In the ongoing saga of my case against Subaru of America, I had to appear in Alameda County small claims court. Since we last had to deal with this, I had received a letter stating that Subaru of America had filed to "vacate judgement", in essence, they were filing to have a judge overturn the ruling the judge had made in my original hearing on May 4th. In working with Carl, we concluded that I was going to lose on this count. Even though Subaru had NOT showed up to the hearing on May 4th, they still had a right to ask for "vacate judgement" ruling. From there, I would have to plead my case again as I did back in May.
I arrived on time and the representative from Subaru did as well. We were on. The two of us were called up to the table and as I expected, the judge vacated the original judgement. However, he then went on to state that the reason why he the judgement was erased was because back in May, the hearing was only to determine whether or not Subaru could have the court deny venue, in other words Subaru was trying to have the court rule that I had no right to sue Subaru in Alameda County.
When I got the decision letter back in late May, I had won the motion on venue, so Alameda County was where this hearing would take place. That letter also awarded me the money I was suing for. This is where today's judge found error with the first judge's actions. Back in May, all that was being determined was the issue of venue and she (the judge in May) should not have made any decision on the case itself, instead she should have simply assigned we two parties a date to have our case heard.
So today was that day. In that first round at the front table, as expected the decision was vacated. We were then asked to wait our turn for our hearing. We were the last of three. So an hour or so later, we were back to the front and the hearing began. Mr. Pelkey (the Subaru representative) had done his homework and knew his stuff. Remember, my argument is that the second engine block was under the Replacement Parts warranty.
Pelkey argued that the second time the engine melted it was known for sure that the cause was due to the radiator malfunctioning (due to the fan motor falling off), causing the engine to overheat. In looking back at the records from Indiana's paperwork, there is no indication that a radiator malfunction had caused the first engine to melt. Pelkey argued, and the judge agreed, that had the second engine been defective in anyway, Subaru would honor the Replacement warranty, but since the engine overheating was due to the radiator, it didn't fall under the Replacement warranty. He then stated that the radiator, an original part, was only covered under at 36,000 mile/3 year warranty, and that clearly had been passed at the time of the engine's demise. The judge saw it his way and so the decision was to rule for the defendant with prejudice.
So, what is the silver lining in this? The judge asked me if I had anything else to add. At this point, I knew I was going to lose the case. So I asked Mr. Pelkey, then why didn't any light come on telling me that the engine was overheating. Both times, I was driving and then the engine was smoking and dead. He stated something about the cooling sensor only measuring a temperature when it actually was in coolant and had the coolant been drained or leaked out the sensor would have been measuring air temperature. Since the air temperature is always less than the coolant temperature, the temperature gauge would have gone to the bottom of the gauge. Mr. Pelkey did state that this immediately should have triggered the "check engine" light.
LIGHTBULB!!!!! I had been having the "check engine" light go on and off over the course of the past two years. I had taken the car in twice to have Downtown Oakland Subaru try and figure out what it was. In both cases, they didn't figure out what it was but simply reset the computer. Could this have been it? Well, I have the paperwork from both times I went to the dealership and have on the receipt saying they didn't know what it was.
I didn't say this to the judge or Mr. Pelkey. The judge however, did say that I have the right to go after the dealership in Indiana or Downtown Oakland Subaru, but that Subaru of America was off the hook. Now, I'm going to have to ask my Dad's Subaru expert in Seattle what she thinks. Perhaps I still have a case!
Overall, the experience has been a positive one. I've appreciated the candor and humor and general interest in the of both judges I dealt with. I didn't feel stupid and I felt that I made my case in a logical manner both times. I feel that the explanation for why my case was not judged in my favor was clear and understandable. I learned a great deal about how legal matters work and the process that they take. Time to move on, I have to figure out if I make another move or call it quits.
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