Georgia law allows you to sue a mechanic or car repair shop for negligence. You might do this as part of personal injury lawsuit, if faulty car repairs caused your accident. If you weren’t in an accident, you might still sue a mechanic in small claims court if the mechanic failed to do your repairs properly.
Mechanics and auto shops have a duty to use a reasonable amount of care in completing car repairs. This means that they can’t return the car to you in an unsafe condition, or cause damage while trying to fix something. When a mechanic isn’t careful, the mechanic is “negligent” and legally liable for your costs and injuries.
How does mechanic negligence cause accidents?
Many car accidents are a simple matter of one driving behaving negligently. But some accidents seem to happen for no reason, or they cause serious injuries that suggest that more than one factor may be to blame. In these cases, we may look at a car’s repair history and whether an auto repair shop might have been negligent.
For example, suppose another driver’s tire malfunctioned and flew off the car on the freeway, causing a multi-car accident. Upon further investigation, we might learn that the driver recently had a flat repaired and the mechanic neglected to fully tighten the lug nuts. Or the tire may have been over-inflated at a gas station. Or a repair shop might have sold the driver a tire that was previously damaged, but passed it off as a new one. In any of these cases, a repair shop’s negligence would have caused the accident.
How can you prove a mechanic was negligent?
It can be difficult to do on your own. Most people don’t have an in-depth knowledge of cars, and when a mechanic tells you they didn’t cause the problem, it’s hard to know how to argue with them. If your car was involved in an accident, the issue may be compounded by the fact that the car now has extensive damage.
At our law firm, we handle many car accident cases, and we have developed a network of experts who know how to diagnose a car and reconstruct exactly what happened. We can obtain repair records that show exactly what work was done on a car, and by whom. Our investigation can pull together the evidence needed to show that an accident was not your fault and to hold shoddy mechanics accountable for their actions. Most auto repair shops carry liability insurance that can be used to pay for your injuries and vehicle damage.
What if I wasn’t in an accident?
Accidents aren’t the only reason for bringing a claim against a mechanic. You may have taken your car in for repairs, but when you got it back it ran even worse than before you took it in. It may have unexplained dents or other damage. In these cases, the mechanic may very well have been negligent in repairing your car, but proving it may not be easy.
One approach is to pay another mechanic who will agree to look your car over and testify in small claims court if it turns out the first mechanic did something wrong. You can then try to work things out with the first mechanic before filing a case in small claims court.
Do I need a lawyer to make a claim against a mechanic?
It depends. If you have not been in an accident and your claim is only about the damage to your car, you can try to recover money in small claims court. You do not need a lawyer to represent you.
If, however, your car has been involved in an accident, it is in your best interest to contact a car accident law firm around Atlanta, Georgia. Car accident law firms have in-depth experience in investigating car accidents and can examine the damage to your car and collect records and witness testimony showing what happened. A lawyer can take care of your claim from beginning to end, while you focus on healing from your injuries. The sooner you contact a lawyer, the stronger your case is likely to be.
Talk to an Atlanta Car Accident Lawyer for Free
Our law firm can help you recover money for your car accident injuries – in fact, that’s all we do. Let us give you a FREE consultation. We won’t ever charge you a fee unless we get you money. Call us at (404) 341-6555 or fill out the form to the right to get your free consultation today.
