Whether or not you can afford to take it, I feel that there is some excellent advice offered here.

One other thing I'd like to add: My brother went to mediation with a certain german automaker beginning with a, ... won in mediation, was supposed to be binding but the automaker re-negged. The mediation folks said that although mediation is binding, they have no power to enforce it, so it had to start over again with an attorney.

Screw mediation, retain an attorney.

- Jeff Miller
190DT

Recently my boss was involved in a court case not all unlike this. The short version is a guy bought a 1995 Buick with a 60 day warranty. Needed shocks dealer tried to bandaid it up. Shocks covered under warranty. Replaced shocks on his own coin well within the warranty period and sued dealer in small claims for the $900. Dealer bumps it up to real court thinking the guy won't hire a lawyer and will drop it. Guy hires two good lawyers! Bottom line is the dealer had to pay the $900, and $52k in legal fees plus they got stuck holding a bill for $46k from there lawyer.

Dealer got hosed little guy one, and lawyer's got nice payday.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I want to know how the fellow got the dealer to pay his legal fees???

That's what I desperately want to know.

You go and find out the details.................!!!

Jury awarded the guy legal fees because orignally it was a small claims court case. The guy filled in small claims but the dealer bumped it up to trial court. The jury reasoned that why should he have to pay the fees because he filled in small claims originally. Plus Judge was pissed that this case was wasting courts time.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

The fellow would not normally be entitled to legal fees simply because it was originated in small claims court, AFAIK. You can show up with a laywer in small claims........but you pay for him........win or lose.

Seems like a special case to me. And, I can't believe that the fellow would roll the dice on $50K in legal fees to recover $900. What if he did not prevail? There is never any assurance in court.

Well the guy did, he was pissed off, it was about principal at that point. I got the impression from my boss who spent about a week hearing the case, on the jury, that he had a temper. The reason I gave is what my boss said the jury came up with, with lots of instructions from the judge.

I think its a case of arrogant dealer meeting hot headed and pissed off customer.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Dat's a bewtifull ting

__________________
1999 E300DT (131,800) 154,000 Black on Black SOLD

2006 CLK 500 coupe Capri Blue on Grey (zoom,zoom)
47,000mi

04 VW TDI Passat 80,000mi
(Techno)

How to eliminate oil dependency through market-driven approaches.
“We could cut oil use in half by 2025, and by 2040, oil use could be zero,”
The Sound of Diesel Speed
Ode to MB

Forget mediation. You give up your legal rights with mediation.

Just sue the idiot. He will eventually figure out that it will be cheaper for him to pay you off and he can continue doing business ripping others off to make up for his losses.

__________________
1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
********************
1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD

The seller must go the the buyer home state. Why? Because the paperwork was executed in his home state. If the buyer had gone to the sellers home state, the legal battle would have to be fought there. The sell screwed up letting the paperwork and the car go to the sellers state, before the deal was consumated.

__________________
1981 300D 147k
1998 VW Jetta Tdi 320k
2001 Dodge Ram 2500 141k
1979 300D 234k (sold)
1984 300D "Astor" 262k(sold)
Mercedes How-To and Repair Pictorials
I love the smell of diesel smoke in my hair

As lawyers are the only winners in the court game, as judges and DA's are lawyers too, first and foremost. Anyway, what is going on with the cracked head on the car? Did the dealer fix the crack? I wished I had a trap ox still attached to my car when my head cracked. To me it seems logical to ask the dealer to fix that cracked head along with the turbo and everything else, since history has proved that that trap thing was destroying otherwise great cars.

BenzDiesel

Hello,

I am in the midst of an eBay protection claim AND non-binding mediation with the seller. I will not capitulate to him for the removal of negative feedback, and the eBay mediator is now getting very worried because I've presented him with incontrovertible criminal evidence against the seller (eBay doesn't want to be in the business of aiding, abetting, or conspiring).

The vehicle is at the dealership for a head estimate, which I will rush to the mediator and to the eBay protection claims adjuster as soon as I have it. I have also consulted with an attorney in CA who specializes in my sort of problem and who will be happy to assist me if my current options render no acceptable results.

Interestingly enough, the "questionable" identity of the eBay seller bmwkunkworks was confirmed by a fellow eBayer who couldn't get a straight answer out of the seller as to who he was. Fortunately for this other gentleman, his Porsche arrived in good condition.

DL

__________________
1995 E300 146,000 miles "Celia"--sold
1993 300sd 131,000 miles "Konstanze"--with Mom in Tampa
1987 300sdl 225,000 miles "Frau Grau"
1980 300sd 164,000 miles "Old Yeller"--sold

i LIKE THAT WORD, "incontrovertible".

__________________
1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
********************
1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD

Nice to see ebay in a position where they will probably have to perform primarily because the gentleman has a checkered background. To do otherwise could possibly make them libel as well. Not much they can safely give him or compromise on. Possibly they are looking for parachutes at this very moment. A little late for them I believe. Really a fraud is a fraud no matter what you call it. If the vendor insinuated the car was in good condition in his ad they have no manuvering room in my viewpoint without appearing to support fraud. Good going so far. Best of luck.

LAZZMAN, DO have the odometer checked by an instrument specialist!!!

The digits on my 300SE are perfectly lined up, 128700. miles.
However, the digits on my 300D , 164321. miles, are perfectly lined up with the exception of the number one digit representing 100,000. At the bottom of that '1' I can barely see the white of the next digit showing. From the drivers seat visual, all numbers look straight and aligned. With a magnifying glass up close, the white appears at the bottom of the '1' digit. Barely.

The picture of your odometer on ebay looked real crooked all the way across!!!!

The more you can threaten the seller with, the better your position, EVEN if you have legitimacey on your side to begin with.

Legal matters are a can of worms.

good luck

__________________
1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
********************
1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD

The digits on the MB odometers not lining up dont mean anything. MB's have some of the worst odometers made and they fail for almost every reason. So not having the numbers line up, really does not mean anything.

__________________
1981 300D 147k
1998 VW Jetta Tdi 320k
2001 Dodge Ram 2500 141k
1979 300D 234k (sold)
1984 300D "Astor" 262k(sold)
Mercedes How-To and Repair Pictorials
I love the smell of diesel smoke in my hair