What to do about a representation to replace a tire that was never honored by a car dealership which caused damages to my car?
Question Details: I purchased an auto and extended warranty abou 3 years ago. During the purchase, I was told that the dealership was going to replace the front right tire. I called the dealership a couple of times to see if the tire had been ordered only to be told that the salesman that was handling that was out of the office and would return my call. Before I could get the new tire, I had a blowout which caused $2000 worth of damage. My insurance company covered the cost minus the $500 deductible and the cost of a new tire, which was around $150. I talked to the owner of the dealership, who knew about purchasing the new tire, and was told "I purchased the vehicle AS IS". My insurance premiums have increased for 3 years and I am out$ 650.
You can sue the auto dealer for misrepresentation and breach of express warranty. You would file one lawsuit with separate causes of action (claims) for misrepresentation and breach of express warranty. Your damages (the amount of compensation you are seeking in your lawsuit) would be the cost of repairs to your car, regardless of the fact that the insurance paid some of the costs. It may be difficult to prove that your insurance premiums increased due to the accident since insurance companies raise premiums for no reason. If you can prove that the insurance premiums increased due to the accident, you could include this in your damages as it would be consequential and incidental damages. That means the increased premiums were due to the breach of the express warranty since the tire was not replaced which caused the accident.
The dealer claiming that you purchased the vehicle "as is" does not change the fact that the dealer breached the express warranty.
