Shutkas Electric, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co.

851 N.E.2d 66, 366 Ill. App. 3d 76, 303 Ill. Dec. 168, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 351
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided May 1, 2006·No. 1-05-2120·Published·Cited by 30 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE McBRIDE

delivered the opinion of the court:

In May 2001, plaintiff, Shutkas Electric, Inc., purchased a super duty cargo van manufactured by defendant, Ford Motor Company, for use in its commercial electrical business. Following several mechanical problems, plaintiff filed a complaint against defendant under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty — Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act (Act) (15 U.S.C. § 2301 et seq. (2000)) seeking damages for breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, and revocation of acceptance. Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment on all counts in plaintiffs complaint. On February 24, 2005, the trial court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment, finding that the cargo van was not a consumer product as defined by the Act. Plaintiff filed a motion with the trial court seeking leave to file a second amended complaint, which the court denied on June 3, 2005.

Plaintiff appeals, arguing that (1) this court should dismiss the instant appeal as premature; (2) the trial court erred in granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment because a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether the cargo van is a consumer product; and (3) the trial court abused its discretion when it denied plaintiff leave to file a second amended complaint.

Nick Shutkas is the president and sole shareholder of plaintiff. In May 2001, plaintiff, through Shutkas, purchased a 2001 Ford 760A Commercial Series E350 super duty cargo van (cargo van) for $25,043.41 from Heller Ford Mercury Sales (Heller), an authorized Ford dealership. In its amended complaint, plaintiff stated it purchased the cargo van for use in its electrical' contracting business. The cargo van purchased by plaintiff had two seats, no carpeting in the back, no rear seat, and an empty van compartment that could be fitted with gang boxes and shelving. Plaintiff purchased the cargo van “specifically for business purposes, since being an electrician necessitated a van with adequate space to carry his tools and equipment.” Shutkas installed a tool gang box, metal shelving for electrical parts, a pipe rack, a rear floor guard, and a wood shelving unit in the cargo van.

Plaintiff purchased the cargo van with a Ford 3-year/36,000-mile written warranty. Shortly after the purchase, plaintiff began to experience problems with the engine hesitating and emitting a strong exhaust smell, the side doors not closing properly, and the alignment pulling right. Also, thick smoke would pour from the engine. Plaintiff took the cargo van to Highland Park Ford for repairs in June 2001. Highland Park Ford repaired the doors and worked on the engine problems. However, plaintiff alleged that it continued to experience these engine problems as well as problems with the paint. In May 2002, plaintiff attempted to revoke its acceptance of the cargo van.

In October 2002, plaintiff filed a three-count complaint against defendant; alleging (1) breach of express warranty, (2) breach of implied warranty of merchantability, and (3) revocation of acceptance. Plaintiff sought revocation of the purchase as well as compensatory damages and attorney fees. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss, and in the alternative, for summary judgment. In March 2003, the trial court granted defendant’s motion to dismiss under section 2 — 615 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2 — 615 (West 2002)) and gave plaintiff leave to file an amended complaint with the written warranty attached. In April 2003, plaintiff filed its amended complaint, which raised the same three counts and sought the same relief as the original complaint. All three counts seek relief under the Act.

In August 2004, defendant filed its renewed motion for summary judgment, arguing that the cargo van was not a consumer product under the Act, and therefore, plaintiff was not entitled to any relief under the Act. On February 24, 2005, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of defendant and specifically found that the cargo van does not qualify as a consumer product under the Act.

On March 28, 2005, plaintiff filed a motion entitled a “Motion to Modify” the February 24, 2005, order, but the body of the motion sought leave to file a second amended complaint. On June 3, 2005, the trial court denied plaintiffs motion, and on June 23, 2005, plaintiff filed its notice of appeal.

Initially, we must determine whether we have jurisdiction to entertain this appeal. In its jurisdictional statement, plaintiff asserts that we should dismiss the instant appeal as premature because the orders of February 24, 2005, and June 3, 2005, did not contain a finding under Supreme Court Rule 304(a) that there is no just reason to delay the appeal. 155 Ill. 2d R. 304(a). Plaintiff claims that the trial court’s summary judgment order did not dispose of all issues before the trial court, and therefore, this court does not have jurisdiction for this appeal. Plaintiff relies on the trial court’s language in the order to support its argument. The trial court stated:

“Ford’s renewed motion for summary judgment is granted based on the Court’s assessment that the subject vehicle does not qualify as a consumer product under the standards of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.”

Plaintiff contends that this finding only disposed of its claims under the Act, but left its state law claims for breach of implied warranty of merchantability and revocation of acceptance intact.

We disagree with plaintiffs contention that the summary judgment order of February 24, 2005, was not a final order. All three of plaintiffs counts relied, at least in some part, on the Act. However, defendant’s motion sought summary judgment on all three counts, and the trial court’s order explicitly granted defendant’s motion. The court’s order did not withhold summary judgment for any of plaintiffs claims. “A judgment is final if it determines the litigation on the merits so that, if affirmed, nothing remains for the trial court to do but to proceed with its execution.” Big Sky Excavating, Inc. v. Illinois Bell Telephone Co., 217 Ill. 2d 221, 233 (2005). “An order granting summary judgment is a final order.” Diggs v. Suburban Medical Center, 191 Ill. App. 3d 828, 836 (1989). Since the trial court’s order granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment on all counts, the order effectively ended the litigation. The trial court’s basis for summary judgment does not change the clear language entering summary judgment. Therefore, plaintiffs claim that this appeal is premature and cannot be heard without a Rule 304(a) finding must fail.

However, this does not end our consideration as to jurisdiction of this appeal. Defendant contends that this court does not have jurisdiction to consider the portion of the appeal related to the February 24, 2005, summary judgment order because plaintiff failed to file a timely notice of appeal. Defendant maintains that plaintiff’s motion to modify the order was merely a motion for leave to file a second amended complaint and as such is not a postjudgment motion as contemplated by Supreme Court Rule 303 (155 Ill. 2d R. 303) and it did not toll the time for plaintiff to file a notice of appeal.

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Shutkas Electric, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co., 851 N.E.2d 66, 366 Ill. App. 3d 76, 303 Ill. Dec. 168, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 351 (Ill. Ct. App. 2006).

851 N.E.2d 66 (Shutkas Electric, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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