Sharing: Shop owner and mechanics total my car

[tturedraider]

This may get moved, but I’m sharing it here. This poor guy needs our support. This so sad!! Be sure to click the link to see the photos.

Originally Posted by Kingpeen

After working on my 2011 e90 (32,000 miles) for the last several years I was informed by a mechanic that an accident had occured. It was in the shop for some new coolant piping that had burst. During a test drive the owner of the shop who I had never met hit another vehicle and fire hydrant. I won't be mentioning names at this time but feel free to take whatever assumptions you would like from the last photos. The dash cam footage was deleted and sd card removed so the only information I have about the actual incident is via the police report, and what i can piece together. the shop owner got 2 tickets from the cops for excessive lane change reckless driving. With a witness on scene saying they saw burnouts and donuts from down the street.


What I can tell you is how heartbroken and screwd in the ass I am now, Its been 3 months. The owners promise of making good have all gone silent The lingering effect on my life has really depressed me. Im reminded that i walked away from this not hurt idk if the same could be said for the other person they hit. The car parts themselves are all ruined as they somehow lodged the car on a fire hydrant where it flooded for the next few hours.

The worst part was I had recently blown my pure turbos and paid 5 grand at ssr to replace it with less then a 100 miles on. I borrowed 2500 from my dad that i was intending to pay back. Hes nice enough to let it slide, but i basically lit that money on fire and feel terrible about it.The insurance company has offered me 18k. I added up everything with the labor and I'm looking to lose around 16 to 20grand. Which i know isnt a lot to people on here but im a broke college kid in a small apartment. Trying to build himself something to respect in the land of brand new m3's and 16 year olds. Most of the work i could do i did with my older brother. So many countless hours down the drain and thousands spent on restoring new parts.

Before you say get a lawyer I've spoken with 3 different ones saying I have no case and any damages I get is not worth the time....



Your boys riding the bus now no idea what I'm gonna do. Boss is on my ass for being late not having a stable ride is really bad in la. Guess I'll go buy a Honda civic with my 18k yall It's been a great ride thanks for all the info

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showt...8#post29910538

[BenJ]

That’s pretty crazy

[forcefed]

Deleting dash cam footage? What a dipshit 🤬

[SpinalTap]

This is why I hate people.

[kjx]

Originally Posted by forcefed

Deleting dash cam footage? What a dipshit 🤬

Destruction of evidence can result in jail time and fines. Hopefully he gets good advice from people in his life on what to do to pressure the shop owner.

Maybe what needs to happen is some outlet like jalopnik covering this.

[KevinC]

Wow! EAD is the shop where Sreten wrenched on his M3 when traveling from Salt Lake City to California... jump to the 20-minute mark:

[MonkeySneaks]

Posted on yelp and google reviews hope this shop closes down and people are warned against going there!

[Tejas1836]

Sounds like this "shop" was just some joe shade tree mechanic that this guy knew, thought it would save him some money.

[Mason Hatcher]

What kind of support do you think he needs from us? The situation sucks, but I see some oddities with his post.

Poor college kid, but borrows $2500 from dad. Poor college kid but lost "thousands spent' on new parts.

[rundeyvoo]

O M G I'm speechless... I hope the shop owner gets what's coming to him...

[jmg]

Originally Posted by Mason Hatcher

What kind of support do you think he needs from us? The situation sucks, but I see some oddities with his post.

Poor college kid, but borrows $2500 from dad. Poor college kid but lost "thousands spent' on new parts.

I would never borrow money to upgrade a car, maybe to keep it running since we need cars to get to and from work/school etc. Having said that, it doesn't really matter how we got the money for the mods, the point is, that money is gone and a third party is at fault. It's just a bad situation.

Having gone through a pretty costly out-of-pocket repair myself, the feeling of spending or losing a large amount of money can be pretty overwhelming, especially on something that could have been avoided, regardless of who is at fault. We can only learn from bad situations so we can equip ourselves to avoid or be better prepared should the next one happen, and re-evaluate our priorities. For me, it was being glad I was still alive, focusing on my family a coming to term with the idea that it's just a car, and it's just money.

