Hi, Highborn:
I apologize for the delay in getting back to you.
First of all, congratulations on the resolution of your issue with Crappy Tire!
It seems like consumers are on a roll, clawing their way out from under the piles of Crap that have been dumped upon them.
If I understand your post correctly, you’ve managed to compel Crappy Tire into releasing your vehicle! Woo-Hoo.
(But one would expect that a competent mechanic, having already mis-diagnosed the problem, and then utterly failing to correct the original problem, would have sheepishly returned the vehicle to you, with a contrite ‘sorry for the inconvenience’, and not even bothered to mention the cost of any parts they might have mistakenly put onto your vehicle. But, as I wrote: "competent" is the key word!)
From the sounds of it, they actually should be on the hook, to complete the entire ‘repair’ they agreed to perform, whether it be water pumpt, radiator replacement, or whatever, for the original quote of $428 plus 10% (I.e., an extra $42.80), even though they claim the job should have been quoted at $1800 plus tax.
But it certainly sucks that you had to be dragged through all of this, due only to CT’s incompetence, followed by greed and arrogance. It would be nothing more that basic fairness if they also compensated you for all your lost time battling with them to get a fair deal, plus the court hassles, etc. Not to mention all the stress and worry they caused, by not saying in the first place that this would cost $1800 (in which case, you would have just walked away, knowing the vehicle wasn’t worth fixing).
By the way, before giving up on this vehicle entirely, I suggest that you take the vehicle to a competent mechanic for a correct diagnosis of what’s actually wrong, as well as an accurate estimate on what it will cost to once and for all fix it.
Again, Congratulations on your win, and Sorry that you fell,into this trap in the first place!