Wheeler v. Clearview Dodge Sales

462 So. 2d 1298
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 14, 1985
Docket84-CA-216
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 462 So. 2d 1298 (Wheeler v. Clearview Dodge Sales) 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
Wheeler v. Clearview Dodge Sales, 462 So. 2d 1298 (La. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

462 So.2d 1298 (1985)

Cleo Collins Wheeler, Wife of/and William WHEELER
v.
CLEARVIEW DODGE SALES, Chrysler Corporation, and Chrysler Credit Corporation.

No. 84-CA-216.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

January 14, 1985.

*1300 Edwin A. Stoutz, Jr., New Orleans, for defendant-appellant.

Earl T. Lindsay, Jr., New Orleans, for plaintiff-appellee.

William F. Bologna, Thomas E. Loehn, New Orleans, for defendant-appellee.

Before BOWES, CURRAULT and GAUDIN, JJ.

CURRAULT, Judge.

This appeal arises from a jury verdict in favor of plaintiffs, Mrs. Cleo Wheeler and her husband Mr. William Wheeler, for rescission of a sale of a van purchased from defendant Clearview Dodge Sales, Inc. (Clearview) and which dismissed third-party suits against defendants Chrysler Corporation (Chrysler) and Gladiator, Inc. (Gladiator).

The facts reveal that on January 31, 1980, the plaintiffs purchased a 1979 Dodge B-200 van from defendant, Clearview, for a deferred purchase price of Fifteen Thousand, Eighty-Three Dollars and Sixty Cents ($15,083.60). The van manufactured by Chrysler was bought and customized by defendant, Gladiator, who in turn sold the newly outfitted vehicle to the defendant-dealer, Clearview. Various problems arose with the van, including a transmission problem, shortly after the Wheelers brought the vehicle home which necessitated several trips to the dealership between January and June of 1980. On June 23, 1980, the Wheelers returned the vehicle specifically for repairs to the shifting mechanism and excessive noise in the engine. The van thereafter remained at the dealership. As a result, suit was filed against Clearview and Chrysler on October 10, 1980 for rescission of the sale.

Clearview then filed a third-party action against Chrysler, and both Clearview and Chrysler filed third-party demands against Gladiator.

The case was tried before a jury in July, 1983, resulting in a judgment in plaintiff's favor as to Clearview on August 2, 1983. All claims against Chrysler and Gladiator were dismissed. The jury verdict rescinded the sale and awarded plaintiffs Sixteen Thousand, Nine Hundred Two Dollars and Thirty-Five Cents ($16,902.35) plus judicial interest and costs.

Defendant, Clearview, consequently perfected this appeal alleging as error the following:

that (1) the plaintiffs did not carry their burden of proving redhibitory defects warranting rescission of the sale; that

(2) the amount of the award to the plaintiffs cannot be justified or substantiated as damages either actually suffered or proved by the plaintiffs in their purchase of the vehicle; that

(3) even if redhibition is maintained (or, alternatively, if quanti minoris relief is awarded by this court), third-party judgments against Chrysler (as the basic-vehicle's manufacturer) and/or Gladiator (as the modifier/customizer of the vehicle) must be maintained and awarded; and that

(4) the jurors acted improperly in influencing other jurors to compromise their votes on jury interrogatories in order to be able to go home due to the late hour; in awarding by subterfuge attorney's fees while stating that they were not doing so; and in considering evidence not within the record as a justification for awarding what is actually punitive damages against Clearview Dodge.

On the first issue, appellant argues that the evidence was insufficient to prove a *1301 defect warranting rescission of the sale. The evidence, it is claimed, presented proof of minor problems that were easily repaired and corrected. Appellant alleges that after June 23, 1980 the plaintiffs refused to accept the repaired vehicle because it did not suit their needs and not because of the alleged defects.

Appellees, Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler, argue on the other hand that the jury was presented with evidence showing numerous trips to the dealer for multiple problems which resulted in some repairs, but which failed to correct others. Further, it is argued the jury chose to believe that Clearview failed to notify plaintiff regarding the supposed repair of the van on June 23, 1980, and that Clearview was unresponsive to plaintiff's efforts to discover whether the vehicle was repaired and ready. Appellees state that the jury had to conclude that Clearview either could not or would not correct the defects in the transmission and engine.

LSA-C.C. 2520 provides that:

Redhibition is the avoidance of a sale on account of some vice or defect in the thing sold, which renders it either absolutely useless, or its use so inconvenient and imperfect, that it must be supposed that the buyer would not have purchased it, had he known of the vice.

The plaintiff in a redhibitory action must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the item sold contained a hidden defect before the sale which was not apparent by ordinary inspection and which rendered the thing unfit for its intended use or so imperfect that the purchaser would have not bought it had he known of the defect. LSA-C.C. art. 2520; LSA-C.C. art. 2521; LSA-C.C. art. 2530; Prat v. Heymann, 410 So.2d 343 (La.App. 4th Cir.1982); Cloud v. Huffman Motor Co., Inc., 416 So.2d 266 (La.App. 3d Cir.1982).

Multiple defects can collectively form the basis of the redhibitory action even though many of the vices are minor or have been repaired. Davidson v. New Roads Motor Co., Inc., 385 So.2d 319 (La. App. 1st Cir.1980); writ den. 391 So.2d 454 (La.1980).

The facts herein show that the van was purchased by the plaintiffs on January 31, 1980, and was brought to the dealership for repairs at least seven to eight times in a five-month period to correct problems with the speed control, sun visor, engine roar, noise from a window, problems with the air conditioning vent, the temperature control, radio rattles, engine running after the key was turned off, alignment of the wheels and problems with the shifting mechanism. Appellant did not refute the evidence of the various problems and appellees' numerous visits to the dealership, but argue that they did all that was required to correct them. Appellant also argues that the transmission problem was brought to their attention once, on June 23, 1980, which was the last time the Wheelers saw the vehicle. They claim the repairs were consequently made to the gears and that the appellees were notified that the van was ready. Their witnesses stated that the roaring noise complained of previously, and again on that date, was a natural function of the design of the vehicle and that the transmission problem was easily fixed. Appellant does not adequately explain why the vehicle was kept for six to eight weeks at one point even though the complaints were supposedly minor.

Appellant seeks to have this court disregard the testimony of the plaintiffs in deference to their experts and repair orders. The plaintiffs testified that on some occasions work orders were not completed for complaints previously made. Mr. Wheeler stated that repairs to the engine were noted on one order, but he wasn't sure why. He and his wife stated that the problem with the transmission began immediately after the purchase and that at one point he instructed his wife not to drive the vehicle until the van could be brought in pursuant to the dealer's appointment policy. However, his wife drove the van in the belief that the problem was due to the newness of the vehicle and because she needed the transportation. Appellees' evidence indicates that Clearview may have been aware of the transmission problem although only one work order written on June 23, 1980 *1302

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Bluebook (online)
462 So. 2d 1298, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wheeler-v-clearview-dodge-sales-lactapp-1985.