The White Co. v. Bacherig

9 Tenn. App. 501, 1928 Tenn. App. LEXIS 254
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedDecember 31, 1928
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 9 Tenn. App. 501 (The White Co. v. Bacherig) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
The White Co. v. Bacherig, 9 Tenn. App. 501, 1928 Tenn. App. LEXIS 254 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1928).

Opinion

CROAVNOVER, J.

The bill in this cause was filed to replevin an auto truck sold to defendant under-a conditional sale contract, and to recover the balance due on the purchase price, default in payment having been made. The complainant prayed for the replevin of the truck, for a decree for the balance due, with interest and attorney’s fee, and that the truck be sold in accordance with the Conditional Sales Statute in satisfaction of the decree.

The defendant filed an answer and a cross-bill in which it was denied that title to the truck was retained by complainant, and that there was a valid agreement by which it had any claim upon the truck, and it was charged that the provision in the contract relied upon by the complainant was oppressive, arbitrary, illegal and void. The defendant alleged that he informed complainant’s agents that he desired a truck of 1% ton capacity for the purpose of hauling slop from the Powder Plant to hogs on his farm, and that its agent fraudulently represented and guaranteed this truck to be a 1^2 ton truck with standard G. M. C. attachments and equipment, capable of performing the work; that soon after delivery he found that it Avas not capable of doing the work as represented, and that a part of the gear machinery of the rear system, concealed within the housing, had been removed and replaced with defective outlaw parts, all of which was Tinknown to the defendant at the time he purchased the truck, and could not have been ascertained except by taking the machinery apart and by actual tests, and that he relied upon the representations of the agent and was thus induced to make the purchase. He therefore filed his answer as a cross-bill and prayed for a rescission of the contract and for a decree for $200 and interest alleged to have been paid on the purchase price.

The White Company answered the cross-bill and admitted that it had taken this truck in trade as a 1ton truck and had sold it as such, but it denied that it represented that the truck was equipped with the General Motors Corporation Standard attachments, but sold it “as is” which meant “without warranty.” It denied any misrepresentation, and that the truck was not capable of doing the work required of it. It denied that cross-complainant was entitled to any relief, as he kept the truck and tried it out for two or three days before buying it and knew what he had purchased.

*503 Many depositions were taken and read to tbe Chancellor, who held that the truck was sold “as is” without warranty, either expressed or implied, other than that it was sold as a truck of 1% ton capacity “with standard attachments and equipment, delivery and acceptance of which in good order,” was acknowledged, which representations wore held to be true, in that, the truck was a 1% ton truck and was equipped with standard attachments, and excluded all testimony as to parol warranties; and he therefore decreed, that complainant recover the balance of $462 due on the purchase price, together with $79.30 interest, and $79.72 attorney’s fee, making a total of $611.02, awarded the possession of the truck to complainant under the replevin writ, and decreed/ a sale of said truck as provided by the Conditional Sales Statute, and dismissed the cross-bill. The defendant appealed and lias assigned three errors, which are to the effect that the Chancellor erred in dismissing the cross-bill and in awarding the recovery for complainant, under the original bill, particularly:

(1) In holding that the written contract excluded the warranties, express or implied, set out in the cross bill and shown by the proof, and in excluding the parol evidence of such warranties.
(2) In not holding that there was an express warranty in the written contract that the truck was a General Motors Corporation truck of TJ4 ton capacity, and was breached because the attachments in the rear system of the truck were not G. M. C. parts, and because its capacity was not V/> tons as equipped with solid tires.
(3) In not holding' that there was an implied warranty of quality and fitness for the purpose for which the truck was bought, for the reason that the buyer had made known to the seller his purpose in buying and had relied on the skill and judgment of the seller, which implied warranty had been breached in that the truck was not suitable for such purpose.

The facts necessary to be stated are that the complainant, The White Company, in July, 1925, sold to defendant Bacherig' the General Motors Corporation truck of 1J4 ton capacity with standard attachments and equipment, for the price of $710, of which he paid $200 cash, and executed a title retention contract agreeing to pay $48 on August. 27, 1927, and the balance in installments of $42 each, monthly, and in default in payment of the installments for sixty days then all of the installments to become due and payable.

The defendant signed a ‘ ‘ customer’s order ’ ’ tó The White Company on July 22, 1925, for a used car “as is” which contained the following paragraph:

“This order is given subject to the approval of The White Company, and if accepted or filled in full or in part, payment hereunder is to be made at the pnce and terms set forth. It is understood that the *504 property hereby ordered is ordered as is and subject to no warranty or guarantee, express or implied, and that there is no understanding or agreement whatsoever between the undersigned and The White Company, or its agents with respect to this order, except such as are embraced herein.”

On July 27, 1925, the defendant executed the conditional sales contract showing the sale of “one used G. M. C. truck,, model K-16, exchange car number 2571, with standard attachments and equipments delivery and acceptance of which in good order is hereby acknowledged. ’ ’ This paper recited the cash payment and the execution of the monthly installment notes, and retained title of the truck in the seller until all the notes are paid, and further provided that “there are no agreements, understandings or representations between the parties hereto not embraced herein, it being agreed that this instrument contains the entire agreement between the parties.”

There was an order, of the same date, to complainant’s shop foreman to deliver to the defendant “1 used 1% ton G. M. C. Truck, exchange car no. 2571, as is,” which was signed by Bacherig acknowledging receipt of the truck.

It appears that this truck had been purchased by the Pulaski Oil Company from the General Motors Corporation as a 1% ton capacity truck with pneumatic tires, and equipped with standard G. M. C. gears and attachments; and that when The White Company acquired this truck in a trade the original gears were worn and it installed gears which were not made by the General Motors Corporation, hut were made hy the Detroit Beveled Gear Company, and that the pneumatic tires were replaced with the solid tires when sold to defendant Bacherig, which facts were not known to him.

The defendant Bacherig was permitted to use and to test said truck for two or three days before the deal was closed, and after the sale was consummated the defendant took the truck and used it for two months, when the housing of the rear system was broken.

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Bluebook (online)
9 Tenn. App. 501, 1928 Tenn. App. LEXIS 254, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/the-white-co-v-bacherig-tennctapp-1928.