St-Laurent v. Fiermonti Oldsmobile, Inc.

611 A.2d 638, 136 N.H. 70, 19 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 460, 1992 N.H. LEXIS 126
CourtSupreme Court of New Hampshire
DecidedJuly 30, 1992
DocketNo. 91-283
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 611 A.2d 638 (St-Laurent v. Fiermonti Oldsmobile, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
St-Laurent v. Fiermonti Oldsmobile, Inc., 611 A.2d 638, 136 N.H. 70, 19 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 460, 1992 N.H. LEXIS 126 (N.H. 1992).

Opinion

Batchelder, J.

The plaintiffs brought suit under RSA 382-A: 2-608, which provides for revocation of acceptance of goods, and obtained a jury verdict for $12,985, the difference between the purchase prices of a defective and replacement car. The Superior Court (Mangones, J.) ordered judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the grounds that the plaintiffs did not prove that a nonconformity in the product existed at the time of purchase. We reverse.

In January 1983, the plaintiffs, Rita and Jean St-Laurent, bought a 1982 Oldsmobile Toranado from defendant Fiermonti Oldsmobile, of Concord. The car had been used by Fiermonti as a demonstrator, had about 5,800 miles on its odometer, and cost the plaintiffs $17,985.25. Aside from some minor problems, the plaintiffs were “very pleased” with the car until September 1984, when the car’s automatic transmission would not shift properly. At that time, the [72]*72plaintiffs had owned the car for about 19 months and driven it about 19,000 miles.

The plaintiffs promptly brought the car to Fiermonti and left it for several days for repairs. The car worked well for almost two months but after less than 1,200 miles of driving the trouble reappeared in October 1984, and the plaintiffs again took the car to Fiermonti for repairs. Fiermonti kept the car for nearly seven weeks, completely overhauling the transmission and replacing its major components. Again in June 1985, after the plaintiffs had driven the car an additional 3,600 miles, the transmission began to malfunction, and the plaintiffs brought it back to Fiermonti, who kept it for 10 days.

Up to this point, Fiermonti had not billed the plaintiffs for the repairs to their car. However, when the plaintiffs picked it up after the third repair, Fiermonti’s general manager indicated that the transmission could not be replaced because the manufacturer no longer made them. He also stated that Fiermonti could not assure the plaintiffs that the trouble would not recur, that Fiermonti would charge the plaintiffs for any future repairs, and that Fiermonti would be willing to offer $2,000 for the car as a trade-in toward another purchase.

The transmission malfunctioned as the plaintiffs drove home. They immediately returned the car to Fiermonti, who again adjusted the transmission. Within two weeks and after just 70 miles of driving, however, the transmission again stuck in gear and would not shift properly. For a fifth time, the plaintiffs brought the car to Fiermonti for repairs. At no time did anybody but Fiermonti’s mechanics attempt to fix the car.

Having lost confidence that the problems could be repaired, the plaintiffs informed Fiermonti that they wanted to revoke their acceptance of the car. Fiermonti refused. Soon thereafter, the plaintiffs acquired a new car, receiving $5,000 as a trade-in for their Fiermonti Oldsmobile. The plaintiffs then sued Fiermonti for damages resulting from the sale of a defective car, under RSA 382-A:2-608, which provides for the revocation of acceptance of goods.

The plaintiffs’ jury verdict of $12,985 was the difference between the purchase price of the car and the subsequent trade-in value, Sanborn v. Aranosian, 119 N.H. 969, 409 A.2d 1352 (1979). The court, however, granted judgment notwithstanding the verdict, which the plaintiffs appeal.

A motion for judgment non obstante veredicto, or judgment notwithstanding the verdict, presents an issue only of law. [73]*73Gowen v. Brothers, 121 N.H. 377, 380, 430 A.2d 159, 161 (1981). The trial court cannot weigh the evidence or judge the credibility of witnesses, and it must construe the evidence and all reasonable inferences most favorably to the party opposing the motion. Amabello v. Colonial Motors, 117 N.H. 556, 561, 374 A.2d 1182, 1185 (1977).

The motion must be denied if the evidence is conflicting, or if opposing inferences may be drawn from it. Id.; Bryson v. Carroll, 93 N.H. 287, 289, 41 A.2d 240,241 (1945). The motion will be granted, on the other hand, “only when all of the evidence viewed most favorably to the opponent so overwhelmingly favors the moving party that no contrary verdict based upon that evidence could ever stand.” Amabello, 117 N.H. at 561, 374 A.2d. at 1185; see also Kierstead v. Betley Chevrolet-Buick, Inc., 118 N.H. 493, 496, 389 A.2d 429, 431 (1978) (motion “granted only when the evidence and all reasonable inferences therefrom construed most favorably to the party opposing the motion would not enable a jury to find for that party”).

The substantive law in this case is derived from the Uniform Commercial Code. RSA 382-A:2-608 provides that:

“(1) The buyer may revoke his acceptance of a lot or commercial unit whose non-conformity substantially impairs its value to him if he has accepted it
(a) on the reasonable assumption that its non-conformity would be cured and it has not been seasonably cured; or
(b) without discovery of such non-conformity 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.
(3) A buyer who so revokes has the same rights and duties with regard to the goods involved as if he had rejected them.”

Thus, for the plaintiffs to be successful in their revocation of acceptance action, they must satisfy five conditions, which the court substantially stated in its instructions to the jury: (1) there must have been a nonconformity which substantially impaired the value of [74]*74the car to the plaintiffs; (2) revocation must have occurred within a reasonable time after they discovered the nonconformity; (3) revocation must have occurred before a substantial change occurred in the condition of the car not caused by its own defects; (4) there must have been due notice of revocation to Fiermonti; and (5) the plaintiffs must have accepted the item without having discovered the nonconformity and their acceptance must have been reasonably induced either by the difficulty of the discovery or by Fiermonti’s assurances. See J. White & R. Summers, Uniform Commercial Code § 8-4, at 416 (3d ed. 1988).

There is no dispute regarding the first four elements. As to the final element, however, the trial court found

“fatal to the plaintiffs . . . the requirement that the buyer must show that his acceptance was reasonably induced by the difficulty of discovering the nonconformity before acceptance. Implicit in this ... condition is a requirement that nonconformity must, in fact, have been in existence at the time of sale. Plaintiffs had to prove that there was a defect in the transmission at the time the vehicle was delivered to them on January 26, 1983. That they did not do.

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611 A.2d 638, 136 N.H. 70, 19 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 460, 1992 N.H. LEXIS 126, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/st-laurent-v-fiermonti-oldsmobile-inc-nh-1992.