Consumer Law, Warranties Jetski rental contract

[z32drive]

I am located in Florida, last week I rented jetski and it got damaged a little, but I didn't have a camera to make pictures. The owner sent me a huge bill and I went to see the jetski in the shop, its a beat up jetski, not same one I was riding, he claims it is same one. I had independent mechanic look at it, he said this damage could not be done based on my story. My only witness is my wife, we rode together and she can testify its not same jetski. I have a copy of the contract with no equipment type, model or any identification of the jetski I rented, but what's to stop the shady owner from putting it in afterwards, how can I prove that my copy is better than his copy? He took pictures while I was there, but he refuses to show me those, what's to stop him from fabricating similar picture of a beater and say that is original picture? Its his word against mine. He threatens to take me to small claims court, how can I prepare myself upfront without spending a fortune on attorneys? I read Florida statues about rental agreements, this one has several major violations IMHO. So my best action is to deny legality of the contract and deny all charges based on that?

Mechanic states he picked up beat up jetski 2 days after the incident and for some reason took 4 more days to write an estimate. During this time jetski and all the parts could have been swapped for all I know.

According to business owners in the area this guy has a shady reputation, but my search in county court records didn't find any previous cases for his name, does that mean he's bluffing?

I paid no deposit, so I don't need to recover anything from him, I just want peace of mind that he will not go after me with fabricated evidence.

Thanks in advance.