The shop kept the 911 for eleven years before dumping it with its owner with a missing drivetrain

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When your car needs repairs, most will put their trust in a mechanic to fix it and get it back on the road. Unfortunately, like so many other industries, there are bad actors, and for the past eleven years the British Porsche owner has had to fight with a mechanic to get her prized 911 back. She has now received £114,000 (equivalent to approximately $151,000). at current exchange rates) in a British court.

Dr. Penelope Horlick, a researcher at the University of Oxford, bought her 1997 Porsche 911 in 2008 and enjoyed it for a few years. However, in 2010 she drove over a pothole, which damaged the underside of the Porsche and caused an oil leak. She took the car to JJ Engineering, run by Jagjiwan Jhally, and he agreed to repair it. He told her the repairs would cost around £9,000 (~$12,000).

Read: Last air-cooled Porsche 911 Turbo sold for a whopping $818,000

Months passed, but Jhally had not returned the car. He claimed repairs were nearly complete but declined to give a definitive timeline. Months then turned into years. Jhally claimed the damaged 911 needed a complete engine overhaul, insisting he now had legal rights over it and that Horlick was charging him ‘storage fees’.

The university researcher went to court in March 2022 and only then did she get the car back. However, only the stripped grenade was returned to her home in Kensington. Items such as the engine, transmission and other crucial parts have been removed from the car, The Daily Mail reports. Dr. Horlick sued Jhally for damages for breach of contract and for conversion.

The mechanic went against her, stating that he had spent significant money on the car and claiming that her case was statute barred because it was too late to file a lawsuit.

The judge ruled that the technician had breached his contract to carry out the repairs within a “reasonable time”. The court also heard he had done little more than remove the engine and make a diagnosis. It was also revealed that Jhally had refused to return the Porsche despite repeated demands over the years, even after Dr. Horlick had found another engineer willing to work on the car.

The award totals approximately £114,000 (~$151,000), although details including interest on damages, legal fees and whether Jhally can appeal will be determined at a future court date.