Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Borrowed a car and brakes went out?

I borrowed a friends car, well sorta. I did not ask he offered but I did not wanna get something from him for nothing. So we made a agreement that the week I was driving it I would give it back to him with a full tank of gas and I would get a oil change done for him at my own expense. I did both and I also asked him if there is anything wrong with the car that I should know about. He said just the tire will get low and keep and eye out for it. He expressed the car was in good shape all around otherwise. Well for a few days goes by and the brakes go out on the expressway and I come to a near accident trying to pump the brakes to stop. I went off the road and came to a stop finally. I notified my friend with in minutes of this happening and then I got it towed back to a service shop of his choice. He then had the cars brakes redone all around. He did not just fix the issue at hand but replaced almost everything from rotors to pads and brake lines. He did not give me a specific of what went wrong, but he did then ask me to pay the complete bill. I refused and told him the agreement we made was not for a car that would put my life at risk. He threatened to take me to court over it. So I also remind him that I would only be responsible for repairing the car to its original state but since he had went far beyond that How would I know what to pay him. Then he started to just make up a number of what I owed him. I told him since he mislead me and also put my life in danger he would have to take me to court for any reimbursement. I have watched enough Judge Judy to know when you borrow a car and something happens its your responsibility to restore it to its original state. However the original state was on the verge of breaking. Also because it put my life at risk I choose not to, What do you think .. how would you have handled this.
Borrowed a car and brakes went out?
if you did not have an accident and damage the car, but the brakes needed doing, that's on him. that's a long term service issue that he is financially responsible for as a part of the upkeep of his own vehicle.



now, if you did have an accident and damage the car, you should cover damage or deductible if insurance is paying.
Borrowed a car and brakes went out?
The main words are %26quot;original state%26quot; in others words to %26quot;make whole%26quot; again but not to make better than before you borrowed the car.



If he is still your friend I would offer he 1/4 of the bill after you have both seen it and verified that it all was done.
I would let him take me to court i would agree i owe him like 50 bucks and offer to pay him ... If he says no ... Let him take you to court and next time you pick a friend dont borrow there car my policy on that is if you drive it and it breaks you can fix it .... If you think you have a case see a lawyer .....
There are two parts to this to consider. When you first used the car you weren't having any problems, and he even notified you that it was in good shape which is fine. If the brakes were in poor condition and he knew it, then that would mean this is his fault, not necessarily yours. With that being said, if the brakes were in full working order when you began driving then its not his fault. That is where the second part comes in. You were in possession of the car. Since he said the car was in good and working order, that might mean that there was something you did while driving that caused the brakes to go out like they did. My suggestion to you is to pay up for your part of the bill. You shouldn't have to pay for the damages for the entire car. But pay up for the damages. But the bad part is you said he already paid for the brakes to be replaced. Its a tricky situation. Just pay for the damages where you can.
If I borrowed a car and caused any kind of damage to it, I would take it and have it repaired.



This is different. You did not cause the problem, it just happened to occur while YOU were driving.



It sounds like this guy is trying to get a lot of free brake work, when maybe a master cylinder would have been enough to fix it.



I think YOU are right to resist his demands. You COULD offer to pay a small % of the repairs, since he was nice enough to let you use the thing in the first place.
I think you did the right thing. If I lent a car to my friend and something broke I would never dream of demanding money for it. If they crashed it or dinged it a bit I would. If he'd been driving the car the same thing would have hapened to him, so it wasnt your fault. Dont pay a penny!
If the two of you are really friends, then legal action would not be needed. I suggest working out an agreement. Since you cannot prove he knew the brakes were faulty and he cannot prove you caused damage to his car intentionally, you should agree to pay half the bill. If he refuses to accept this, then sever your relations and let the lawyers do the talking.