Randy Sottile – Your Consumer Advocate
My father was in the car business, my uncle was in the car business, my whole family is in the car business. I had it “in my blood” and learned the car business from “the ground-up” starting with washing cars for a car dealer. I worked my way, through all the departments to a car salesman just like my father. I had become very successful, just like my father before me.
I rewarded my efforts with my dream car – a Mercedes Benz. I saved and saved to buy that car, I truly loved that car, and then problems started. It had transmission and engine overheating problems. So I took it back to the dealer and they said nothing was wrong with it. They told me, they couldn’t find anything and it was a “Mercedes” the “Best Built Car” in the world. The problems continued. It got to the point that I was waiting for the transmission to go into gear when starting it, and checking the temperature gauge every time I needed to go somewhere, scared that it would not go into gear, or overheats again and break down…
I kept taking the car back to the service department at my dealer, and they kept doing tests and telling me nothing was wrong with my car that it was “something I was doing”. I knew the car was not acting in the same way as when I bought it…
So after several attempts, I finally met with the Mercedes factory people at the dealership, and asked them to take the car back.
They refused, telling me “we honor the new car warranty and correct anything that’s wrong”. I then sought help through the Lemon Law. At that time, there was nobody like me out there to talk too.
So I had to investigate the case myself, this is where my years in the car business and the help of my family came in to help. I took my case to an attorney and even he was reluctant to take the case because Mercedes had not lost a lemon law case in court for the last 6-7 trials. He even said, “They are the best built car in the world”. To make matters worse, I had to pay him a contingency fee to take the case. I went forward, because I was so sure I was right.
Mercedes wouldn’t settle the case or acknowledge there was anything wrong with the car they built. They were so confident that there couldn’t be anything wrong with the car, that they took this case all the way to trial in Federal court. All I wanted was my car fixed; I didn’t want all this hassle…
At the trial Mercedes Benz sent their head mechanic, an aristocratic engineer that was designated as “The Person Most Knowledgeable” about their cars. This mechanic spoke with a thick German accent, was trained in Germany, and was impressive to the jury to the point of being scary. He testified that there was nothing wrong with my car, as “the engine is perfect – like it was built yesterday” and that there was nothing wrong with the transmission. What he did not know is that I found a little-known memo, as well as a Service procedure on “microfiche film” from Mercedes Benz stating the very same problem (symptom) – and even a “fix” for it, with the model of my beloved car that I was describing all this time!
During cross-examination, my attorney, very dramatically handed the mechanic the documents I found and asked him to read them out loud. The mechanic appeared dumbfounded and started to stammer. It was obvious to me, and I believe to the jurors, that the Mercedes Benz head mechanic, who worked for the manufacturer of the “Best Built Car” in the world, got his testimony impeached!
This is the best part: when their mechanic got his testimony impeached by my attorney; he got so red-faced and flustered, the judge ordered a 10-minute recess! I knew I was right, I felt a great weight lifted off my chest. My attorney said ‘we got him”. I almost screamed out! Mercedes lost! I won this landmark case, by unanimous jury, against one of the largest auto manufacturers in the world. It was right then and there, other people just like you and other lemon law attorneys nationwide started hearing about the case and started asking me to help them to get their client’s justice too.
After this landmark case, I began to provide technical consulting services to lemon law attorneys in California, as well as nationwide. These years of experience have provided me with extensive knowledge on how the lemon law process works.
So that’s how it started, and now 23 years and helping over 11,000 consumers later I am out there helping others just like you. Helping them to get a better car, whether it’s a Ford, Honda or Mercedes-Benz, or any other car manufacturer.
Now there is someone out there to help you – ME! I will show you how to get a better car by building a lemon law case on your present car.
You don’t have to pay for help. If you have a new or used car with a factory warranty, and you’ve had repeated problems, all you need do is fill out the form on the contact page of this website or call me.
Additionally, I want to review your warranty repair order, invoices for the problem you have been experiencing with your car that caused you to take it back to the dealer. I can assist you on what you need to build a case. This is a painless solution, and I do the work. No cost – no hassles.
