Family moving ahead in case against car maker

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Family moving ahead in case against car maker

Published Monday December 15th, 2008

C7Tammy -Wallace

Telegraph-Journal

Telegraph-Journal - Saint ,New Brunswick,Canada

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/city/article/512108

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SUSSEX - It will be up to a judge to decide if Kia owes the Gray

family of Sussex more than a promise to repair its rotten car if the

family agrees to absolve the car company of responsibility for its

poor health.

Greedy is not a word Crystal McLaughlin-Gray would use to describe

herself, but she cannot accept an offer while her young family is

still running to doctors.

Shortly after the Grays bought the car new from Saint Kia in

2006, they noticed a rancid smell that could not be professionally

cleaned. Kia blamed the smell on Scotch guarding, McLaughlin-Gray

explained.

For nearly two years the health of the family, consisting of

Crystal, her husband Pat and their two elementary-school aged

children, suffered. It was unexplainable, McLaughlin-Gray says,

since all members of the family were having the same problem

breathing and being diagnosed and medicated for lung infections and

pneumonia an unusual amount.

In September, after the family noticed the rotting taking place in

the trunk and the car's back seat, an unaffiliated Sussex car

dealership examined the car and found a manufacturer's defect led to

a leak in the trunk. Through the seasons water continually made its

way under the back seats and caused rotting.

An independent lab in Fredericton took samples of the mould and

deemed the car dangerous to be in, and concluded the moulds could

cause all the problems the Grays were suffering with.

Kia's last offer in mid-November was to cover the car's $3,200 in

repairs if the Grays signed a waiver absolving the company of any

further liability for their health problems.

And while the Grays' lawyer Keenan gave the company one month

to make a " reasonable gesture, " there has been no more word from

Kia, McLaughlin-Gray said on Friday, Kia's deadline day.

Legal action has already been filed and McLaughlin-Gray believes the

family has no option now but to pursue it.

" The gesture they made for us to sign a health waiver is not

acceptable. If I didn't think these were legitimate health issues, I

would sign a waiver, " McLaughlin-Gray said, " but we are still on

puffers and seeing specialists. "

The Grays are driving a second-hand car while the Spectra, which

they still make monthly payments on, sits abandoned behind their

Sussex home. It is still rotten inside so badly that part of the

seatbelt that held five-year-old Marcus's booster seat snapped.

Meanwhile, everyone in the family has seen some improvement in their

breathing since they stopped driving the car in September. Crystal's

lung test now shows lung function of a 57-year-old smoker, instead

of the 60-year-old results she got several weeks ago. She is 20

years young than that, is an active school guidance counsellor and

doesn't smoke.

Her 35-year-old husband Pat's test results still show that of a 70-

year-old, even though he will say that the heaviness in his chest

has lightened a bit and makes breathing easier. He is athletic and a

non-smoker.

The kids are spending less time in the doctor's office and on

antibiotics, the mom explained. Her youngest, Marcus, was " choking

to death " in the car, and now rarely makes the same sound of

severely restricted breathing that, a couple months ago, came

regularly.

" These were all health issues we had never faced in our lives, "

McLaughlin-Gray said. " My hope is that we will keep getting better

and better, but in the event that this mould has caused damage long-

term in any of us, then I expect Kia to help us, I really do.

" This was a factory problem, and Kia knows that. I would have much

rather had them on our side through this, " she added. " There is no

enjoyment going up against a large company like this.

" Why couldn't they have even agreed to make the payments for us for

now, or said here's a car - same year, make and model - and we will

see where we stand in six months time. "

Quite simply, McLaughlin-Gray cannot be hasty in signing a waiver on

her family's health when they are still not in the clear medically.

" We were never asking for oodles of money from them, we just wanted

to be treated fairly. Now energy is being put into a lawsuit that

should be spent on us getting better. "

In past newspaper stories McLaughlin-Gray repeatedly said a similar

replacement car would be fair. Kia wouldn't go for it largely

because even though the Grays have receipts showing all their

service work done on the vehicle, they didn't travel 45 minutes away

to get it done at Saint Kia.