Muffler shop butchered my exhaust!

That sucks dude, a good shop should just wait and talk with the customer before doing something that the customer may not like.

Poor customer server..

Fast02 said:

Bottom line is before cutting or modding $2,000 worth of parts you may want to talk with the owner first.

Click to expand...

and yes. talk to them first.

I would claim that the vehicle was going to be used off road after the pipe was installed. He has no proof that you were going to drive it home. Say you had a trailer lined up to tow it home and to the track. Say that in court I mean

you have a case. you breaking the law is not what's on trial, but him doing a shotty job is. at least in pa you would have a case. i took crim classes for a few years. he was wrong for making your decision on his own which shows negligence. it doesn't matter if you were right or wrong by wanting an illeagal item on your car, you're not on trial he is for the work he preformed

That's screwed up. In some places where cats are required, if you bring the car in as if it's an off road car (on a trailer) they will do it but if you drive up in it with street plates on it, they won't touch it.

My muffler shop said no problem with putting an off road pipe on and would put the catted mid pipe back on before smog. But I won't say who they are...

Don't get me wrong guys, i'm not defending the shop in any way whatsoever. I think what they did is compete stupidity, and yes they should have talked to the owner before hacking everything apart.

But what I'm saying, is that in the eyes of the law, the owner may have no case. This is because the act the owner wanted the mech. to perfrom is illegal. You can't enter into a legally binding contract, when the terms of that contract are illegal. So, the court may find that the mechanic could reasonably assume that the customer wanted to hack it all up to high heaven so that he can get the X in there and still have cats ( which would be the only "legal" way of "installing" the X). Also, compare it to what nickthegenius said about the guy trying to sue hydroponics retailer for wrecking his weed stash.

Again, I'm not saying the mechanic was right, he wasn't, he should have talked to the owner first. Im just saying the owner might not win a court battle because of all the legalities that have to be considered. You have to remember, the law is not common sense, it is a very tricky subject, and courts often make rulings that would defy common sense because of some legality or technicality.

Unfourtunately a contract is not valid if one part of the consideration is illegal.. IE: You cannot sue him because he failed to do somthing illegal, even if you had paid him to do it.

You will have to claim that the car was an OFFROAD only car, a race car. Goodluck, I don't think you'll have much luck. The mechanic sounds like a moron though, but thats life . You can get a used H pipe from someone on this site ultra cheap. Probably $100-150. My suggestion: buy another O/R x pipe and catback, and install it with a friend or goto a smaller shop and tell them you'll pay in cash and the car is an "OFFROAD CAR ONLY", so they can legally do it.

damn that sux, the place i take my car took my factory h pipe off and put on a fresh offroad x pipe, no problem, no questi9ons asked. Its good to know your mechanics, before you get work done.

do you have an estimate or contract showing he was to install an o/r pipe? if so that could be your edge. if it was wrote up that he was to install an o/r pipe he was aware of the part before hand. here's a suggestion since courts suck anyways: go to the shop and inform him that you are in the process of making a claim against him. tell him he knowingly took the job, knowing what the parts consisted of. and if he's found guilty he may be in for more than he wants. ex: lose his inspect. liscense, get fined etc. basicly bull**** him. but act like you know what your talking about. above all stay calm and don't loose it. tell him you just want your car fixed right or reimbursed for the parts. he may just settle. if he was a moron to start with maybe he's just plain stupid! also tell him you turned him into the better buisness bureau if he starts with the your ganna loose cause you wanted something illegal done. or just talk to a local attorney. if they feel you have a case they'll take it and sue for damages plus their fee. they would know your local laws the best.