Who should pay for car repairs? The owner or the person who borrowed it when it broke down?

I lent a 12 year-old Nissan Altima sedan to a friend and told him it had a histroy of overheating (I%26#039;ve driven this car for nearly three years and it%26#039;s over heated maybe ten times, although it hadn%26#039;t done so for eight months) and as long as the water was topped up he would be alright.

He returned the car without telling me anything about the fact that it had been overheating during the three days he borrowed it (on the second day he borrowed it he%26#039;d been told by a mutual friend of ours not to drive it becuase there was a serious problem).

He then asked to borrow it two days later and it broke down and needs a $500 repair job. Blown head gasket is the problem because he had been driving it with no water in it

Am I negligent for lending a car that may not have been topped up with water, and therefore pay half to fix the car (which may have needed some repairs in the near future)? Or should he pay the $500 and return the car to me as he found it: running very well?

Sour!

V

Who should pay for car repairs? The owner or the person who borrowed it when it broke down?bad credit loan

It%26#039;s your car, you have to pay for it. Don%26#039;t loan it out.

Who should pay for car repairs? The owner or the person who borrowed it when it broke down? loan

never loan your baby to anyone... now you know... you gonna have to pay for it... he/she will not.|||You are responsible.If the car%26#039;s been having problems,why would you let a friend borrow it?|||i don%26#039;t think it should be your friends fault, it was an accident waiting to happen|||one who borrowed it

period|||the person who took your car was solely responsible for your when he took from you and if he has been ticketed or done damage he should only pay as he was responsible|||unfor. you can%26#039;t prove it never leand your stuff take this as a lesson learned...|||the person who borrowed|||I watch a lot of People%26#039;s Court and I afraid to say that I think you would just get a lecture on not lending out your problem vehicle to anyone. It sucks but I don%26#039;t think you are going to get a dime from your friend if you pursue this legally|||YOUR CAR YOUR problems -- you knew the xtent of the cars problems -- you should have fixed teh car before the problem occured.. What if he/she was starnded on the express way due to your negliance ?? Then what ??|||The owner unless it was in an accident.

You knew of your cars problems, this could have been coincidence that it happened while your car was loaned out.

Bottom line, your laziness to get it fixed in the first place is the reason your car is broken.

Not your friends.|||I think half and half, you warned him of the problem and when you lend something to someone it is then there problem. If he was driving it and thought it was overheating he should have added antifreeze or water so it wouldn%26#039;t have broke down in the first place. At the same time you could have done those things too. I think the fair thing to do would be to say that you both messed up and go half on it!|||Since your car had a history of overheating, I think it would have eventually broken down and needed the repairs. It just happens that your friend was the one driving it. He might have been able to prolong the need for repair if he had put more water in it, but it was just a matter of time. If he would have wrecked it, then it would have been his liability, but don%26#039;t lose a friend over $500|||He knew he was supposed to check for the water adn did not, so he is responsible. I doubt that he will pay even though he was negligent. You may have to take him to small claims court or get him to pay half. It would be different if it just broke down when he was driving it, but you specifically told him to make sure it was topped off.|||Split the cost for the repairs. Your fault for lending it to him and knowing that something was wrong with it and his fault for not doing or saying anything about it when he originally had it.|||ask him to share the cost as it was his fault as well i m sure its fair enough nyways rest is ur decision if he is a good frnd of urs .|||The car sounds like it was going to break at some point anyway. It%26#039;s just unfortunate that your friend was driving it at the time. Don%26#039;t punish your friend because your car finally gave up. Friendships are much more valuable than money or cars.|||You as the owner have the ultimate

responsibility to pay for any repairs

or damages caused by property held in

your name.

Just because your friend is stupid and

in my honest opinion quite sneaky, he

does not owe you anything in return.

HOWEVER

A good friend would own up to the fact

that he not only abused your trust, but

failed to heed your warning and did not

treat your property properly.

The Life Lesson here is: NEVER lend out

something to someone that you can not

afford to lose. Because accidents happen.|||If he accepted full responsibility for the car then he should pay for the repair.

Because it had a lingering issue, it may already have had a blown headgasket, meaning his actions may have been the straw that made the blown headgasket show itself by not making the car useful until fixed.|||You friend was negligent. Your car was damaged due to his negligence. He should pay for a portion of the repair.

You were negligent, too, for not checking the antifreeze level in the presence of your friend, and topping it up as necessary. You should pay a portion of the repair.

