Here is what you can sue for.
Expense for independant mechanic evaluation of the tranny. New tranny and labor for install. Possibly rental car, but more than likely additional cost of transportation, like bus fare (keep receipts). Insurance fee for having to keep insurance on it and not drive it.
Just make sure you stay under the max for small claims court or the chances of them being able to have an attorney represent them increases big time.
Sounds to me like you've got them against each other already. Meaning your chances of victory are great. They will more than likely settle out of court. Otherwise they'll have to pay court costs, and additional charges such as the insurance and transport costs, along with the mechanic's evaluation.
See if they are interested in that. It's gonna cost them some big $$ if they don't agree and you win.
Later,
Unit 5302
|