DaimlerChrysler Ordered to Pay $385,000 For Bum Dodge Viper
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Record Breaker
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From: DFW, Texas
DaimlerChrysler Ordered to Pay $385,000 For Bum Dodge Viper
http://www.mph-online.com/web/news/00388
Well damn if I knew that I could take a vehicle out to the race track or drag strip and tear it up and then everytime it broke go back to the dealership and bitch about it so they would fix it then I would have been doing this for years. And then when they refuse to fix it file a lemon law on it to get double my money back... all I can say is WTF???
DaimlerChrysler Ordered to Pay $385,000 For Bum Dodge Viper
By David Doege, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Mar. 31--Waukesha -- In what is believed to be the largest damages award concerning a defective car in the history of the state's lemon law, a judge has ordered DaimlerChrysler Corp. to pay two business partners and their attorneys more than $385,000.
Waukesha County Circuit Judge Mark Gempeler ordered the payment in closing out a lawsuit over an oft-troubled $80,000 Dodge Viper that has been parked for two years.
The award illustrates how high the stakes can be in Wisconsin for carmakers, because if they lose such lawsuits, they have to pay the owner double damages, attorney fees, court costs and interest.
"This may be the biggest award ever in America," said attorney Vince Megna, who represented the business partner who owed the Viper. "In researching this, I found nothing bigger over the past 20 years, and until it's paid, it's earning $126.90 in interest each day."
The lawsuit was filed in 2004 James Mortle of Muskego and Joe Kiriaki of Franklin over a muscle car they bought because of its performance prowess. The two bought a black 2003 Viper on July 12, 2003, from a dealer in Illinois.
On Aug. 1, 2003, according to court records, 71 miles after the 500-mile break-in period, the differential broke for the first time. It was repaired, but just 13 days later, with the odometer reading 686 miles, the differential broke again, court records say.
Over the next six months, the differential broke four more times, each time while being shifted from first to second gear at around 50 mph.
When the Viper was running like it was designed to, Mortle reached 122 mph in a quarter mile on a drag strip, he said. But after the differential broke for the sixth time, the manufacturer refused to cover any more repairs, records show.
Mortle asked for a replacement Viper under the state's lemon law, according to the lawsuit, but the manufacturer refused, contending that he and Kiriaki abused the car.
Megna filed the lemon law suit against DaimlerChrysler Corp. in June 2004 in Waukesha County Circuit Court. A jury sided with Mortle and Kiriaki after a trial in January.
The award ordered Gempeler last week included payments of $161,013 in damages to Mortle and Kiriaki, $26,632 in interest as of March 23, $175,610 in attorney fees and $22,721 in court costs. William Croke, the attorney for DaimlerChrysler Corp., could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Copyright 2006, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
By David Doege, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Mar. 31--Waukesha -- In what is believed to be the largest damages award concerning a defective car in the history of the state's lemon law, a judge has ordered DaimlerChrysler Corp. to pay two business partners and their attorneys more than $385,000.
Waukesha County Circuit Judge Mark Gempeler ordered the payment in closing out a lawsuit over an oft-troubled $80,000 Dodge Viper that has been parked for two years.
The award illustrates how high the stakes can be in Wisconsin for carmakers, because if they lose such lawsuits, they have to pay the owner double damages, attorney fees, court costs and interest.
"This may be the biggest award ever in America," said attorney Vince Megna, who represented the business partner who owed the Viper. "In researching this, I found nothing bigger over the past 20 years, and until it's paid, it's earning $126.90 in interest each day."
The lawsuit was filed in 2004 James Mortle of Muskego and Joe Kiriaki of Franklin over a muscle car they bought because of its performance prowess. The two bought a black 2003 Viper on July 12, 2003, from a dealer in Illinois.
On Aug. 1, 2003, according to court records, 71 miles after the 500-mile break-in period, the differential broke for the first time. It was repaired, but just 13 days later, with the odometer reading 686 miles, the differential broke again, court records say.
Over the next six months, the differential broke four more times, each time while being shifted from first to second gear at around 50 mph.
When the Viper was running like it was designed to, Mortle reached 122 mph in a quarter mile on a drag strip, he said. But after the differential broke for the sixth time, the manufacturer refused to cover any more repairs, records show.
Mortle asked for a replacement Viper under the state's lemon law, according to the lawsuit, but the manufacturer refused, contending that he and Kiriaki abused the car.
Megna filed the lemon law suit against DaimlerChrysler Corp. in June 2004 in Waukesha County Circuit Court. A jury sided with Mortle and Kiriaki after a trial in January.
The award ordered Gempeler last week included payments of $161,013 in damages to Mortle and Kiriaki, $26,632 in interest as of March 23, $175,610 in attorney fees and $22,721 in court costs. William Croke, the attorney for DaimlerChrysler Corp., could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Copyright 2006, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
Joined: Jun 2006
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RE: DaimlerChrysler Ordered to Pay $385,000 For Bum Dodge Viper
WTF is right... over 175k for attorney fees???
But similar things happen all the time with higher performance cars. I own a Cadillac CTS-V and it has a weak rear as well, which turns out is simply the penny pinching bastards at GM who KNOW the rear is WAY under rated for the 400/400 LS6/LS2 motors they put in them.
GM attempts to deny warranties all the time stating abuse, but it always comes down to how the car is advertised.."0-60 in under 5 seconds". GM cannot claim "abuse" when the car is simply being used as advertised.
But similar things happen all the time with higher performance cars. I own a Cadillac CTS-V and it has a weak rear as well, which turns out is simply the penny pinching bastards at GM who KNOW the rear is WAY under rated for the 400/400 LS6/LS2 motors they put in them.
GM attempts to deny warranties all the time stating abuse, but it always comes down to how the car is advertised.."0-60 in under 5 seconds". GM cannot claim "abuse" when the car is simply being used as advertised.
Admin formally known as 94rt10ohio
Joined: Apr 2005
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From: Curtice, OH
RE: DaimlerChrysler Ordered to Pay $385,000 For Bum Dodge Viper
ORIGINAL: MidnightBlueNeon
There is another thread on this somewhere...
There is another thread on this somewhere...
