I have been posed with the task of writing a retort statement in regards to a Lawsuit that was served tothebusiness of a family friend. The family owns and runs a full service carwash (interior/exterior). A one time client went through the full wash prosses and on her way home she discovered a crack in her dash that she claims: "Must have been due to someone or something at the carwash, because it was not there when I came in!" Now first off the vehicle is a Dodge Ram, not sure of specifically which one though yet, none the less a fairly decent sized truck none the less. The only reason that anyone would of been near the dash was to clean the windshield or vacuum the floors, seeing as how she did not get a full detail job. The only person that deals with the windshields is a 50 year old, 90 or so pound woman. The owner of the vehicle is serving the company for$1,500 for parts and labor, once again claiming that the business caused it. One more factor: we are in Texas. Anyonewho has been toTexas knows about the Texas heat, humidity, etc.

Does anyone have any say in the matter? I'm not very knowledgeable about Dodges so any advice, help or anecdotes would be much appreciated. Thank You!

 

if her truck was made inbetween 98 and 01 or 02 depending on the model (deisel). its a very comon problem with the trucks itself. myself included started out with a cracked dash, and now its totally caved in. its actually caused by bad plastic, lack of insulation under the dash, UV, rattling from driving the truck. this is a super comon problem. and if she wants someone to replace. she can join the crowd in trying to getdodge to replace it. and they probably wont. within a year it will probably be caved in. and she will have to like the rest of us get a dash mat. or fork out the 500 plus dollars to get a new one.
this is not the carwashes problem, and you need to get a list of customer complaints that have been lodged with dodge. and the sad thing is. this should have been a recall item. but it never will because its so expensive.
but good luck with that. it wasnt the car wash place that cracked it. just time, age, and elements.
shannon

 

also because any info that your going to get on here is usually not allowed in court. i would go as far as calling a few dealerships and ask how many people have complained about a cracked dash, and contact dodge itself. they wont like hearing it. but the cracked dash issue is pretty much dodges fault. im sorry i cant be more helpful to you in this. but alot of people have this problem. just search for cracked dash's on here, and you will see tons of people complaining about it. and do a net search. it really (from what i know so far) that this only affected those certain years that i had mentioned above. the 02 models i think were the last 2nd generation bodies that had the same dash board as the regular 1500 rams did. and it takes more than putting armoral on your dash to crack it when it goes to the carwash. ha ha ha ha.
like i said. im sorry that i cant help you more, but i gave it my best.
shannon

 

Dodge Ram trucks in the years specified below are notorious for cracking. I have a 98 and mine did the same thing and I waas born and raised here in South Texas. My sister-in-law's 02 Ram did the same thing. When dealing with civil law a case is won based on a preponderence of evidence which is 51% ans a criminal case is beyond a reasonable doubt. So unless this client can prove 51% that the damage was caused by an employee then she's dead in the water. I also have a degree in pre-law and was a Texas State Trooper for 5 yrs. Hopefully this helps.

 

that a very common problem, go to dealerships, search on here for cracked dashes (tons of topics on it), Try other dodge forums, go here http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...aintsearch.cfmand look up the specific vehicle. Def a lot of complaints about the dashes there. Here is one example. I just picked a 1999 for example.





Make : DODGE
Model : RAM 2500
Year : 1999

Manufacturer : DAIMLERCHRYSLER CORPORATION


Crash : No
Fire : No
Number of Injuries: 0

ODI ID Number : 10158230
Number of Deaths: 0

Date of Failure: May 3, 2006

VIN : Not Available


Component: OTHER

Summary:
I HAVE A 1999 DODGE 2500 TRUCK THAT STARTED WITH ONE CRACK IN THE DASH AND EACH WEEK I SEEM TO GET ANOTHER. THEY ARE NOW APPROACHING THE PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG. I WORRY THAT ONE DAY I WILL BE DRIVING AND THE DASH WILL JUST COME APART. I AM SURE THAT IN ANY KIND OF FRONT END CRASH PIECES OF DASH WOULD FLY ALL OVER THE CAB OF THE TRUCK. *JB



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But there were 3 for that year under 99 and i know there a lot more for ever year, like mentioned before, from 98-01 and earlier 02. Good luck, shes trying to screw ya.

 

In civil court, It is up to the plaintiff (her) to show that the preponderance of the evidence clearly suggest that the carwash is responsible for the damage. Her word against yours is not nearly enough. She needs qualified evidence (pictures that can be proven recent, for example) that clearly demonstrates the dash was not damaged when it entered the carwash. She also needs to alow you to inspect and photograph the damage so that you can comprehensively defend your position. She needs to alow you to examine any evidence that she plans to present. You have to ask her to do this in writing. If she refuses, it will kill her case because any evidence she does have can not be admitted. She can't evenenter the truck as evidence.I would do nothing but say that the damage was already there and let the judge throw it out. Which is what should happen unless your carwash has a history or you are disrespectful to the court or something stupid like being late or dressing like a bum or running your mouth..... Most judges are pretty good a recognizing bulls*** and generally cut it off and throw it out. good luck.