Johnson v. HW Parson Motors, Inc.

231 So. 2d 73, 1970 La. App. LEXIS 5653
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 2, 1970
Docket7892
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 231 So. 2d 73 (Johnson v. HW Parson Motors, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. HW Parson Motors, Inc., 231 So. 2d 73, 1970 La. App. LEXIS 5653 (La. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinion

231 So.2d 73 (1970)

Freddie JOHNSON
v.
H. W. PARSON MOTORS, INC., et al.

No. 7892.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

February 2, 1970.

*75 James O. Ervin, Baton Rouge, for appellants.

Patsy Jo McDowell, Baton Rouge, for appellee.

Before LOTTINGER, REID and BLANCHE, JJ.

BLANCHE, Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment rendered against defendants, H. W. Parson Motors, Inc., and H. W. Parson, in solido, and in favor of plaintiff, Freddie Johnson, in the sum of $6,000, with legal interest from date of judicial demand together with all costs, which judgment was rendered pursuant to a jury verdict in favor of the plaintiff. This litigation arose out of the sale of a used automobile to the plaintiff, which automobile the plaintiff contended was defective thereby entitling plaintiff to rescission of the sale together with damages sued for.

Defendants-appellants assigned several specifications of error, but they complain principally of (1) the finding of redhibitory defects in the vehicle sold; (2) the award of damages to plaintiff; (3) the alleged commenting upon the evidence by the judge in the presence of the jury; and (4) the rendition of judgment against H. W. Parson individually.

Without extensively recapitulating the evidence, we are satisfied that the trier of fact, in this case the jury, committed no manifest error in concluding that the vehicle sold to the plaintiff did in fact possess redhibitory vices and defects at the time of the sale. The evidence shows that plaintiff purchased the 1965 Chevrolet Super Sport automobile on April 23, 1968. The first notable trouble plaintiff had with the car occurred on May 3, 1968, when plaintiff had major brake work done on the vehicle by Firestone Stores in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Plaintiff testified the next trouble he encountered with the vehicle involved its inability to start, as a result of which he took it to Al G. Canova of Highland Auto Repair in Baton Rouge, where it was discovered that the electrical system was improperly wired. Mr. Canova corrected the wiring and recharged the battery on May 22, 1968. Thereafter, plaintiff again brought his automobile to Mr. Canova's shop for adjustment of the valves. Subsequently, plaintiff returned to Highland Auto Repair with a complaint of water in the oil. Mr. Canova testified at this time he detected a small crack in the engine block which he then attributed as the cause of the oil and water mixing. Mr. Canova spoke with defendant H. W. Parson, who, according to Mr. Canova, paid half of the twenty-five dollar bill for the last services rendered with plaintiff paying the balance. Thereafter, the evidence reflects that plaintiff got in touch with Mr. Parson who requested that plaintiff take the automobile to Robinson's Chrysler Plymouth, Inc., in Denham Springs, Louisiana. While the automobile was at Robinson's, there then ensued a disagreement between plaintiff and Mr. Parson as to the proper repairs and payment therefor, as a result of which Mr. Parson instructed the representatives of Robinson's to place the vehicle out of the Service Department. Plaintiff subsequently retrieved his vehicle and ultimately had extensive engine repairs performed by Polk Chevrolet, Inc. of Baton Rouge. The mechanic who performed these repairs testified that the engine block was indeed cracked and this was the cause of the oil and the water mixing.

*76 Defendants offered expert testimony to suggest that the block was cracked as a result of the negligence of one Alvin Thomas whom plaintiff had employed to work on the car. The negligence charged to Thomas was that he improperly replaced the head on the engine after replacing some gaskets and this caused the block to crack. The plaintiff testified that water was mixing with the oil in the engine when he took the car to Thomas and that Thomas sought to correct the condition on the assumption that this condition was due to a leaking gasket. The rebuttal testimony of Mrs. George DeLatte was that the block of the engine was cracked when the vehicle was traded to Robinson's Chrysler Plymouth, Inc. Mrs. DeLatte testified that her husband had formerly purchased the car for their son and that when they traded the car to Robinson's, Mr. John Robinson, President of the corporation, told them the car had a "busted block." The record reflects that the vehicle was sold by Robinson's Chrysler Plymouth, Inc., to H. W. Parson, Inc., thus antedating the sale to plaintiff. Mr. John Robinson was recalled to testify and he denied making such a statement and explained that the only statement he could have made related to the fact that the vehicle had a burned or "busted" piston and not a cracked or bursted block.

As previously stated, and after reviewing the record, we are satisfied that the jury committed no manifest error in concluding that there were redhibitory vices and defects existing in the vehicle at the time of its purchase by plaintiff. We are further satisfied, however, that plaintiff is not entitled to rescission of the sale inasmuch as he secured major engine repairs and is thus not in a position to restore the object of the sale in substantially its condition at the time of the sale thereby returning the parties to the status quo ante. We feel the situation presented in the instant case is indistinguishable from that encountered in Poor v. Hememway, 221 La. 770, 60 So.2d 310 (1952). In Poor the plaintiff who had purchased a sailing yacht subsequently discovered it was unfit due to a condition of rot, whereupon plaintiff sought to return the yacht by tendering it to the seller who refused to accept it. Plaintiff then, instead of instituting suit for rescission of the sale on ground of redhibition,[1] undertook repair of the defective condition. The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's refusal of plaintiff's demand for rescission on the ground that in accordance with well settled jurisprudence the purchaser must be able to restore the vendor to the position he was in at the time of the sale in order to be entitled to rescission, which the purchaser was unable to do in view of his having undertaken the repair of the vessel, the plaintiffpurchaser being relegated to the action in quanti minoris or for reduction of the purchase price.[2] See, also, Kennedy v. Jacobson-Young, Inc., 244 La. 191, 151 So.2d 368 (1963), distinguishing Poor v. Hemenway, supra, on the ground that in Kennedy no such major overhaul had been commenced on the automobile when it was returned to the defendant-seller.

In order to be entitled to rescission, plaintiff, upon discovery of the redhibitory vices and defects, should tender the object of the sale to the vendor, and if the purchaser undertakes to perform major repairs of the object of the sale as was done by plaintiff in the instant case when he had the engine block repaired, such purchaser loses his right to rescind the sale and is relegated to the action in quanti minoris.

*77 The burden of establishing the amount of any reduction in the purchase price to which a buyer is entitled because of a redhibitory vice is upon the buyer. See Coco v. Mack Motor Truck Corporation, 235 La. 1095, 106 So.2d 691 (1958); Leson Chevrolet Company v. Barbier, 173 So.2d 50 (La.App.4th Cir. 1965). The evidence shows that plaintiff had the major engine work repaired by Polk Chevrolet, Inc., at a cost of $713.56 (plaintiff Exhibit No. 1), which repairs were financed by the plaintiff with Delmont Finance Company at a cost of $1,008 (Plaintiff Exhibit No. 6).

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Bluebook (online)
231 So. 2d 73, 1970 La. App. LEXIS 5653, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-hw-parson-motors-inc-lactapp-1970.