Peterson v. Coleman Oldsmobile, Inc.

393 So. 2d 372, 1980 La. App. LEXIS 4943
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 15, 1980
Docket13840
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 393 So. 2d 372 (Peterson v. Coleman Oldsmobile, 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
Peterson v. Coleman Oldsmobile, Inc., 393 So. 2d 372, 1980 La. App. LEXIS 4943 (La. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinion

393 So.2d 372 (1980)

Linda W. PETERSON
v.
COLEMAN OLDSMOBILE, INCORPORATED et al.

No. 13840.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

December 15, 1980.

*373 Keith D. Jones, Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellee Linda W. Peterson.

Robert L. Kleinpeter, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellee Coleman Oldsmobile, Inc.

Henry D. Salassi, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellee General Motors Corp.

Richard Creed, Jr., Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellant Coachmen Industries, Inc.

Before LOTTINGER, EDWARDS and PONDER, JJ.

LOTTINGER, Judge.

This redhibition action arises out of the sale of a "Jimmy Mini" recreational vehicle to the plaintiffs, Nelson and Linda Peterson, by Coleman Oldsmobile, Inc. (Coleman). The plaintiffs originally sued Coleman, General Motors Corporation, the manufacturer of the cab and chassis of the vehicle, and Coachmen Industries, Inc., the manufacturer of the remainder of the mobile home. Coleman filed a third party demand against GM and Coachmen; and Coachmen filed a third party demand against GM and Onan Corporation, which manufactured and supplied an auxiliary generator plant to the recreational vehicle.

In written reasons for judgment, the trial court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and against Coachmen Industries in the amount of $26,884.91. Of that amount $20,544.82 represents the purchase price and $6,340.09 represents interest paid on the purchase loan.

The trial judge's written reasons also allowed Coachmen a credit of $3,360.00 representing the plaintiffs' use of the vehicle calculated at $.15 per mile for 22,400 miles of use. The written reasons also gave the plaintiffs a credit for the defendant's use of the purchase price. The judge calculated the credit at 7% for a total figure to date of judgment of $4,022.01. An additional $1,250.00 in attorney's fees for the plaintiffs was allowed but plaintiffs' claim for mental anguish and inconvenience was rejected. Coleman was not cast in the judgment; rather, it was allowed indemnity for the full amount of judgment against Coachmen Industries. All other demands were dismissed.

It should be noted at this point that the final judgment as prepared by plaintiffs' counsel and signed by the trial court differs in some pertinent respects from the trial *374 court's written reasons. This difference plays an important part in one of the issues raised on appeal, and we will address this issue later in this opinion.

Coachmen brings this appeal from the trial court judgment alleging six specifications of error. For purposes of this opinion we adopt the following well-reasoned views of the trial court as our own:

"In early February, 1977, plaintiffs visited the showroom of Coleman Oldsmobile, Inc., for the purpose of purchasing a recreational vehicle. Coleman Oldsmobile, Inc. (hereinafter Coleman) is apparently an Oldsmobile dealer, but is not an authorized dealer for the truck division (GMC Trucks) of the parent company, General Motors. While there, plaintiff decided to buy a 1977 `Jimmy Mini' motor home. The `Jimmy Mini' reached Coleman in the following manner: (1) GMC Trucks delivered a chassis to Coachmen Industries, Inc.; (2) Coachmen constructed on the chassis a `living area', i. e., the recreational portion, and delivered it to Coleman, an authorized Coachmen dealer; (3) the local GMC dealer, Capitol Mack, invoiced Coleman for the chassis, and Coachmen invoiced Coleman for the recreational portion. The logo `GMC' appeared on the chassis, but the evidence is unclear as to whether that logo appeared on the recreation portion, or, if it did, whether GMC knew or approved of such use. Plaintiff paid a total of $20,544.82 for the vehicle; he was allowed a credit of $7,077.31 for a `trade in', paid $1,000.00 in cash, and financed the remainder, $12,477.51, through GMAC.

"Plaintiffs testified that at the time of the purchase, they thought they were buying a GMC product and would have a general warranty from that corporation. However, within less than 24 hours after the sale, they were presented with a number of warranty documents which clearly revealed to them at that time that GMC was warranting only the chassis. They made no complaint thereafter to GMC, Coachmen or Coleman about the limited warranties afforded in this case.

"Trouble with the vehicle began almost immediately. The plaintiff noticed that the thermostat on the roof air conditioner was not cooling properly, so he returned the vehicle to Coleman the morning after the purchase. At that time, he waited for more than six hours, but was then advised that it would be two weeks before he could be given an appointment to have the thermostat fixed. Plaintiff took the vehicle back home and used it, and then noticed that RV relay was not working.[1] When he returned for servicing he complained about the fact that the relay was not working, and was told that this type of vehicle did not have such a relay. Plaintiff continued arguing with Coleman about this, and the argument was not resolved until eight months later, when plaintiff obtained a copy of the owner's manual and through the use of the manual convinced Coleman that there was such a relay and that it was not working properly. During the interim, he could not run the recreational vehicle power plant and had to use jumper cables to start the electricity in the living area of the RV.

"In the interim, in March, he took the vehicle to Toledo Bend, and experienced substantial difficulties. The engine was skipping, the oil pressure was low and the vehicle burned an unusual amount of oil. The refrigerator quit working and all of the groceries were lost. In addition, the cruise control was not working properly. Plaintiff changed the plugs and returned the vehicle to Baton Rouge and to Coleman for service. Coleman then advised plaintiff that the vehicle would have to be taken to Capitol Mack for service on the chassis portion; this was done, and Capitol Mack kept the vehicle for about a week. The cruise control was repaired, and the advice of Capitol Mack was to drive the vehicle a while to see if the engine would `seal in'. The RV was then returned to Coleman for repair of the *375 RV relay and the power plant; although it remained there a week, neither was repaired. Upon discovering this, plaintiff immediately returned the vehicle to Coleman, but when he returned to check, no work had been done, and, in fact, Coleman had removed the battery and battery cable (apparently to supply some other vehicle) and had put in a smaller battery. After plaintiff called this to their attention, a new, larger battery was installed. Plaintiff took the vehicle home and apparently attempted some repairs of his own, but then took it back to Coleman, determined to leave it there until they were able to fix it. It remained there four weeks, at which time plaintiff regained possession. The power plant at this time was running better, but the problem with the RV relay had not been fixed, and the refrigerator was not working properly. The engine oil consumption problem still remained. It should be noted that at this time, there were only 3,000 miles on the vehicle; considering that there were 1,500 and 1,600 miles on the vehicle when it was bought,[2] plaintiff had been able to accumulate about 400 miles per month, including numerous trips to Coleman.

"Other problems had developed, however. Plaintiff was having difficulty hauling a boat with the RV, and the bottom rear of the RV was striking the roadway (`bottoming out') on less than level roads. For this problem, the vehicle was referred to Capitol Mack, and the GMC representative was called in.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
393 So. 2d 372, 1980 La. App. LEXIS 4943, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peterson-v-coleman-oldsmobile-inc-lactapp-1980.