I brought my 1956 Chevy Bel Air Convertible to Maynard Albertson of Konocti Motor Company in March. I was given a written estimate by him of 117,800 to 148,400 to build a pro mod show car before I brought the car to him. I asked for an insurance certificate when I brought the car to him. Maynard told me that he was renewing his insurance and shopping new companies at the time. I asked him to get the proof of insurance to me when he decided upon a company. That never happened.
After about a year of waiting and the money into the car exceeding 100,000 I began asking for the insurace again. He told me he would self insure. I asked him for a signed letter from his C.P.A. Stating that he was financially capable of self insuring my vehicle. He became extremely upset and told me he does not work for people like me and to come and get my car. After a few weeks I called and talked to Jason (Jason was in charge of my build) and Jason conveyed to me that they were really excited about my car and really wanted to finish it. I agreed and they continued.
By the way, Jason and the crew do incredible work. I have nothing but great things to say about all of them and their quality of work and professionalism. After 1-1/2 years into the project I begin to see that the build seems to be going well over budget. I call Maynard and Jason and schedule a meeting. I drive several hours to meet with them.
We sit down and I ask Maynard why the car is going so far over the original estimate. He admits that they had underestimated the project and that I brought a car to them that was not as in as good of condition as they expected.By the way, the car had all the floor pans replaced as well as new quarter panels. I relay to him that 10,000 can do alot of sheetmetal work so where does 150,000 over budget happen? I never get any response other than those two previous statements.
I was never given a change order for any work to exceed the maximum of 148,400. Now I have had to refinance my home and then pull out a second loan against my home just to finish the car. He has since quit working on the car. I am now going to have to pay 9-1/2 percent interest on the 100,000 that is left to finish the car. I will then have to put the car up for sale immediately and will not even be able to enjoy it at all. The really bad thing about selling a vehicle of this quality is that to get the most money out of it it needs alot of exposure.
It needs to enter all of the Autoramas and shows that start in January and usually go through late spring and try to get it into as many magazines as possible. Then it has to go to the Barrett-Jackson Auction which is in January of every year. Now that it is December and the car is 3 to 5 months away from being finished that means I will have to pay that 9-1/2 percent interest rate until possibly January.
To make things even worse Maynard is telling me he will credit me 19,500 (half of the remaining bill) but wants me to sign a release stating that I will not take legal action against him and will not release my vehicle so I can begin finishing the work at another shop. I have paid Maynard 156,500 to date. That is 8,000 more than the highest figure he gave me on his original estimate. I wish he would have given me an accurate estimate to begin with. If that were the case I would have built the car myself within budget and could have driven and enjoyed it for years before selling it.
To top it all off he is not even licensed with the Bureau of Automotive Affairs, nor does he think he needs to be. You are required by law to be licensed if you paint vehicles or even do as little as a brake job. Maynard says he is an Artist and is not required to hold a license. The last time I checked, an artist was not building something that, if not built correctly, could harm or kill the person operating the vehicle, its passengers and innocent bystanders. I really hope that at some point Maynard realizes just how bad a situation he has put me in financially.
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