If it were me, the takeaway would be:

Declare your mods on your insurance, especially if you can't afford to take the loss.
Never borrow money for mods.
Have a backup if your hobby car dies. ie daily driver etc. If you can't afford a daily, then you better make sure you check all the boxes above.



What I would do next:

Appeal the insurance claim.
If the shop is insured, your own insurance company doesn't have anything to lose by fighting for more $ since they will be recouping their payout to you from the shop's insurance.
Stop trying to call the shop. It's out of their hands. Get their insurance info and go through them. Better yet, have your insurance company do it, which they are probably doing already.

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by Mason Hatcher

What kind of support do you think he needs from us? The situation sucks, but I see some oddities with his post.

Poor college kid, but borrows $2500 from dad. Poor college kid but lost "thousands spent' on new parts.

If you have to ask that question then you and I probably aren’t on the same wavelength and you wouldn’t really care about what I’d have to say.

[Jbrown7403]

Originally Posted by KevinC

Wow! EAD is the shop where Sreten wrenched on his M3 when traveling from Salt Lake City to California... jump to the 20-minute mark:

Wow is right! I thought that shop name sounded / looked familiar

[dangerus_car]

The shop can closed, but the owner who crashed the car can just open a new shop under different shop name at a different location or city and he can start fresh, so what exactly can the internet help?

[Rob_G77]

...

[Mason Hatcher]

Originally Posted by jmg

I would never borrow money to upgrade a car, maybe to keep it running since we need cars to get to and from work/school etc. Having said that, it doesn't really matter how we got the money for the mods, the point is, that money is gone and a third party is at fault. It's just a bad situation.

Having gone through a pretty costly out-of-pocket repair myself, the feeling of spending or losing a large amount of money can be pretty overwhelming, especially on something that could have been avoided, regardless of who is at fault. We can only learn from bad situations so we can equip ourselves to avoid or be better prepared should the next one happen, and re-evaluate our priorities. For me, it was being glad I was still alive, focusing on my family a coming to term with the idea that it's just a car, and it's just money.

If it were me, the takeaway would be:

Declare your mods on your insurance, especially if you can't afford to take the loss.
Never borrow money for mods.
Have a backup if your hobby car dies. ie daily driver etc. If you can't afford a daily, then you better make sure you check all the boxes above.



What I would do next:

Appeal the insurance claim.
If the shop is insured, your own insurance company doesn't have anything to lose by fighting for more $ since they will be recouping their payout to you from the shop's insurance.
Stop trying to call the shop. It's out of their hands. Get their insurance info and go through them. Better yet, have your insurance company do it, which they are probably doing already.

My observation is the plea he makes by being a poor college kid vs the money he has spent/ borrowed. A tug on the sympathy strings, but I find it odd

[Mason Hatcher]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

If you have to ask that question then you and I probably aren’t on the same wavelength and you wouldn’t really care about what I’d have to say.

I asked the question, why are you not answering? Are you suggesting he needs money from us or advice?

[G35POPPEDMYCHERRY]

Originally Posted by Mason Hatcher

I asked the question, why are you not answering? Are you suggesting he needs money from us or advice?

you must be fun at parties

you right man...fuck him for spending money on mods he can't afford. just like 90% of america he gets what he can't afford/deserve and everyone cries like a bitch about their shortcomings. welcome to the world.

he obvsly irresponsible about the his money no doubt...

but that doesn't mean this was totally out of his control and a totally fucked up situation. if the shop doesn't have insurance hes on for the ride of his life, or if his insurance is shit...

again all circles back to the point of people buying shit they can't afford..which I totally agree with you on. fuck these guys spending 5k on mods when you gotta borrow bread. but say that to everyone buying shit on loans in america lol.

anyways i always cringe whenever my car is serviced or valet. not that I can't afford to replace my m3 like a bodily function, but its the justice in it all. people don't give a fuck, and they guy who fucked his car, prolly leaching off debt and borrowed cash too, and round and round the world goes

[SteezeforMyBimmerMon]

That photo is crazy with the hydrant blasting off. Car is done for.