Newton v. Smith Motors, Inc.

175 A.2d 514, 122 Vt. 409, 1961 Vt. LEXIS 92
CourtSupreme Court of Vermont
DecidedNovember 7, 1961
Docket40
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 175 A.2d 514 (Newton v. Smith Motors, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Vermont primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Newton v. Smith Motors, Inc., 175 A.2d 514, 122 Vt. 409, 1961 Vt. LEXIS 92 (Vt. 1961).

Opinions

Holden, J.

The plaintiff seeks restitution of the initial payment made in the purchase of a used car from the defendant. The action is founded on an informal rescission of the contract by the buyer for an alleged breach of an express warranty on the part of the seller. The jury found for the plaintiff, judgment was entered on the verdict and the defendant appeals.

Early in March, 1958 the plaintiff purchased a 1957 Ford convertible automobile from the defendant. She paid the defendant three hundred dollars in addition to an allowance of four hundred dollars as the value of her 1950 Chevrolet, which the defendant accepted as part of the trade. The remainder of the purchase price was secured by a conditional sale contract which provided for the payment of the [411]*411balance in monthly installments commencing May 8, 1958. At the time of this transaction the defendant gave the plaintiff a bill of sale upon which was written the words “90 day new car guarantee.”

After the sale and delivery of the Ford, the defendant, at the plaintiff’s request, made several minor repairs and adjustments without charge to the plaintiff. On April 8, 1958 the plaintiff brought the car to the defendant’s place of business and complained of excessive wear on the tires. The defendant replaced the worn tires with some that were slightly used, at reduced cost to the plaintiff. When the replacement tires showed excessive wear, the plaintiff caused the vehicle to be inspected by a specialist in wheel and frame alignment. The inspection, by means of a mechanical alignment device, revealed that the frame was bent or sprung causing it to be out of true alignment about three-quarters of an inch. It further appears from the record that a defect of this nature is caused by a collision or faulty manufacture. The plaintiff refused the defendant’s offer to repair the defect.

On May 25 the plaintiff returned the car to the defendant and requested the return of the money and the value of the car she had exchanged. She informed the defendant’s representative that she was not interested in trading for another vehicle nor in having the Ford repaired. The defendant refused the refund. Shortly afterward at the instance of the seller the sheriff repossessed the vehicle and it was resold.

The jury awarded the plaintiff a verdict of $700. The defendant appeals from the judgment that followed.

During the trial the defendant sought to introduce in evidence a portion of a printed document entitled Authorized Ford Dealer’s Service Warranty, marked Defendant’s C. At the plaintiff’s objection that the instrument was immaterial and not within the contemplation of the parties at the time of the sale, the offer was excluded. The defendant assigns error to this ruling and argues that Defendant’s C constitutes the best evidence of the meaning of the words “90 day new car guarantee,” written on the bill of sale. The defendant further contends that by usage in the automobile trade in this locality these particular words contemplate and refer to the warranty that would be given had the car been purchased from a new car dealer of that particular manufacture.

[412]*412The plaintiff’s principal witness, who represented the defendant in the sale, testified that neither he nor the plaintiff, so far as he knew, had the Ford Dealer’s Warranty (Defendant’s C) in mind at the time the guarantee was given. No reference was made to a Ford Dealer’s Warranty and the plaintiff was not furnished a copy of such an instrument at the time of her purchase.

It is of course well established that a contract may be reached with reference to another writing, and the other document, or so much of it as is referred to, will be interpreted as a part of the main instrument. But the extrinsic writing must be connected by specific reference or by such mutual knowledge and understanding on the part of both parties that reference by implication is clear. If the secondary instrument was not mentioned in the undertaking and was foreign to the minds of the parties at the time of their undertaking, it is clearly irrelevant as an aid to interpretation. Nye v. Lovitt, 92 Va. 710, 715, 24 S. E. 345; Highland Inv. Co. v. Kirk Co., 96 Ind. App. 5, 184 N.E. 308, 309; Lee v. Robert Mitchell Mfg. Co., 45 Ohio App. 502, 187 N.E. 371, 372; Williston, Contracts, §628 (Rev. Ed. 1936) p. 1801 et seq.; 12 Am Jur. Contracts §246, p. 781.

In the case before us there was no specific reference to the Ford Dealer’s Warranty and the defendant’s witness Smith dispelled any idea that either party had such an understanding in mind at the time the bill of sale was given. On this state of the evidence the best evidence rule has no application. The defendant’s offer of this instrument was correctly excluded.

This ruling cannot be disturbed by resort to usage or custom in the automobile trade. In the first place, we have been unable to find that the defendant produced any evidence to establish the prevailing custom in the sale of used cars with the type of guarantee specified on the bill of sale. Secondly, whatever meaning might attach to the words as used in the trade would not bind the plaintiff as air outsider, without a showing that she had knowledge of the trade custom. See Russell’s Executor v. Ferguson, 77 Vt. 433, 435, 60 Atl. 802; Linsley v. Lovely, 26 Vt. 123, 136; 46 Am. Jur. Sales, §295; annotation in 89 A.L.R. 1235. A custom, local in character, is binding only upon persons who have knowledge of it and there is no presumption that the parties contracted with reference to it. 55 Am. Jur. Usages and Customs, §25, p. 285; see Wood v. Smith, 23 Vt. 706, 709.

[413]*413In submitting the case, the trial court defined the issues to be determined by the jury in the form of four questions:

1. Did the defendant promise, represent and warrant that the 1957 Ford automobile was in good condition and free from defects as a new automobile?
2. Did the promises, representations, if any there were, by the defendant, constitute a warranty that the automobile was in as good condition and free from defects as a new automobile ?
3. • Was the warranty, if any, breached?
4. Is the plaintiff entitled to rescind her contract of sale and recover the sum paid to the defendant as down payment?

The defendant objected to the first two questions stated. Its claim of error is based on the contention that there was no evidence that the provision — “90 day new car guarantee” — was intended to mean that the used 1957 Ford was in as good condition and as free from defects as a new car.

It appears from the transcript of the testimony of the defendant’s witness Smith that although the car was second-hand, “it was so nearly new that we gave a 90 day new car guarantee” and this “is the best guarantee we can give.” The witness went on to explain that such an undertaking is a guarantee at dealer’s cost to repair all major defects not caused by customer’s abuse, for the period specified.

Later on in the trial, the witness was questioned further on this point:

Q. I believe you testified yesterday your reason for giving such a guarantee was that the car was so nearly new, is that right?
A. That’s right.
Q.

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Newton v. Smith Motors, Inc.
175 A.2d 514 (Supreme Court of Vermont, 1961)

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Bluebook (online)
175 A.2d 514, 122 Vt. 409, 1961 Vt. LEXIS 92, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/newton-v-smith-motors-inc-vt-1961.