Couple ordered to pay Dh32,506 after losing dispute with car workshop

An Al Ain court has ordered a woman and her husband to pay Dh32,506 to a car repair workshop, ruling that the amount represents the outstanding balance for engine modifications carried out on a vehicle owned by the woman.

In its judgment, the court said the documents submitted by the claimant failed to provide any technical proof that the agreed work had not been completed.

The case began when the woman filed a lawsuit against the workshop, demanding Dh46,100, legal interest, and the return of the car engine and its components, or compensation valued at Dh125,960. According to Emarat Al Youm Arabic daily, she also sought Dh100,000 in material and moral damages, in addition to legal costs and lawyers’ fees. She requested that the workshop’s owner and his son be added as defendants and held jointly liable.

The claimant said she had handed over her car to the workshop for engine modifications and mechanical work. A representative acting on her behalf made several bank transfers totalling Dh46,100 to enable the workshop to complete the job, as the required parts had reportedly arrived from the manufacturer.

She claimed that, due to limited space at the workshop, she requested that the vehicle body be removed while the engine and its accessories remained there. However, she alleged that the workshop failed to complete the work, retained the transferred funds, and refused to return the engine and its parts.

The workshop owner and his son denied the allegations and filed a counterclaim, arguing that the woman was not a party to the original contract. They demanded Dh32,506 as the remaining balance, along with Dh10,000 in compensation for non-payment.

In its reasoning, the court relied on the findings of a court-appointed engineering expert, who said the dispute centred on whether the agreed engine modification work had been carried out. The expert concluded that the defendants had submitted invoices for imported spare parts and machining work, while the claimant failed to present any technical evidence proving non-performance.

The report confirmed that the engine had undergone professional, high-level modifications using imported parts, in line with a prior agreement. It rejected claims that the engine was not the original one, describing them as unsupported by any technical or documentary proof.

The expert added that the woman’s husband had paid Dh45,100 in instalments, leaving an outstanding balance of Dh32,506. He found that the breach lay in non-payment and delays in collecting the engine, not in the workshop’s performance.

The court dismissed the original lawsuit and ordered the couple to jointly pay Dh32,506, along with Dh3,000 in compensation, court fees, and Dh300 in legal expenses.