I’ve used plenty of shade tree mechanics, I go with buyer beware but I’m not a douche that’s gonna sue you.

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1981 240D Four on the floor, Orient Red over Parchment, bought with 154,000 but it's a daily driver and up to 180,000 miles, mostly original paint and all original interior.

That only plays until something goes wrong, the car owner crashes the car and needs to defend themselves in court. They are going to push this to the last person that touched the car.

Does anyone really think the car owner is going to protect / go to jail / be sued instead of the person that did improper repairs to the car?

It is getting tough out there in the real world. A highly respected import repair shop in my area has announced they are going out of business. IMHO, that leaves only two that are worth anything and one of those seems to enjoy charging the highest possible hourly labor rate.

I was in his shop one day when a woman with a late model mercedes was picking her car up after he changed the oil in her mercedes. She told me she really liked bringing her mercedes to him 'because the dealer charges $400 for an oil change'. Apprently she didn't realize the dealer charges $400 for A or B service which involves a LOT more than a simple oil change.

Just for grins, I asked the dealer what happens with regards to the car warranty when the customer fails to bring it in for schedule A and B service? The dealer told me it VOIDS THE WARRANTY ON THE CAR!!!! I didn't hear the indy explain that information to her........what's the old saying? BUYER BEWARE????

If you only accept cash and don't advertise your services, it's gonna be hard to get tried for negligence if something breaks. You don't need to advertise if you do good work, word of mouth is powerful enough.
In regards to "what if something related to the service breaks during/after the service," it's the same for some dude in his basement as it is for a full repair shop. Things happen and it's how you deal with it.
I did indy work out of my own garage for a while after leaving my professional repair shop position, I'd be upfront with the customer. "Hey, often this service needs this other service done because rust/age/whatever, be prepared for it to cost this much."

If you chose your customers wisely and keep 'em happy, it's not a big deal.

Don't fix your family's vehicles, they always expect it for free and you'll end up resenting them...

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1984 300TD -- summer daily driver
Many others that aren't Mercedes...

It won't take a whole lot to prove someone worked on a car in their back yard, just ask the neighbors if lots of different cars come and go. Or have others that had car work done to testify that our guy takes on work.

Yep, car crashes into a house killing the occupants. For a real shop they carry general liability insurance, a back yard guy has ? ? ?

I friend of mine has a 2 person general auto repair shop. His general liability insurance is $ 5,000 per year.

Or backyard guy has a customer car that catches fire in his garage, the home owners insurance will be void once they find they were running a business under regular home owners insurance.

There are a couple of people on this list that are convinced that all shops ( and the big man ) are out to get specifically them. They would be likely to try the backyard guy however, if they perceive something went wrong, they will turn on you and be your worst nightmare.


If you are dealing with other car guys, this will be willing to accept this, deal with general public and things get ugly quickly.

The legal burden is on the car owner to:
1. Prove you worked on that exact car identified by VIN number. With a cash deal and no paperwork, good luck with that, it ain't happening.
2. Prove fault or negligence in your work as the root cause of the crash. Again, good luck with that.

The legal burden is not on the mechanic.

^ Bull****. This is not how the burden of proof works in a legal proceeding. You're spreading fear and misinformation.

The fact is, it's *extremely* difficult to successfully sue even a licensed insured professional shop with a full paper trail of the transaction, for something they did or didn't do to your car. This is why you hear so many consumer complaints about auto mechanics - because complaining is about all you can do. Unless you have very deep pockets to pursue a comprehensive legal claim involving expert witnesses, etc. And even then, it won't be easy to win.

So all this go to jail and be sued stuff you are spewing is a bunch of hot air. Does anyone here know of any mechanic, professional or amateur, who has been successfully sued by a customer? Or any customer who has successfully sued a mechanic, professional or amateur? I have never heard of this happening, even once, in the real world.

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1998 E300 turbodiesel

America's Rights and Freedoms Are Not The Enemy!

97 SL320
What's the difference if I work on my car or someone else's car? Either way I'm not a licensed mechanic (and the fact that I used to be may make this worse).

Let's make up some contrived situation in which I crash into someone's something and kill someone. What's the difference if it's me or someone I did work for?

Every state is a bit different, but my state requires a yearly safety inspection. If the cause of the crash is determined to be failed brakes, an insurance company is more likely to chase down the shop that wrote the inspection sticker, not some backyard mechanic who doesn't have insurance. Lawyers are smart, they're going to chase down people who have money (or an insurance company that'll give them money).

The contrary also holds true, a few years ago I was rearended by someone with completely bald tires and a brake pedal that went to the floor, with an inspection sticker several months expired. Nobody tried to track down the last person that worked on the brakes, the guy was charged with driving to endanger, or some such charge. Bottom line is, mechanics don't really hit the line of fire.

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1984 300TD -- summer daily driver
Many others that aren't Mercedes...

Those services don't really include much more than an oil change. They check your fluids and some other generic stuff...

Since I don't have a newer model Mercedes, I don't have personal experience to know. That said, if an owner of a newer benz fails to have the DEALER perform the service the warranty is VOID VOID and VOID.

That's actually not true. It's been law for decades that the manufacturer cannot dictate who performs the service or what parts are used. So long as the service is performed, receipts are kept to prove it, and you followed the service routine to the letter, they cannot void your warranty by law. That goes for ALL car makers, not just Mercedes.

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Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

Typically when you submit a warranty claim it is only void if they can prove the work done outside of a dealer was a cause for the failure/source of claim. Of course doing all service at a dealer builds rapport and makes any warranty claims easier, but not doing so will not void the warranty unless it's shoddy work.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Bingo, beat me to it (just!). Even tuned and modified cars maintain warranty.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

You can expect a fight though. They'll do everything in their power to get out of honoring warranty, especially for an expensive fix! Having fought and won Lemon Lawsuits against Ford, TWICE, I don't play games when it comes to warranty anymore. Fortunately on my Honda, I waited until the day before the warranty expired to have a piece of rubber trim repaired. That was it's only warranty claim.

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Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

Can't speak for others, however if I speant $150K for a new Mercedes Benz, ALL service while the car was under warranty would be performed ONLY by the dealer.

The dealer did tell me that if someone buys a new benz and A or B service is not performed by them, they will not honor warranty claims.