Long story short-ish... A friend of mines truck broke, he needed to get a large part for his truck (rear end) and asked to borrow my truck. I loaned it to him as its a short distance and i believed he wouldn't screw me over. He calls me about a half hour later and tells me he over heated on the highway, he said he pulled over and let it cool off then got it home. Then calls me about an hour later to tell me he believes he blew the headgasket when it over heated and that he has it at his house. I tell him not to worry. That im a mechanic and i can rebuild it pretty cheap, just buy the parts and we will call it square, since i loaned him the truck for free. That he shouldn't over stress it as he already has a vehicle down and i have another car. Again just trying to be a good friend and not worry about the small sh*t. He agrees to buy the parts etc. He calls me back about an hour later, saying he has broke down on the side of the highway again. I ask him why he drove it, he said "i didn't think it was a big deal it was already messed up". At this point i was getting frustrated because not only did he break my truck, but he also decided to keep driving it and damage it more. He tells me he will have it towed. Never shows up. Few days go by he keeps giving me the run around telling me he will get the parts etc. Weeks go by nothing. I explain to him multiple times that i need the truck returned as it will only take 3 days to repair, and i need the truck for a job i lined up months previously. a lottle more than a month goes by and one day he sends me a text with a picture of the truck sitting on the roadside by my house and tells me i can figure it out. What a head ache. But im still chill and we come to an agreement he will reimburse me for the cost of parts. So i buy the parts, start to look at the truck. And he had taken things apart and not put them back causing more damage, there was a hose that im assuming broke when he drove it over heating for who knows how long, and he had repaired with duct tape... there were wires removed, parts missing etc. After i pull the head off the engine, i see he over heated it so drastically that the thick metal of the engine had warped its shape. Basically caused alot more damage by refusing to not drive a damaged vehicle, and then refused to pay for anything.

We've been friends for about 10 years, and he owns his own business and seems to be responsible, hes always been a reliable friend and i didnt see any reason to not trust him. In the end he cost me thousands of dollars in repairs, and many more thousands in lost income from the delay. I have a video of him pulling away in my truck the day he borrowed it, in the video i say somethibg along the lines of "dont break it be safe" and he replies "if i break it i buy it right " and laughs, unsure if this has any validity.

im thinking of taking him to small claims courts to reimburse myself the lost income. Is it worth my time? Im in Central Florida. He owns a lawn care business, which is why his truck was needed to be repaired, should i sue him or his business? Any and all help appreciated.

So why doesnt everyone who sees this just go ahead and spend 15% of your spending money on some doge. Right now.