Damages from Ford dealership tire repair

Last week I was driving from the California to Utah and had a flat just outside Vallejo. I put a donut on and drove my way to the nearest tire repair shop, a Quick Line tire repair center attached to Cornelius Ford at the Vallejo automall. I continued on east until that brand new tire blew out just outside of Winnemucca, Nevada. There was no debris in the road or any other discernable cause for the tire blowing out so quickly; I later had the car thoroughly inspected for any interference with the frame, spindle, or brakes that could have made it blow out, but everything was found to be in good order.

It was bad enough that the tire died so quickly, but even worse, when I tried to put the donut back on, I found out that 3 of the 4 nuts on the studs had been crossthreaded at the Vallejo shop and would not come off. So I had to have my car towed to Winnemucca. This was later confirmed at the Winnemucca repair shop, where all studs were replaced (including at least one drilled out) and yet another new tire put on, at significant expense.

I called Cornelius Ford and they deny any responsibility for anything -- they refuse to refund anything for the tire and deny that they had anything to do with the cross-threaded nuts. The mechanic claimed he put them on by hand. I know a cross-threaded nut when I see it, and he didn't do that by hand -- it was obviously an extremely careless impact hammer job. I figure they owe me $285 (cost of new tire plus cost of later repairs directly attributable to their careless work -- luckily AAA covered towing). They refuse to hear anything of it. What would you recommend as a next step? It's not just about the money; I don't want these guys to get away with such terrible work.

Thanks for any advice,
Benj
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