A friend of mine had his car repaired by a local Mercedes indie shop recently, and when he picked it up he noticed a small scrape that wasn't there before he took it in. Are repair shops liable for any damage they do to a car's body?

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1978 450SEL (Pearl white, bamboo interior, 97k)
1959 Impala (2 dr. Hardtop, red, white int., 283 V8, 45k)
2003 Tiburon GT V6 (Ultra Sports Pkg. 3, red, blk int., 13k)

Of course they are liable for any damage that they do.

Now, does your friend have a full set of photos of the body to prove to a judge that the vehicle arrived at the local indie shop without the scrape?

Without that, it's his word against the indie. The judge is not likely to find the indie at fault without some "evidence beyond a reasonable doubt".

Sorry to tell you.

He has a full set of pics of the car taken 2 weeks prior to the car going in the shop that show the car to be in excellent shape and showing no damage. After talking to him a bit ago, I learned that he hasn't talked to them about it. They have a great reputation and also have a body shop on premises. I told him to talk to them and it will probably be a non-isssue.

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1978 450SEL (Pearl white, bamboo interior, 97k)
1959 Impala (2 dr. Hardtop, red, white int., 283 V8, 45k)
2003 Tiburon GT V6 (Ultra Sports Pkg. 3, red, blk int., 13k)

I'd be curious to see if they step up immediately and it's an immediate "non-issue" or whether he has to pull out the set of photos to prove that it's a "non-issue", or it goes downhill from there..........................?