The owner of an Audi R8 roadster has sued a Briarcliff Manor auto repair shop for $190,000 for allegedly failing to fix an engine problem.
Victor Spaccarelli claims that Pascal Dorn and Double R Auto Repair couldn’t diagnose the problem and exposed the car he had recently bought to damages, in a Sept. 17 complaint filed in Westchester Supreme Court.
“Our shop has tried multiple times to contact the owner unsuccessfully, and have received no instruction on how to proceed and have received no money for any work performed to date,” Dorn said in an email.
A 2008 Audi R8, a muscular, 420-horsepower supercar, sells for about $85,000 to $88,000, according to Edmunds.com.
Spaccarelli, of Carmel, says he had his R8 “flat-bedded” to the repair shop on June 17 because there was a knock in the engine and it was not prudent to drive it until the problem was diagnosed.
He says Dorn promised to push the car into the shop until he could work on it.
That was important, according to the complaint, because the R8 was “wrapped” ”” the application of vinyl decals that gives a car a dramatic, customized appearance ”” and storing it outside would damage the material.
Spaccarelli claims that he learned that the car had been driven in and out of the shop every day for two weeks. He visited the shop several times in July and August, the complaint states, and found that no work had been done.
Meanwhile, he needed to give his insurance company and finance company the car’s mileage, according to the complaint, and the finance company imposed a $7,000 charge for an unregistered car.
On Aug. 9, Spaccarelli says, he found out that the problem still had not been diagnosed, the motor had been taken out, the car was being stored outdoors and Dorn was searching for another motor.
On Aug. 26, Dorn allegedly demanded $4,000 for work done, even though the engine problem had not been identified.
The mileage still has not been reported for the insurance company, according to the complaint, no estimate has been given for fixing the problem, the shell of the R8 is parked outdoors where the wrap is deteriorating and pieces of the car are “all over the shop.”
Dorn said Spaccarelli has been given options to replace the engine with a new or used engine or to repair the existing engine if feasible.
Spaccarelli accused Dorn and the repair shop of negligence and of workmanship that failed to meet the industry standard of care. He is demanding $90,000 for damages and $100,000 in punitive damages.
He is represented by Greenburgh attorney Joseph A. Maria.
