A judge rejected claims by the owner of a crashed Aston Martin DB9 that a body shop tried to scam her, and was ordered to pay more than CA$330,000 or about US$250,000 in current exchange rates.
The three-year legal battle between Jessica Liu, the owner of a crashed Aston Martin DB9, MCL Motor Cars, a dealership based in Vancouver, and Burrard Autostrasse, the body shop in question, came to an end as the owner now has to pay almost twice the value of her car.
Read More: Owner Of Crashed Aston Martin DB9 Refuses To Pay $100,000 Repair Bill
Jessica Liu crashed her 2014 Aston Martin DB9 (worth around CA$200,000 at the time) in December 2015 into a rock and had the car towed to Burrard Autostrasse. Liu, who only had basic insurance, received a formal initial estimate of between CA$85,000 and CA$132,000 Canadian (US65,000 to US$100,000) as the car had suffered structural damage. Liu paid a deposit of CA$50,000 (US$38,000) but refused to pay the remaining sum, filing instead a lawsuit against the auto shop and the dealership.
In her lawsuit, Liu claimed that she had been taken advantage of due to her lack of English skills and perception of wealth, and accused the dealership and the auto shop of breach of contract and collusion between the two defendants, Richmond News reports.
Since the owner didn’t pick up the car, Burrard Autostrasse stored the Aston Martin DB9 indoors for protection and charged her CA$200 per day.
In her lawsuit, Liu was seeking CA$300,000 Canadian (US$226,000) as compensation as she claimed she suffered a long list of personal injuries that included depression and anxiety, sleeping disorders, low self-esteem among others. She went through four different law firms before eventually represented herself in court.
In her ruling of the case, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Nitya Iyer found there was no evidence and no legal basis for any of Liu’s claims. The judge ordered Liu to settle not only the unpaid cost of the repairs and indoor storage fees, which amount to about US$330,000 Canadian (US$250,000), but to pay some of Burrard’s legal costs as well.
“Ms. Liu’s claim is meritless and she has made resolution of the issue virtually impossible,” Iyer wrote, as reported by TheBreaker. “Objectively assessed, her allegations of fraud, conspiracy, fraudulent misrepresentation, or breach of fiduciary duty are without legal foundation and she should not have advanced them. It is clear that Ms. Liu’s conduct of the litigation has been frustrating and extremely unpleasant for Burrard.”
“Notably, over $97,000 of this amount represented the cost of the parts Burrard purchased from Aston Martin to perform the repair. Burrard’s labour cost was about $12,000, or just under 9% of the total invoice,” the judge continued.
“She claims damages for various personal injuries and for travel to and from China, along with the value of a new vehicle, $300,000 and increased costs,” said Iyer’s verdict. “The stated legal basis for her claims is coercion, breach of fiduciary duty and extortion of her as a ‘financially well off’ person whose first language is not English. None of the evidence before me supports these allegations.”
