Imagine owning a pristine ZL1 Camaro with just 989 miles on the clock—a rare Hendrick Edition valued at $97,000. You drop it off at the dealership for some warranty work, only to get a phone call informing you that your car has been totaled. For Kenny Habul, this nightmare was a reality.
The Hendrick Motorsports ZL1 isn’t for the light-hearted and untrained. There is a reason it is a track focused car.
Kenny Habul’s 2018 ZL1 “Hendrick Edition” Camaro, with 989 miles on it, was initially towed to H&L Chevrolet in Darien, Connecticut, for a no-start issue (supposedly a simple clutch switch failure). Trusting others with his prize possession was difficult for Habul, so he left the dealership with a guideline when he dropped his Camaro off. The owner told the dealership that his Camaro should never leave their lot.
With his one condition of his Camaro not leaving the dealership, Habul was confused when he found out his ZL1 had hit a guard rail on I-95 at 89 mph. Habul has allegedly filed a lawsuit against the dealership because two of its employees decided to take the car on a joyride.
Luckily, the Camaro was outfitted with a factory-installed data recorder. With this data, the puzzle of what went wrong was pieced together. The data recorder shows that the driver was doing 70 mph, floored the gas pedal, and lost control, causing them to hit the guard rail at 89 mph. On top of this, the driver was not wearing his seatbelt. For the driver, this has allegedly only resulted in a ticket for failure to stay in his lane.
As for the dealership, this has resulted in a lawsuit that alleges the dealership is accountable for the actions of its workers. The plaintiff is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages from the dealership. However, even if Habul successfully wins the lawsuit and receives the monetary compensation he seeks, he would still be deprived of a rare, low-mile special edition Camaro ZL1.
With many alleged errors being made and info from the data recorder, there is much to be revealed about this scenario. While we await the details to be released throughout the court case, we are wracking our brains on how we would handle such a situation. What would you do?
