Auto Q & A
Auto Q & A
By: Dr. Wheels
Topics:
Posted by editor Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
Viewed 723 times
0 responses 0 comments Dear Q & A: I heard somewhere that gas stations are required by law to offer free air for tire inflation. This is just another one of those phony urban legends, isn’t it?
—C.C.
Dear CC: No, in this case there’s truth at the core. By law, the California Department of Food and Agriculture mandates that: “Gas stations are required to provide air and water free to customers who buy gasoline or diesel. You may have to ask the attendant for a token or to turn the equipment on for you. If the attendant does not give you a token or turn the equipment on, posted on the equipment is the 1-800-356-7057 number where you may call to file a complaint.”
Dear Q & A: On a trip to Las Vegas last week, disaster struck. Here’s the background story: about two weeks ago, the air conditioning fan switch in my high-mileage 1999 Kid Sepia quit working, so I took it in to a shop in Victorville. They charged me nearly $500 to repair it and after that it seemed to be working okay. But when I got to our hotel parking lot in Vegas, smoke began coming from the panel where the switch was located and then flames. Luckily there was a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall of the parking structure, so I grabbed it and I was knocking the fire down pretty well myself. Meanwhile, somebody had apparently called the fire department, because a truck roared up and several firemen took over. It didn’t take them more than a few minutes to rip out my console and a good section of my dashboard. Oh yes, in the process they also put the fire out.
To make a long story short, the car was basically destroyed, so when the tow truck came to haul the hulk away, I just gave the driver my title and told him to junk it. I understand they dispose of cars after 30 days anyway, if they’re unclaimed.
Now, who do I sue? I’m out a car. I didn’t have fire and theft on my insurance policy, just liability. How can I pursue this to try to recover at least some of the value of what I lost? The air conditioning shop is responsible, isn’t it? And how about the Las Vegas Fire Department? What’s my best course of action here?
— Carless F.
Dear Carless: It really seems this predicament has many of the features of a fogeddabadit situation. The car fire, even if it was definitely the fault of defective work by the air conditioning shop, occurred in another city in another state.
Assembling witnesses for even a small claims court trial would likely be impossible, or at least so expensive that a likely recovery amount wouldn’t match it.
Where would you sue? Victorville? Las Vegas? Can’t sue the fire department there. They’ll be presumed to have been doing their duty, saving lives and property.
Your car was eight model years old, now that the ‘07s are out, so its value could easily be less than the monetary cost — not to mention the hassle — of seeking redress in a courtroom.
But this column isn’t competent to (and doesn’t) offer legal advice. Maybe legal columnist Maxine de Villefranche can help.
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