One hopes that, in the past, you were not topping up the radiator fluid with water, but rather with a 50/50 antifreeze/water mix. If this was not the case, then the process of adding water slowly diluted the mix, allowing the car to overheat more and more often.|||Well your friend can offer some money to help you out with the repair. On one hand, you loan him a car that was not in the best condition to start. Whether you or he was driving when the car had a blown head gasket, it is your car. Secondly, your friend should have known better to drive the car in its present condition plus without no water.|||Very tough situation.

But, as an owner, and lending your car out, I think you should have fully explained to the borrower that the car would need water constantly. You explained that the car overheats, so there%26#039;s no need for the other party to bring it back telling you it overheated...because you told them it%26#039;s common. It%26#039;s like me having you babysit my dog and telling you that he recently has been coughing which sounds like he%26#039;s dying, there%26#039;s no need for you to tell me that he%26#039;s been coughin, since I told you and it%26#039;s expected.

About the water, I think you should have warned him saying that it would need refilling every day or so. I too have a nissan.. 14yrs old, a B13 Sentra. It needs water every 2-5 days. I would have told the renter about that problem. The lendee didnt%26#039; know about that situation with the car before borrowing it, because he wasn%26#039;t informed, so, he assumed that would be ok.

I feel for you though, but, it%26#039;s the owner%26#039;s responsibility to tell the borrower about its problems and that it would need water refilling everyday. If you told him about that problem with the water, and he still brought it back in that condition, that%26#039;s a different story. But maybe he could pay half if he%26#039;s REALLY a friend..since he did borrow it.|||You should have written an agreement if you want him or her to take responsibility.

But since you didn%26#039;t you are responsible for the repairs. This friend could halp you if they wanted but they have no obligation too.|||This kind of situation is always sticky and messy. Each side has valid reasons to put the reponsibility on the other side. Like the others have already said, NEVER lend your car to your friend (especially if it%26#039;s already running iffy), this is a bad move on your part. I would tell my friend, %26quot;I%26#039;d rather have you be a little mad at me, then to lose you as a friend entirely if something bad happens.%26quot;

You are very lucky that he is offering to pay half, TAKE THE OFFER. I wouldn%26#039;t have been suprised if he had offered to pay nothing. He doesn%26#039;t have to pay anything if he doesn%26#039;t want to.|||Moral of your question don%26#039;t loan you car bite the bullet and have it fixed a bought lesson is the best kind|||You let a friend borrow a car that has had problems, that you were very much aware of. You informed your friend how to maintain the car, he was aware. Was he aware that in three days the water could be gone? Evidently he did not maintain the car, but this is a problem that should have been serviced some time ago. The right thing that I did not hear happen is that your friend offered to pay half, since it was under his care. However, if he did it would be the honorable thing for you to decline the offer and fix the car on your own. Also, a friendship is never worth a 12 yr old Nissan. Feel sour about it and get over it...as long as this friend is a friend and not taking advantage of you its worth more.|||NOPE....fact of the matter is you were already in serious trouble before you lent it to a friend that is to stupid to follow some simple directions(some friend), but to the point -the question that needs to be asked is why was it overheating obviously it was loosing coolant????? (was it coolant or was it just water if so verrrry stupid) what was the underlying cause did the gasket have a hairline crack or maybe the head did,was the rad the tank or the pump leaking if you don%26#039;t have those answers you have no one to blame but yourself its like when i was young and was out for a cruise in the old mans 66 tempest on a friday night and the drive shaft fell out of the ***** thing was i to blame because i happened to be behind the wheel when it happened or was it the old man who inspite of being told to come to a complete stop before changeing gears or he was going to beat the universals out of it AGAIN thats right AGAIN so thats it for my rant...i guess but from now on if i was you i%26#039;d do recommended maintenance as per my reliable and TRUSTED mechanic says... call it part of the learning curve. if i was you though i would not let the dumb *** borrow anything again thats right again... oh and by the way a 12 year old nissan altima isnt worth 500 bucks do yourself a favour and call a scrap yard preferable one that will take it for free its not worth another cent

yours truly,

ASE and red seal certified|||YOu mentioned possibly he should pay the $500 dollars and return the car as he found it...%26quot;running very well%26quot;.

Per what you said YOU lent him the car knowing that there is a problem with it. The over heating. He borrowed the car in good faith that it would not break down on him.

Being that you were aware of a preexisting condition the car was NOT running very well as you put it.

You alone should be responsible for the repairs on your car. Don%26#039;t pawn your broken car off on someone else and make them pay for it when it breaks. Shame on you.