How a stubborn driver almost lost his $1.5million house after a court battle over a $500 car repair bill that lasted a decade
- Decade-long West Australian legal battle appears to have reached a conclusion
- In 2012 Vincenzo La Mela took his Alfa Romeo to Frank Fogliani’s Auto Car Tech
- Mr Fogliani fitted the car with a new cylinder for $480.05, Mr La Mela didn’t pay
- Mr La Mela’s property was almost seized after he refused to pay Mr Fogliani’s fee
A decade-long legal dispute over a $500 repair bill has finally come to an end with tens of thousands of legal fees racked up in the process.
Back in 2012 Vincenzo La Mela took his Alfa Romeo 156 to get its dodgy gearbox fixed by mechanic Frank Fogliani at his garage Auto Car Tech in Bayswater, Perth.
The West Australian reports Mr Fogliani, a mechanic with 35 years’ experience, fitted the car with a new cylinder and presented the $480.05 bill to Mr La Mela, but he refused to pay.
In 2012 Vincenzo La Mela took his Alfa Romeo 156 (stock image) to get its dodgy gearbox fixed by mechanic of 35 years Frank Fogliani at his garage Auto Car Tech in Bayswater, Perth
Mr Fogliani fitted the car with a new cylinder and presented the $480.05 bill to Mr La Mela, but her refused to pay so he seized the Alpha Romeo at Auto Car Tech
Mr La Mela insisted he told Mr Fogliani not to go ahead with the work after seeking a second opinion.
Mr Fogliani then decided he would seize the Alfa Romeo until his customer paid.
That disagreement launched into a 10-year conflict that saw claims and counter-claims argued all the way to WA’s Court of Appeal in 2020.
The Court of Appeal dismissed Mr La Mela’s appeal and ordered he pay Mr Fogliani’s $24,480.91 worth of legal fees, noting the case was ‘wholly uncommercial and disproportionate given the nature of the underlying dispute’.
Mr La Mela almost lost his $1.5 million home after refusing to pay Mr Fogliani’s $24,480.91 worth of legal fees
However Mr La Mela didn’t want to pay those fees either.
Mr La Mela ignored the order for several months and it wasn’t until a Property Seizure and Sale Order saw his $1.5 million property listed for auction by the WA sheriff that he paid up.
It wasn’t the last WA’s courts would hear of Mr La Mela.
Earlier this year Mr La Mela launched another appeal case over several of the costs he was ordered to pay by the court in the matter.
Judge Michael Gething ruled against Mr La Mela and said he hoped his ruling would ‘bring some finality to the issues’.
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