>> Judge Judy: Miss Kolouch, it
is your claim that the defendant
did substandard work on your
car.
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: And I don't know
what you want.
>> I want to be paid back for
all the money that I spent on
work that wasn't the right work.
I asked him to replace my
shocks.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
>> A couple months later, they
failed.
>> Judge Judy: Just a second.
Let's talk about, first, how old
your car is.
>> 2003 Honda Element.
>> Judge Judy: It's a 2003
Honda.
When did you buy it?
>> 2003, my parents bought it.
>> Judge Judy: So that they used
it and gave it to you?
>> Mm-hmm.
>> Judge Judy: When did they
give it to you?
>> 2015.
>> Judge Judy: And do you know
what the current mileage is on
the car?
>> 200,000 miles, about.
>> Judge Judy: And you brought
it in to the defendant to change
the shocks on the car.
>> So, I went in to the
mechanic, asking if he could
look at my car to make sure
everything's okay.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
>> And he said, "You need new
shocks."
>> Judge Judy: Shh.
Listen to me.
Nobody brings their car in to a
mechanic and say, "You know
what?
I came for my annual checkup for
my car," Miss Kolouch.
That doesn't happen.
I am almost three-quarters of a
century old, and I've had a lot
of cars.
The only time I bring my car in
is when it's clunking or
clinking or not running right.
And I never knew anybody who
brought a car to a mechanic that
was running fine, that they
didn't have trouble with, and
said, "Could you please just
look over my car and tell me if
it's fine."
>> Well, so, I was getting my
oil changed.
>> Judge Judy: Okay, so, you
were taking the car in for an
oil change, and there was
nothing else wrong with the car?
Didn't make any noises or wasn't
giving you any trouble?
You just brought it in to him
for an oil change?
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: And when did you
bring it in to him for an oil
change?
>> November. I have the date.
>> Judge Judy: You mean, last
November?
>> Yeah, last November.
>> Judge Judy: You remember what
date she brought it in to you?
>> Probably the 16th of
November, but it wasn't for an
oil change.
>> Judge Judy: What was it for?
>> It was to change the struts
on her car.
She had gone to another
mechanic, and told her that they
need to be replaced.
>> Judge Judy: Hold on a sec.
Hold on.
So, you remember this incident
with her?
She brought it in and told you
she had been to another
mechanic?
>> That's not true.
>> Judge Judy: Just a second.
Had she used your services
before, with other cars?
>> With the same car.
>> Judge Judy: Same car?
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: Oh, so, when she
brought this car in to you, in
mid-November of last year, you
had worked on this car before?
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: Ohh. Interesting.
What kind of work had you done
on the car before?
>> An oil change and, I believe,
brakes.
>> No.
>> At one point.
I don't remember if it was
brakes for sure, but she would
come to me every now and then,
whenever she had a little bigger
jobs, not like small jobs.
But she has come in for oil
change before.
>> May I speak?
>> Judge Judy: Just a second.
Let's start back.
Before you went to him, last
November, for this oil change,
had you ever been to his shop
before?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: That's either --
>> Yes, I went there...
>> Judge Judy: Yes. When?
>> ...right when I first moved
to L.A., because I wanted to get
my windows tinted.
>> Judge Judy: So you had been
to his shop before?
>> Mm-hmm.
And he was, like, nice.
I thought he was trustworthy.
>> Judge Judy: I don't care.
That's all very L.A.
It's not important to me whether
you thought he was a nice man or
a not-nice man, whether he was
nice to his family, whether he
separated his trash.
It's all -- For this -- For the
purpose of this, you had been to
this mechanic before.
You went to him November of last
year -- you say, for an oil
change.
He says you came there because
another mechanic had told you
you needed different kind of
work on your car.
>> Okay, look --
>> Judge Judy: And I'm asking
you...
[ Raps desk ]
I'm asking you, young lady,
whether another mechanic, before
you brought it to him in
November of 2016, told you
you needed additional kind of
work on your car.
>> No.
>> Judge Judy: No.
>> He's the only mechanic I've
seen in the whole city, except
for the other mechanic that I
went to.
I have proof that I went to
Honda after he did...
>> Judge Judy: After.
>> ...the repairs on the shocks.
>> Judge Judy: Okay, so, what
you're saying is, you had never
come to him, other than having
your windows tinted.
>> And an oil change, I think.
>> Judge Judy: Oy. Okay.
So, you went to him and you said
you needed new shocks or struts
or whatever they were.
Shocks?
>> Yeah.
He said I needed new shocks.
And I have a bank statement
here.
He said he wanted cash, so I
took out --
>> Judge Judy: Just a sec.
Said you needed to have the
shocks replaced...
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: ...on your car
that is 14 years old, that has
200,000 miles?
And so far, it was running okay,
so you said, "How much is it?"
Right?
"How much will that cost?"
And what did he tell you it
would cost?
>> $900.
>> Judge Jud