Bill McDavid Oldsmobile, Inc. v. Mulcahy

533 S.W.2d 160, 18 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 677, 1976 Tex. App. LEXIS 2450
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 5, 1976
Docket16620
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 533 S.W.2d 160 (Bill McDavid Oldsmobile, Inc. v. Mulcahy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bill McDavid Oldsmobile, Inc. v. Mulcahy, 533 S.W.2d 160, 18 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 677, 1976 Tex. App. LEXIS 2450 (Tex. Ct. App. 1976).

Opinion

COLEMAN, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from the judgment granting revocation of the acceptance of an automobile purchased by the plaintiff, Daniel J. Mulcahy, from the defendant, Bill McDavid Oldsmobile, Inc., and awarding damages. The case was tried to a jury and the trial court entered judgment on the jury verdict. The judgment will be reversed.

The plaintiff brought suit against the defendant, an automobile dealer franchised by General Motors Corporation, and against General Motors Corporation. He alleged that he purchased- a new Oldsmobile automobile from the defendant dealer and was issued a new vehicle warranty providing that the car and chassis including all equipment and accessories (except tires) supplied or manufactured by Oldsmobile was warranted to be free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use and service.

He alleged that the battery was cracked and that the defendant dealer refused to repair or replace the defective battery as required by the warranty. Plaintiff alleged damage in the amount of $2,453.00 which appears to be the amount he paid for the car less the amount the car sold for on foreclosure.

The jury found that the dealer issued plaintiff the manufacturer’s new car warranty; that the new vehicle warranty was a material inducement for the purchase of the automobile; that the battery with which the car was equipped was defective as the result of poor material or poor workmanship in the manufacturing thereof; that the dealer refused to replace the defective battery; that at the time he left the automobile in question with the dealer he reasonably believed that the defendant would refuse to perform future warranty service on said automobile; and that as a result of the refusal of the dealer to replace the battery in question the plaintiff suffered damage in the sum of $1,383.00.

The defendant made a motion for judgment non obstante veredicto asserting that there was no evidence to support the jury’s answers to Special Issues 2 through 6 and that Special Issue 6 provided for an improper measure of damages. The motion was denied and judgment was entered against the defendant in the amount of $1,383.00.

The plaintiff testified that within three months of the purchase of the car and after it had been driven approximately 3,500 miles he experienced some trouble with the Delco battery. He stated that the battery had to be filled with water every time he filled the car with gasoline, and that acid *162 was leaking from the battery onto his driveway. He testified that the car had not been in an accident, the battery was well secured in the car, the battery never froze, and that he had it checked regularly. He testified that while he could not see a crack he thought the battery was cracked. There is no other testimony concerning the reason the acid leaked out, or that the battery was in fact cracked due to a defect in workmanship or material.

The defendant contends that the evidence is insufficient to support the jury’s finding that the battery in question was defective as the result of poor material or poor workmanship in the manufacturing thereof. There was sufficient circumstantial evidence to sustain this jury finding.

The defendant contends that there is no evidence to support the amount of damages awarded to plaintiff by the jury. As a rule the measure of recovery for a breach of contract is the pecuniary loss suffered by reason of the breach, which is shown to have been within the contemplation of the parties at the time they made the contract. 17 Tex.Jur.2d, Damages, Sec. 58. Under the facts of this case the only damage which the plaintiff suffered as a result of the failure of the dealer to replace the defective battery, which can be said to have been within the contemplation of the parties at the time the contract was made, is the cost of replacing the battery. There is no evidence in this record to establish such cost. The defendant’s point of error is sustained.

’ The plaintiff alleged that the issuance of the new vehicle warranty to plaintiff by “defendants” was a material inducement to plaintiff to purchase the vehicle and that had he known the warranty would not be honored he would not have purchased the vehicle. He alleged that the refusal by defendants to honor the warranty was a repudiation and breach of the sales contract; that he immediately tendered the vehicle back to the dealer and demanded the return to him of the money he paid for the vehicle. He alleged that he paid $5,953.00 for the automobile and that the value of the automobile immediately after the repudiation and breach of the sale agreement by the defendants was $3,500.00, resulting in damage to plaintiff in the sum of $2,453.00.

At this point we note that the new vehicle warranty specifically provides that:

“Oldsmobile Division, General Motors Corporation, the manufacturer (herein referred to as ‘Oldsmobile’), warrants to the original retail purchaser each new 1969 model Oldsmobile passenger car and chassis . . to be free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use and service . . . ”

The written warranty, therefore, is that of General Motors. The trial court instructed a verdict in -favor of General Motors and plaintiff makes no complaint of his action in that regard.

While the dealer delivered the manufacturer’s warranty to the purchaser, the original written sales agreement provides:

“I hereby agree to purchase and by this agreement do purchase the automobile described below, according to the terms hereof, and acknowledge receipt of said automobile. It is expressly agreed that there are no warranties, expressed or implied, made by either the dealer or the manufacturer other than the manufacturer’s warranty against defective materials as stated in the Oldsmobile Owner’s Manual.”

Prior to the adoption of the Texas Business & Commerce Code in 1967, it was settled in Texas that in the absence of fraud or an agreement allowing the property to be returned to the seller, rescission for breach of warranty could be availed of by the purchaser only where the identity of the article was involved and it proved to be something other than that which was purchased or where such article was wholly worthless for the purpose for which it was sold. Mathis Equipment Co. v. Rosson, 386 *163 S.W.2d 854 (Tex.Civ.App.—Corpus Christi, writ ref’d n. r. e.); Wright & Clark v. Davenport, 44 Tex. 164 (1875). Here it is established that a specifically identified article of personal property was appropriated to the contract of sale by the parties and that the plaintiff accepted same. The title to said machine, therefore, passed to appel-lee and the contract became executed. Mathis Equipment Co. v. Rosson, supra.

The evidence shows that the plaintiff paid to the dealer the full cash purchase price, accepted the automobile, and used it for some three months prior to tendering it back to the dealer. The action of the trial court in granting rescission and damages must be supported, if at all, on the provisions of the Texas Business & Commerce Code.

Section 2.608, Texas Bus. & Com.Code 1 , reads:

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Bluebook (online)
533 S.W.2d 160, 18 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. (West) 677, 1976 Tex. App. LEXIS 2450, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bill-mcdavid-oldsmobile-inc-v-mulcahy-texapp-1976.