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Alright, well basically I'm getting screwed by the extremely shady performance/body shop. The performance shop closed a month ago and the body man is shadily still working out of the garage on my car. I dropped my car off with a $1200 check June10th and its still in the shop. I'm looking for anyone's opinions (specificaly legal) on if my idea might work.


I still owe the body man 1500 when the car is done. I called the body guy on his cell fone (the only means of contact I have with him) and he didn't answer...as usual. I left a message saying if I didn't hear back in 2 days I was going to contact the police and file a report, then have a locksmith come and open the door so I could take my car somewhere else and consequently his 1500 dollars would be used to pay for towing fees locksmith fees and having the new body shop finish the work he hasn't done. From a legal standpoint...would I be allowed to do this??



Technically if he called the police on me for taking the car It wouldn't matter as the car is in my fathers name right?

And would I get away with not paying him the remaining $1500? there was never any paperwork or contracts or anything. I just dropped my keys in this extremely shady shop guys hands with the check and no more then verbal agreements then left. they didnt ask for identification or to see the title or ANYHTHING.

Basically I just want to be sure that if I do this there would be no way of him having anything to get me in trouble for.

can you get in trouble for taking the car back...no

could he technically attempt to sue you for the work he did perform, yes....

heres the best thing to do...send a certfied letter stating your case to him....always start a paper trail when dealing with anything with large amounts of money

Jacbs2007 wrote:And would I get away with not paying him the remaining $1500? there was never any paperwork or contracts or anything. I just dropped my keys in this extremely shady shop guys hands with the check and no more then verbal agreements then left. they didnt ask for identification or to see the title or ANYHTHING.

Basically I just want to be sure that if I do this there would be no way of him having anything to get me in trouble for.

he got key from your car, so basically you cant take it back. He won't give it back until you pay for work, (unless hes an idiot)

Well the guy doesn't even know my name, and I don't even know how to spell his, so I'm not worried about him stealing my car down the road. I removed my registration and insurance card from my car along with everything else when i dropped it off too. I also know the owner of the garage so hopefully he will let me have a key to the garage.


My main worry is what loosechange said, I just don't want him to end up suing me down the road for the 1500 dollars. I just couldn't afford the court fees etc.

Jacbs2007 wrote:I just don't want him to end up suing me down the road for the 1500 dollars. I just couldn't afford the court fees etc.

You've already made a down payment, so he can't sue for cutting the job short.
And he can only charge you for the work done, which shouldn't be much if he hasn't finished.
I think...

Well, I think I'm going to go for it. I need to get another key made for my car as I broke my spare in the hatch keyhole some time ago, but as soon as I take care of that, and talk the owner of the property into letting me into the garage I think I'll be alright. I'm still a little worried about the 1500 dollars though. The guy is pretty shady and hopefully because of that he won't try and pursue me for the money...

If he hasnt finished the car then he could be in breach of contract depending on whether or not the original deal (verbal or otherwise) indicated the car would be done by now. You probably wont see a dime of that original $1200 you paid him ever.. but you dont owe him the $1500 if the car isnt finished. Worst case.. he will need to document everything he HAS done so far and see if he can prove you owe him anything. Make sure you take lots of pics when you get access to the car.. have plenty of credible witnesses on hand with you when you arrive to get it. Make him aware via certified mail that you will be arriving to pick the car up on a specific date at a specific time. Check with your local police department to see what other legalities are involved since this sort of thing can vary from region to region. Since the car is in your Fathers name.. likely he will need to be present when taking the car back as will the police. Make it official so the guy has no leg to stand on.

Tunes67

Oh yeah.. one other thing.. in that certified letter.. make sure there is a order for him to Stop working on the car. Make it plain as day you dont want him doing anything else to it. Most importantly.. talk to your local police. Thats the deal breaker.. they will tell you what your legal rights are.

Tunes67

thanks Tunes.


I basically took what everyone told me and piled it into a txt message (the guy never answers when I call but he responds when i txt him for some reason). It says

Well you still havn't responded with a date that you officially expect the car to be done so the state police have been contacted. They informed me that I can at anytime remove my car from the shop and if you do not cooperate they will be dispatched on scene. The fact that my car was left out in the rain and rusted, along with it taking over 2 months longer to complete then I agreed on is a breech of contract and also neglect by you and your employer Carworkz. It can be pursued in court. The remaining 1500 is thus not reuired to be paid as the contract has been breeched and if you would attempt to sue me for this money the rust and time issues along with towing fees and the cost of having another shop finish the work in a timely manner will assure that I would win and you could possibly even end up owing me resititution money. From heron you are asked to stop all work on the car. If you would kindly provide me with your full name and address you will recieve a certified letter restating all of this. Please pick a date and time that suits you to meet me at the shop to have the car towed.


took 7 txt messages...

Well for anyone who cares, I got my car back and got to keep the $1500. the car's in my garage right now and going to a good shop monday to be finished...so hopefully a week tops and I'll have my car back. I think I'm going to have enough left over to snatch some used wheels and tires too

Glad to hear everything went well.

Post pictures when its done

Jacbs2007 wrote:thanks Tunes.


I basically took what everyone told me and piled it into a txt message (the guy never answers when I call but he responds when i txt him for some reason). It says

Well you still havn't responded with a date that you officially expect the car to be done so the state police have been contacted. They informed me that I can at anytime remove my car from the shop and if you do not cooperate they will be dispatched on scene. The fact that my car was left out in the rain and rusted, along with it taking over 2 months longer to complete then I agreed on is a breech of contract and also neglect by you and your employer Carworkz. It can be pursued in court. The remaining 1500 is thus not reuired to be paid as the contract has been breeched and if you would attempt to sue me for this money the rust and time issues along with towing fees and the cost of having another shop finish the work in a timely manner will assure that I would win and you could possibly even end up owing me resititution money. From heron you are asked to stop all work on the car. If you would kindly provide me with your full name and address you will recieve a certified letter restating all of this. Please pick a date and time that suits you to meet me at the shop to have the car towed.


took 7 txt messages...

Oh kay, here is the problem. Text messaging is not a legal way to process serve someone. You do have a right to your car, but the problem is if the performance shop breached or terminated there contract of lease of the property, then all personal property becomes legally owned by the owner of the property. I would make sure that you send a letter return/reciept to the owner that you took back your car & that he never had ownership of the car.

Glad to read that everything worked out for the best. Hopefully your example will stand to help some of the rest of us in similar situations.

yeah it worked out good. Unfortunatly I haven't been able to get my car painted yet though. I've been spending these past few weeks trying to do the civic projector swap and it's just taking up alot of time. It's going though, I'm basicaly done with the passenger-side light