Shop Destroys C6 Corvette, Owner Wants Crazy Money
Shop owner claims that their insurance will not cover the damage. The C6 Corvette owner wants $17,000, and the shop owner won’t pay.
There is always an inherent risk when you take your vehicle to a small “mom-and-pop” mechanic shop. Yes, the rates are typically a lot cheaper than a dealership mechanic or an ASE-certified center, but if you don’t really know who is working on your car, you could be left with a disaster on your hands. Unfortunately, the owner of this C6 Corvette had to learn this the hard way. The shop owner does seem to want to make things right. However, he claims the owner wants too much money for the car.
This story came to us in a Reddit post. It is a bit of a head-scratcher that will leave you unsure of which side of this argument to take. Ultimately, the Corvette was accidentally dropped off of a two-post car lift while it was being worked on. The driver’s side suffered some pretty substantial damage, and the car owner is trying to get the shop to pony up $17,000. However, the shop owner reports that the Corvette has a salvage title and fired back a pretty insulting number.
What’s It Worth to Ya?
Reddit user elan_alan posted the owner’s statement about the accident. In the statement, the owner reports that one of the employees working on the car was injured during the accident. In addition, he states that the car owner called the police, demanded $17,000, left the car at the shop, and didn’t make any further contact. Police informed the Corvette’s owner that any legal action would have to take place in civil court and that they could do nothing. Finally, the owner states that there is police body cam footage of him offering to repair the vehicle fully.
Ultimately, the statement seems to allege that the owner didn’t want the car repaired and that he wanted the shop to give him $17,000 for the car. However, the shop owner doesn’t want to pay for it because it is 175,000 miles old and has a salvage title. That seems relatively fair, given that the shop owner should only be responsible for the car’s actual value. Ultimately, the shop owner goes on to evaluate the Corvette’s value at only $4,000 to $5,000. That’s equally as laughable as asking $17,000 for a salvage-title car with high mileage.
Who’s in the Right?
Ultimately, this leads to the question of right and wrong in this situation. Obviously, the shop owner is responsible for the car’s damage. That said, it stands to reason that we could all agree the owner can’t just make up a price because of the damage. It seems like the middle-of-the-road play would be for a proper appraisal to take place and for the shop owner to pay the actual value of the car to the owner if he does not want it repaired. Sure, $4,000 to $5,000 might be a somewhat fair price for a daily driven C6 Corvette in its current state. Of course, that’s not really applicable, considering the shop is responsible for its current state.
What do you think is the proper course of action? Let us know on the LS1Tech forum!
Photos: Reddit
