What to do- indy has my Z4 and has closed shop indefinitely!

[wiseguy]

Hi,

Short story:
My Zed is locked up in an indy shop with a sign on the door reading "closed indefinitely due to medical emergency." Calls to the shop go to voicemail. I received no notice of the closing.

Long Story:
I took my Zed to an indy shop for a new convertible top installation and seat leather repair. I paid a deposit to cover the cost of the top being ordered from California, and waited several weeks while the top was being made and shipped to my Indy. I then brought my car in for the install, which took about a week. The shop is staffed by one guy, the owner, a nice and knowledgable fellow, who came highly recommended from several people (he has 30 plus years in the business), so I wasn't worried. When I dropped off the car for the install, he told me (for the first time) he was going into the hospital for a routine procedure (colonoscopy), but he wanted to get my top done before going in for the procedure, in case there were any complications. That sounded right to me. I wanted my car back. He finished it the Saturday before the Monday procedure. When I picked it up, I noticed several issues, including the rubber seal between the trunk lid and roof being uneven from one side to the other (it sticks out over an inch on one side, and almost none on the other). He had taped down the ends of that rubber piece on both sides of the car, telling me they were curling up and he had applied an adhesive to keep the rubber from riding up. I could remove the tape the next day, once it cured, he said. I asked if he had tested the function of the roof; he said he had. He said he could work on that rubber section sticking out after his procedure. I took the car and paid him the remaining sum due, as I didn't want to leave the car there while he was in the hospital, for a day or a week.

The next day, I removed the tape and found a mess of black adhesive that looks awful, on both side of the car at the ends of the rubber. I then tried to lower the top, and it appeared to get hung on the glass window, pushing past the sticking point with an unnerving sound. The top went back up just fine. I tried to put the top down on 2 other occasions, even doing it slowly in a stop and start fashion, and had the same noise and resistance, likely due to the window snagging on the plastic inside the car, above the center storage. I called him the day of his procedure and left a message about the issues. A week later, I called again and left another message. He called me back 3-4 days later and said he had been in the hospital and had surgery following the colonoscopy. He was just getting back into the shop.

Out of caution, I gave it a week for his continued recovery before taking my car back for him to fix the issues. I dropped it off on July 6, and he admitted he may have "messed it up" as he had never installed a Z4 top. But, he said he would make it right. I told him to take his time; doing it right was more important than doing it fast. I even offered to take off from my job and help him lift off the top or remove the seat if needed. He said he had it covered.

On July 9 or 10, my sis passed by the shop and told me the indy had the top off of the car and had taken out my driver' seat. Today, July 14, I passed by the shop and noticed the "closed indefinitely due to medical emergency" sign on the door. Calls go to voicemail. While I could reinstall the seat myself, the soft top, if it is in pieces, is another matter. Getting a 3rd party to put it back together and take responsibility for any problems with the top is unlikely, and would cost me more money.

But first things first, I have to get to the car. I have receipts from the Indy showing I paid for the work, but it is locked securely in the indy's garage. I don't have his home telephone number or first name, and his last name is the most common out there.

I'm hoping someone out there has been in this situation and found a way to resolve it quickly.

[PerryGunn]

I don't know the business framework in the US, but surely his business should be registered somewhere local with full name of owner, contact details etc.

[Wyldie85]

If you 'Google' the name of the garage can you not find more details on the owner or the business that might give you a clue?
If you want to PM me the info I'd happily have a search for you if you'd like?

Hope you manage to get your car back soon!

[cj10jeeper]

Ouch - I feel for you (and the shop owner too) on this.

It's not going to be easy, but you have to trace the owners family or relative and to start ascertain his illness, duration and if you wish recover the car.
If you can't find anything on Google then I'd visit a police station and ask their advice. They may well help ind if not provide detail then contact a relative.

A similar situation happened to my buddy who took his Triumph Stag in for hardtop repair. He was a one man business and sadly died with the hardtop still locked up and claimed by the creditors as a part of the estate as my buddy didn't get a receipt for it (do you ever??). Police contacted the guys wife, connected them and started a process. Took months to get it back and in the end he purchased all the stock of the garage.

[Scooba_Steve]

Is it worth speaking to your local police / court / a laywer to see what you'd need to force entry to regain your car? It's your property and you've paid for the work.

[aquazi]

As above..... Something similar happened with my friend who is into his bikes...

Took it to get a custom paint job on it... The paint shop was a one man band... And the owner was involved i a serious bike accident (in a coma)

But he had no idea what happened and why this guy wasnt answering the phone or opening his garage.

He left a note on the door of the shop... With his details and for someone to call him back.

The blokes wife was checking post etc then found the note and called him to explain the situation.

Worth a try... Good luck.

[gasman]

@wiseguy, Almost 2 weeks have past, any update ?

[wiseguy]

@wiseguy, Almost 2 weeks have past, any update ?

Sorry I haven't been on in a while, ladies and gents. I appreciate all of your input and suggestions!

Update:

After several days of trying to reach the owner, I found him in the shop one day. He had been in the hospital, due to surgery complications. He assured me he was diligently going to work on my car's roof issues. I reluctantly agreed to let him try, as I've paid for the work already. He asked me to be patient, and I told him I would be. I wanted it done right. He called me recently and said the car was ready to be picked up. I arrived and inspected the work. The adhesive he put on the outer roof rubber near the door jam looks better, though I may try my hand at making it look more OEM/invisible. The roof now fits uniformly around the trunk lid area, with no rubber sticking out more than any other area. He also replaced some of the driver's seat leather.

However, operating the roof caused it to stick, with what sounds like the top's glass window scraping past the plastic rear of the car's interior. He insisted it was a failed trunk tray (the one that flips up to offer more trunk space). He says I need to get that replaced, but the use of the top as is won't harm the top or glass. I hesitated to let him keep it any longer, so I took the car with the intent to have my regular indy take a look at this "tray issue." Upon leaving the top shop, my airbag light illuminated on the dash. I called the top guy and left a message about it. He called me the next day and said he forgot that the removal of the driver's seat likely meant the car's computer needed to be reset by the dealer; he offered to pay for the resetting, which should cost no more than $75. I told him I would get back with him. I took the car to my indy, who found that the driver's seat belt tensioner had failed, causing the airbag light to come on. While odd, and quite the coincidence, I can't prove he caused it to fail; it may have simply been it's time to go. $400 later, I'm having a new tensioner installed.

My indy took a look at the top, and found that the top guy had used screws that were too short towards the base of the top inside the cabin (some were loose in the top, not even making contact with the car body), so he put in longer screws, which seemed to make the top more taut. The top of the glass window is in fact dragging past the plastic rear of the car's cabin when going down, and the indy says it is due to the roof's bottom straps being under-tightened/installed improperly. I got that in writing from my indy and called my top guy. He disagrees, and says he knows more than my indy. He asked that I wait 2 weeks to see if the top stretches and the problem takes care of itself. Meanwhile, I'm not supposed to lower the top.

I'm going to give it two weeks, then take the car back to the top guy. If he can't fix it this time, properly, he will likely find himself on the receiving end of a lawsuit. I'll pay a 2nd shop to fix his mess up and then go after him for the damages and missed work. I've tried to be reasonable but my patience is wearing thin. I've been without my functioning convertible for far too many weeks.

I would strongly recommend against using a one-man shop for any car work. If he doesn't know what he's doing, he has no team to ask for help. And if he becomes ill...

Some days, it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.

[Mark555]

What a complete nightmare saga. Your patience has been outstanding. Your 'top guy' would appear to be wholly incompetent and I doubt anyone could blame you for taking any future actions to offset your monetary losses.