One of the founders, and the former CEO of Angie’s List, Bill Oesterle, has won a $7.2 million decision in Iowa against a mechanic who was found to have misled him on the authenticity of at least one classic car, and overcharged him for work on others.
Craig Hillinger, the owner of The Healy Werks Corp., worked with Oesterle for more than a decade, but the trouble started in 2010, when he was sent a 1967 Maserati Ghibli by the former CEO, reports the Indy Star.
Oesterle said in the lawsuit that he purchased the Maserati for $16,000, and was told that work on it would take no more than two years, and cost no more than $200,000 to complete. Four years later, he was sent an invoice for more than $1 million, and work on the car had not yet been completed.
Read: Counterfeit Car Parts Are Often More Profitable Than Drugs And The Business Is Booming
In another instance, the complaint says that Hillinger convinced Oesterle to go in on the purchase of a rare, vintage Austin-Healey 110M with him. The mechanic told the former CEO that the car was one of the 640 examples produced by the factory, and just needed about $10,000 worth of work to prepare.
Oesterle was convinced, and gave Hillinger $50,000. When he finally received the car, it came with an invoice for over $130,000 and, worse still, the new owner discovered that it was not, in fact, a factory 100M as the mechanic had promised.
“It’s a difficult process to find authentic parts and materials, and to find credible people with the expertise to properly restore these beautiful machines,” said Oesterle. “Often that means you have to trust people across the country, or even the world, to deliver on what they say they have and what they can do. I would hate to know other collectors have been treated this way.”
The court eventually found that Oesterle had suffered $2.4 million in damages, and he was awarded three times that sum, in line with Iowa’s motor vehicle services trade law, because of the “willful and wanton disregard” for his rights. Healey Werks Corp. will also have to pay Oesterle’s attorney’s fees.
“I want others in the classic car community to be aware of this situation,” Oesterle said.
