Another question about "fault".

Inspired by this thread;
What if you’re driving a friends car, you’re driving normally, and the engine blows. Do you have any responsibility at all?
I say no, but others have argued with me.
This might be a IMHO, but I’m really asking for a factual answer. No problem, though, if we make it otherwise.
Peace,
mangeorge

Best idea is to not loan your car to someone, or to borrow one, way too many dangers involved for both parties.
To address your question more info. is needed. How long did you have control of the car? Did you do anything negligent? Such as: fail to check the guages and stop if any indicated an abnormal condition, stop if you heard, or saw something unusual (smoke, steam, loud noises, etc.). What is “driving normally”? Sounds subjective to me.
If I borrow a car I always try to return in better than when I got it: put in some gas, wash it, etc. Finally, it’s always a good idea to check the fluid levels and safety devices on a vehicle that’s unfamiliar to you.

I meant (and should have stated) that it would be for a short trip, like to the Safeway and back. Or the owner’s car is behind your’s in the driveway and he/she tosses you the keys rather than move it. Nothing long term. Even long term though, if you did nothing to cause the damage, you wouldn’t be responsible.
Normal care. Hmmm.
Normal as in, well, as the average person would normally make such a trip driving someone else’s car. No speeding, no abuse, normal care. Normal means, I think, that which most people would do in a given circumstance.
Are we playing word games?
I am in the wrong forum, aren’t I?
mangeorge

Assuming you mean do you have legal responsibility, GQ seems to be the right place for this question.

Certainly under Australian law, (and I’m pretty sure the US is no different) the answer is no.

What you are looking at is a bailment situation: a situation where you have possession of an item, but not ownership.

The bailee’s duty, in broadest terms, is usually just to take reasonable care. If you don’t do anything wrong, but the engine just blows while you are driving normally, you have no legal responsibility to the owner.

There could be any number of local laws altering that basic principal, and the terms of a bailment can be varied (and usually are by means of contractual terms in business situations) but the basic principal is that the mere fact of possession of another’s property does not make you some sort of insurer of that property, liable if it gets damaged merely because the damage happened while you had it.

You mean as in, a responsibility to help pay for the blown engine?
This is an “opinion” answer, but I don’t see a responsibility, unless you did something that caused the damage, as A.R. Cane said.
I was the person in this thread and did also wonder what would happen if something failed on my car while he was driving it. I wouldn’t have held him at all responsible, unless it was something he caused, or could have prevented or mitigated. If it was something that was going to happen inevitable - ie the alternator going out (car has 140K, it could happen) then it would’ve happened whoever was driving it.
Now, if the person driving my car had full possession & use of it for an extended period of time - weeks, or months - that would be different. If I was driving someone else’s car exclusively for a long period of time, I might feel some sort of responsibility, depending on circumstances. If nothing else, I’d consider it a kind of rental-car payment, or something.