restoration shop lawsuit

66mussang

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Oct 31, 2002
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charlotte
Has anyone ever had to sue a classic car restoration shop for fraud?

and, my lawyer wants a experts definition of what a "daily driver" is?

it's going to be a nasty fight, any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Has anyone ever had to sue a classic car restoration shop for fraud?

and, my lawyer wants a experts definition of what a "daily driver" is?

it's going to be a nasty fight, any help would be greatly appreciated.


good luck... i dont see you winning this one. the details should have been hammered out on paper BEFORE any work started.

As for my opinion, a "daily driver" would be a dependable rebuilt car...no high performance anything, just a simple stock motor. Safety would be very important so suspension and braking upgrades.
 
In my opinion, a daily driver is just that, a vehicle which is driven daily. For instance, it would be the primary car on your insurance as opposed to the secondary car. In my case, our Suburban is listed as the primary family vehicle, my pickup is a work vehicle, and the '68 fastback and my wife's '69 Corvette are considered pleasure cars, only driven on special occasions. That's pretty much the standard answer as far as legal definition, but if you were thinking of using daily driver to describe a level of restoration, that's a "gray area" at best. I've seen some pretty ratty cars used as drivers, but I've also seen cars much nicer than mine used for daily commuters. In general, I guess most people use the term daily driver to describe a car that has presentable paint, a clean interior and decent trim, but may be lacking in the details, like underhood detailing or a spotless chassis. It would also be a safe, dependable car mechanically.
 
To me a Daily driver is a car that is driven daily,like a normal car, doesn't really matter to much about it being a stock engine or not as long as its nothing that effects the driveablity of the car on a day to day basis. For example you can have headers, intake, nice carb,etc,etc...and still dive it to work daily. You wouldn't want some extreme gears or a 12 point roll cage........and if your driving everyday i would do all the common safety mods without a question
 
I'm with XO on this. The definition of "Daily Driver" is as varied as the people. Since we don't know the details I'm just throwing out my thoughts. If you just told them the car is a daily driver or you wanted repairs done so the car could be used as daily transportation they could have just checked the fluids and tire pressure. They could have even taken a test drive but if specific work wasn't stated in writing, oh well. In my experience, before any work is performed on the car, a workorder is written out with an estimate given for the work then signed and/or initialed by the customer. The shop is then responsible for the work listed on the workorder. Lesson learned, discuss the repairs with the shop and get it in writing.
 
Daily Driver - A Mustang that retains all the drivability, or nearly so, it had when new, regardless of performance. A car that can get stuck in an hour of gridlock without issue for the engine or driver and hasn't had a reliability issue for at least one year. A car that can be driven comfortably for at least 50 miles.

That's my fairly stringent definition, anyway.


My SVO could be a daily driver and in fact it was for some time. My '68 is noisy and overheats in the summer. I had to tear apart the rear and transmission several times since November, so reliable it is not.
 
You need to tell us the context that "daily driver" was used in. Out of context it's simply a "status of use" term which implies nothing about quality of craftsmanship or appearance. After you provide the context, maybe "StangDreamin" can be of assistance. If memory serves, I think he is, or has been, a judge at car shows.
 
For purposes of the law, a daily driver would have regular insurance and not classic car insurance with limitations. A daily driver restoration is far more of a gary area but it would not have things such as a spotless, detailed undercarriage.
 
A daily driver to me is one that is nice and presentable and fully functional, but not a show car.

Say, a #3 to a #2 using Hemmings Old Car Price Guidelines versus a trailered #1 show car with mirrors underneath it at the show.

You wouldn't drive a #1 show car daily because it would be foolish to ruin the value by getting dirt and grime all over the chalk marks, etc.
 
A daily driver to me is one that is nice and presentable and fully functional, but not a show car.

Say, a #3 to a #2 using Hemmings Old Car Price Guidelines versus a trailered #1 show car with mirrors underneath it at the show.

You wouldn't drive a #1 show car daily because it would be foolish to ruin the value by getting dirt and grime all over the chalk marks, etc.

I agree and I drive mine as a daily driver. As far as court goes, it would be returned to factory condition, without the consideration of "FORD" parts. I went through this with a body shop after my accident. Cost them +$8k in redone body work, and my rental car (2007 Mustang GT 70 a day) for over 3 months, but thats here in california. the BAR stepped in and said you suck and gona pay to fix it. They pulled some internet description and the the bar guy laughed.
 
My take of a daily driver is your primary mode of transportation that is also reflected in your insurance. At a time my 70 mach 1 was my daily driver at 7mpg... that didn't last long... Show quality or not, Enzo or Kia, stock or HiPo, reliable or not whatever you go to work and back and get groceries in.
Kevin