BMW of North America, Inc. v. Singh

664 So. 2d 266, 1995 WL 627828
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedOctober 27, 1995
Docket94-699
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 664 So. 2d 266 (BMW of North America, Inc. v. Singh) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
BMW of North America, Inc. v. Singh, 664 So. 2d 266, 1995 WL 627828 (Fla. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

664 So.2d 266 (1995)

BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, INC., Appellant,
v.
Mohan SINGH, and Attorney General of the State of Florida, Appellee.

No. 94-699.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

October 27, 1995.
Rehearing Denied December 18, 1995.

W. Sam Holland, of Hinshaw & Culbertson, Miami, for Appellant.

Paula N. Lamb and Gregory A. Anderson, of Anderson Law Offices, Jacksonville, for Amicus Curiae, The Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, Inc.

William B. Pringle, III, Orlando, for Appellee, Mohan Singh.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Janet L. Smith, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee, Attorney General of the State of Florida.

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING EN BANC

GRIFFIN, Judge.

The court has elected to consider this case en banc. We withdraw the previous panel opinion and substitute the following opinion in its stead.

BMW of North America, Inc. ["BMW"] appeals a final judgment in favor of Mohan Singh in his action brought under the Motor Vehicle Warranty Enforcement Act ("Lemon *267 Law").[1] BMW principally urges that the lower court misinterpreted the applicable statutes in determining that BMW did not have the right to make a final attempt to repair the car after receipt of Singh's notice that his vehicle had been out of service by reason of repair by the manufacturer or one of its authorized service agents for one or more non-conformities for a cumulative total of twenty days.[2] Because we conclude that BMW did have the statutory right to a final repair attempt after receipt of Singh's statutory notice, we reverse.

On February 25, 1992, Singh leased a new $52,520.96 BMW 735i. Almost immediately, he began experiencing problems with the vehicle. On October 29, 1992, pursuant to section 681.104, Florida Statutes, Singh sent BMW a notice of continuing defects in the "air conditioning, brakes, transmission, decreased power in engine." The notice was received by BMW on November 2, 1992.[3] Singh's notice asserts both that three or more attempts had been made to repair the same substantial defects and that the vehicle had been out of service twenty cumulative days for repair of defects as of the date of the notice. On November 19, 1992, Singh filed a Request for Arbitration before the Florida New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board, reciting that as of November 17, 1992, the date that Singh signed the Request, the car had been out of service due to repairs from April 7, 1992 to May 1, 1992 (twenty-five days) and from October 23, 1992 to November 2, 1992 (eleven days). Singh permitted a manufacturer's agent the opportunity to inspect the car on December 4, 1992 but refused BMW the opportunity to make any further efforts at repair.

After hearing testimony, inspecting and test-driving the vehicle, the Board rendered its decision in favor of Singh. The Board found that only the air-conditioner problem rose to the level of a defect constituting a "non-conformity" within the meaning of the statute. The Board then proceeded to find that, pursuant to section 681.104(3)(a), Florida Statutes, Singh's motor vehicle had been out of service by reason of repair of one or more non-conformities for a cumulative total of thirty or more days. Specifically, the Board found that the vehicle was out of service by reason of repair of the air conditioner between April 7 and May 1, 1992, June 3 through 10, 1992 and July 7 through 10, 1992. The Board also rendered a conclusion of law that:

[T]he terms of section 681.104(1)(b) make no reference to a "final repair attempt" by the Manufacturer under the days-out-of-service standard. Only Section 681.104(1)(a), which relates to notice to Manufacturers under the repair attempts standard, contains a provision permitting a "final repair attempt" by the Manufacturer.

In order to understand the nature of the dispute in this case, it is necessary to have very closely in mind the provisions of section 681.104. Reducing them as much as possible to the essential, the statute reads as follows:

681.104. Nonconformity of motor vehicles.
(1)(a) After three attempts have been made to repair the same nonconformity, the consumer shall give written notification, by registered or express mail to the manufacturer, of the need to repair the nonconformity to allow the manufacturer a final attempt to cure the nonconformity. The manufacturer shall have 10 days, commencing upon receipt of such notification, to respond and give the consumer the opportunity to have the motor vehicle repaired at a reasonably accessible repair facility within a reasonable time after the consumer's receipt of the response. The manufacturer shall have 10 days, commencing upon the delivery of the motor vehicle to the designated repair facility by *268 the consumer, to conform the motor vehicle to the warranty. If the manufacturer fails to respond to the consumer and give the consumer the opportunity to have the motor vehicle repaired at a reasonably accessible repair facility or perform the repairs within the time periods prescribed in this subsection, the requirement that the manufacturer be given a final attempt to cure the nonconformity, or in complete absence of a justiciable issue of either law or fact raised by the consumer, does not apply.
(b) If the motor vehicle is out of service by reason of repair of one or more nonconformities by the manufacturer or its authorized service agent for a cumulative total of 15 or more days, exclusive of downtime for routine maintenance prescribed by the owner's manual, the consumer shall so notify the manufacturer in writing by registered or express mail to give the manufacturer or its authorized service agent an opportunity to inspect or repair the vehicle.
(2)(a) If the manufacturer, or its authorized service agent, cannot conform the motor vehicle to the warranty by repairing or correcting any nonconformity after a reasonable number of attempts, the manufacturer, within 40 days, shall repurchase the motor vehicle and refund the full purchase price to the consumer, less a reasonable offset for use, or, in consideration of its receipt of payment from the consumer of a reasonable offset for use, replace the motor vehicle with a replacement motor vehicle acceptable to the consumer.
* * * * * *
(3)(a) It is presumed that a reasonable number of attempts have been undertaken to conform a motor vehicle to the warranty if, during the Lemon Law rights period, either:
1. The same nonconformity has been subject to repair at least three times by the manufacturer or its authorized service agent, plus a final attempt by the manufacturer to repair the motor vehicle if undertaken as provided for in paragraph (1)(a), and such nonconformity continues to exist; or
2. The motor vehicle has been out of service by reason of repair of one or more nonconformities by the manufacturer, or its authorized service agent, for a cumulative total of 30 or more days, exclusive of downtime for routine maintenance prescribed by the owner's manual. The manufacturer or its authorized service agent must have had at least one opportunity to inspect or repair the vehicle following receipt of the notification as provided in paragraph (1)(b). The 30-day period may be extended by any period of time during which repair services are not available to the consumer because of war, invasion, strike, fire, flood, or natural disaster.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
664 So. 2d 266, 1995 WL 627828, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bmw-of-north-america-inc-v-singh-fladistctapp-1995.