Sellers v. Frank Griffin AMC Jeep, Inc.

526 So. 2d 147, 1988 WL 50148
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMay 17, 1988
DocketBJ-373
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 526 So. 2d 147 (Sellers v. Frank Griffin AMC Jeep, Inc.) 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
Sellers v. Frank Griffin AMC Jeep, Inc., 526 So. 2d 147, 1988 WL 50148 (Fla. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

526 So.2d 147 (1988)

Timothy L. SELLERS and Kristi H. Sellers, Appellants,
v.
FRANK GRIFFIN AMC JEEP, INC., and American Credit Corp., Appellees.

No. BJ-373.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

May 17, 1988.

*148 Albert H. Mickler, Jacksonville, for appellants.

Haywood M. Ball, of Donahoo, Donahoo & Ball, P.A., Jacksonville, for appellee American Credit Corp.

J. Michael Lindell, of Cowles, Hayden, Facciolo, McMorrow & Barfield, P.A., Jacksonville, for appellee Griffin AMC Jeep.

PER CURIAM.

Appellants, Timothy and Kristi Sellers (hereinafter appellants or Sellers), took possession of a new Jeep Cherokee vehicle pursuant to a "Retail Lease Agreement" with Frank Griffin AMC Jeep, the AMC Jeep dealer in Jacksonville (hereafter Frank Griffin or Dealer). According to the complaint, several days after appellants accepted the vehicle the motor exploded, sending large portions of the engine through the engine block. After the engine was repaired, other problems began. The Jeep rattled and leaks caused flooding in the passenger compartment. The cruise control was erratic, the gauges operated improperly, and the seat covers were separating. The air conditioner did not cool, and the four-wheel drive "choked out." The brake system began to fail. Finally, after eleven months, appellants attempted to return the Jeep to Frank Griffin and revoke their acceptance of the vehicle, but the dealer refused to accept its return.

Appellants filed suit against Frank Griffin and American Credit Corporation (hereafter AMCC), assignee of the lease agreement, seeking revocation of acceptance under section 672.608, Florida Statutes (1983) (section 2-608, Uniform Commercial Code), and under 15 U.S.C.A. sections 2301-08, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (Magnuson-Moss Act). No other theory of relief was alleged. Count I of the complaint as amended alleged that the lease agreement is a "transaction in goods" within the meaning of section 672.102; that appellants assumed their new vehicle would be operable and free of substantial defects, but it was not; that the Dealer had failed or was unable to correct the defects; that such defects are nonconformities and constitute a breach of implied warranty; and that such breach substantially impaired the value of the vehicle. Count II alleged that the Dealer made certain written warranties and breached both express and implied warranties in violation of the Magnuson-Moss Act. In addition to revocation of acceptance, appellants sought refund of the down payment and all monies paid to AMCC, as well as consequential damages. The action based on the Magnuson-Moss Act also claimed statutory attorney's fees.

The trial court granted summary judgment on the sole ground that the subject transaction is a closed-end lease, not a sale, and that both section 672.608 and the Magnuson-Moss Act apply only in the case of a sale. The court relied principally upon the terms of the agreement requiring that appellants return the vehicle to the lessor or its assignee at the end of the forty-eight month term with no option to purchase, and the express provision in the lease that the transaction was a lease only and the lessor remained owner of the vehicle. The court ruled that neither section 672.608 nor the Magnuson-Moss Act applies to a closed-end lease where there is no present or anticipated transfer of title from the supplier to *149 the consumer because title had to pass for a sale to have occurred. The appealed order states that plaintiffs neither bought nor contracted to buy goods within the meaning of section 672.103, Florida Statutes (1983), and that section 672.608, Florida Statutes (1983), is "inapplicable to a pure lease contract where the lessees have no right to purchase the goods at any time in the future." The trial court noted the decision in Capital Associates, Inc. v. Hudgens, 455 So.2d 651 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984), in which the court held that the lease of personal property was a transaction in goods within the meaning of section 672.102 subject to the prohibition against unconscionable clauses found in section 672.302. The trial court distinguished Capital Associates because section 672.302 is not limited by its terms to a sale involving the relationship of buyer and seller, as is section 672.608. The court stated that "this case is distinguishable from Capital Associates in that it falls within the language of the phrase, `unless the context otherwise requires,' of Section 672.102... ." The trial court declined to address the merits of the existence of a written warranty as alleged in count II and whether the disclaimers in the lease agreement operated to defeat appellants' right to relief, saying the latter would be a defensive issue.

The critical issues on this appeal are whether the lease transaction shown by this record is, as a matter of law, not subject to either section 672.608 or the Magnuson-Moss Act because the transaction did not amount to a sale transaction within the meaning of those two statutes. The facts before us present a very appealing case for extending the provisions of both statutes to this lease transaction, but for the reasons hereafter discussed we believe this is more properly a legislative function and affirm.

UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE

The UCC provisions for revocation of acceptance contained in section 672.608 read in part:

(1) The buyer may revoke his acceptance of a lot or commercial unit whose nonconformity substantially impairs its value to him if he has accepted it:
(a) On the reasonable assumption that its nonconformity would be cured and it has not been seasonably cured; or
(b) Without discovery of such nonconformity if his acceptance was reasonably induced either by the difficulty of discovery before acceptance or by the seller's assurances.
(2) Revocation of acceptance must occur within a reasonable time after the buyer discovers or should have discovered the ground for it and before any substantial change in condition of the goods which is not caused by their own defects. It is not effective until the buyer notifies the seller of it.

There is ample precedent for the buyer of a new automobile to revoke acceptance under this section of the UCC if the vehicle manifests numerous defects after the buyer's acceptance, the defects are not satisfactorily repaired by the dealer or manufacturer within a reasonable time, and such defects substantially impair the value of the vehicle to the buyer. E.g., Tom Bush Volkswagen, Inc. v. Kuntz, 429 So.2d 398 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983); Orange Motors of Coral Gables v. Dade County Dairies, 258 So.2d 319 (Fla. 3d DCA), cert. denied, 263 So.2d 831 (Fla. 1972). In the latter case the court succinctly described the reasonable expectations of one who purchases a new car:

As stated in the leading case of Zabriskie Chevrolet, Inc. v. Smith, [99 N.J. Super. 441, 240 A.2d 195 (1968)], every buyer has the right to assume his new car, with the exception of minor adjustments, will be "mechanically new and factory furnished, operate perfectly, and be free of substantial defects" especially in view of the high powered advertising techniques of the auto industry.

258 So.2d at 320. Similarly, the court in Rehurek v. Chrysler Credit Corp., 262 So.2d 452 (Fla. 2d DCA), cert. denied, 267 So.2d 833 (Fla.

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