Ludwig v. Ford Motor Co.

510 N.E.2d 691, 5 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 361, 1987 Ind. App. LEXIS 2833
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 9, 1987
Docket30A01-8607-CV-00175
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 510 N.E.2d 691 (Ludwig v. Ford Motor Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ludwig v. Ford Motor Co., 510 N.E.2d 691, 5 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 361, 1987 Ind. App. LEXIS 2833 (Ind. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

RATLIFF, Chief Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Rodney H. Ludwig appeals the granting of summary judgment in favor of Ford Motor Company and General Motors Corporation. We affirm.

FACTS

Rodney H. Ludwig is president and principal shareholder of RH. Ludwig Co., an over-the-road trucking company. In the spring of 1979, Ludwig met with Philip Weisman, president of Fairway Ford, Inc. (Fairway Ford), a Ford dealership that includes tractor-trailers among the vehicles it sells, about purchasing some trucks. Weis-man apparently told Ludwig that the five trucks he was considering purchasing were Fairway Ford demonstration models with 200,000 mile warranties, instead of telling Ludwig the trucks had been used previously in Weisman's business. The trucks ranged in mileage from 5,000 to 29,000 with an average mileage of approximately 15,000 miles per truck. Ludwig purchased five Ford CLT 9000 trucks, with General Motors Corp. (GM) engines, from Fairway Ford, the first two trucks being delivered on May 28, 1979, and the remaining three delivered to Ludwig on May 29, 1979.

From the start, the trucks consumed inordinate amounts of fuel and suffered repeated mechanical breakdowns. According to Ludwig, an engineer, the breakdowns were due to various defects in the GM engines and Ford bodies. Ludwig claims the Ford trucks had frame flexing and alignment problems which caused the GM engines to require extra power and consume excessive amounts of fuel. There also was excessive wear on the tires, all of these problems leading to the eventual breakdown of all five engines which essentially blew up over a seven month period leaving the trucks inoperable. Two of the five engines were repaired by GM but blew up again later.

According to Ludwig, when the engines began blowing up he met with Weisman on several occasions and was assured by Weis-man, Ford and GM that the situation would be resolved. Ludwig also discovered that other owners had similar frame and fuel consumption problems. Further repairs on the five trucks were not made by Ford or GM as they were no longer under warranty. Since they were not repaired Ludwig refused to make further payments on the trucks; there were no payments made from January of 1979 to January of 1980. Because the five trucks were inoperative, Ludwig lost all of his trucking business. The trucks were repossessed and Ludwig was forced out of the trucking business.

On August 10, 1983, Ludwig brought suit against Ford, GM, and Fairway Ford for $1,500,000.00 in compensatory damages and $500,000.00 in punitive damages. Ludwig based his complaint on alleged breaches of express and implied warranties and negligent design and construction with respect to the five trucks. Ludwig also alleged fraudulent concealment on the part of Detroit Diesel Allison, a division of GM, regarding the manufacture of the engines.

On March 22 and 23, 1986, the trial court granted Ford's and GM's motions for summary judgment respectively. In its findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Ford's summary judgment motion the trial court found that the relationship between Ford and Fairway Ford with respect to trucks was set forth in a heavy truck sales service agreement. Under the terms of this agreement, Fairway Ford had the right to purchase heavy duty trucks manufactured by Ford and re-sell them to Fairway Ford customers on its own behalf. Thus, Fairway Ford was not Ford's agent for the purpose of selling trucks. Further-

*694 more, no Ford employee participated in the negotiations which led to Ludwig's purchase of the trucks, or otherwise had any dealings with Ludwig relating to the trucks prior to their purchase. The court found that the only warranty made by Ford included the following language:

"To the extent allowed by law, THIS WARRANTY IS IN PLACE OF all other warranties, express or implied, including ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS. Under this warranty, repair or replacement of parts is the only remedy.
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"Cummins, Caterpillar, Detroit Diesel Engines, and Allison Transmissions installed in Ford-built trucks are warranted by their respective manufacturers and not by Ford or the Selling Dealer...."

Record at 522, The court found that Ford promised only that it would repair or replace certain parts of trucks found to be defective in factory material or workmanship and did not warrant the absence of defects. Thus, the court concluded that Ford's warranty does not relate to future performance. The court further found that Ludwig had not alleged personal injury or property damage as proximately caused by any alleged defects.

In its conclusions of law regarding Ford's motion for summary judgment the court determined that the four year statute of limitations, Indiana Code section 26-1-2-725, barred all of Ludwig's claims of breach of express and implied warranties against Ford because the action was commenced more than four years after the trucks were delivered to Ludwig. Neither, the court concluded, did Ford's warranty fall within the future performance exception found in I.C. § 26-1-2-725(2). The court found that Ludwig's claim of breach of an implied warranty failed to state a claim because no privity of contract existed between Ludwig and Ford with respect to Ludwig's purchase of the trucks. In addition, Ford effectively disclaimed all implied warranties. Ludwig's claim for breach of an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose was also found to fail to state a claim as a matter of law because the trucks were used for their ordinary purpose. Finally, the court concluded that Ludwig's claim of negligent design and construction failed to state a claim in that such claims are not legally cognizable in Indiana. Therefore, the trial court granted Ford's motion for summary judgment.

The court made additional findings of fact regarding GM's motion for summary judgment. GM warranted only the engines contained in the trucks, the warranty stating:

"Detroit Diesel Allison (Detroit Diesel Allison, Division of General Motors Corporation) warrants to the owner that it will repair any defective or malfunctioning parts of each new Series 71 and 92 Detroit Diesel engine (referred to as Engine) used to power a motor vehicle operated on highway . . . in accordance with the following schedule:

WARRANTY LIMITATIONS AND ADJUSTMENT SCHEDULE

Warranty Limitations (Whichever Occurs First) Adjustment Charge to Be Paid by Owner

Item Months Miles Parts Labor

Engine Up to 24 Up to 200,000 No Charge No Charge

Optional

Equipment Up to 24 Up to 50,000 No Charge No Charge

The warranty periods shall begin on the date the engine is delivered to the first retail purchaser pr, if the engine is first placed in service as a demonstrator prior to sale at retail, on the date the engine is first placed in service.

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THIS WARRANTY IS THE ONLY WARRANTY APPLICABLE TO DETROIT DIESEL ENGINES AND ENGINE OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT AND IS EXPRESSLY IN LIEU OF ANY OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
510 N.E.2d 691, 5 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 361, 1987 Ind. App. LEXIS 2833, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ludwig-v-ford-motor-co-indctapp-1987.