White v. DaimlerChrysler Corp.

856 N.E.2d 542, 368 Ill. App. 3d 278, 305 Ill. Dec. 737, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 879
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 26, 2006
Docket1-04-2945
StatusPublished
Cited by58 cases

This text of 856 N.E.2d 542 (White v. DaimlerChrysler Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
White v. DaimlerChrysler Corp., 856 N.E.2d 542, 368 Ill. App. 3d 278, 305 Ill. Dec. 737, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 879 (Ill. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE WOLFSON

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff William L. White filed suit under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (the Act) (815 ILCS 505/1 et seq. (West 2000)), contending defendant DaimlerChrysler Corporation knowingly concealed a material defect in his Jeep vehicle and in the vehicles of similarly situated class members. 1 He alleged exhaust manifolds installed in the vehicles failed at “unacceptably high rates.”

Defendant filed a motion to dismiss the complaint pursuant to sections 2 — 615 and 2 — 619 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure. 735 ILCS 5/2 — 615, 2 — 619 (West 2000). Defendant contended: (1) plaintiff failed to allege facts establishing a duty on the part of defendant; (2) plaintiff lacked standing to bring his consumer fraud claim, to represent the class, and to request declaratory relief; (3) plaintiffs claims were barred by the statute of limitations; and (4) plaintiffs consumer fraud claim lacked the requisite specificity for a claim under the Act.

The trial court granted defendant’s motion to dismiss. Plaintiff appeals dismissal of the Consumer Fraud Act claims, but not the claims for violation of the Magnuson-Moss Act and for declaratory relief. We affirm the trial court.

FACTS

In his amended complaint, plaintiff alleges, “on information and belief,” he purchased his Jeep vehicle from Tyson Motor Corporation in July 1996. He contends the exhaust manifold in his Jeep was substandard and defective and remains so to this day. In paragraph 4 of the complaint, under the heading, “Parties to the Action,” he says the “value of WILLIAM L. WHITE’S Jeep is diminished by the defective exhaust manifold under its hood, and WILLIAM L. WHITE has been injured by that diminution in value.” He says he was unaware of the substandard and defective nature of the exhaust manifold until shortly before his action was filed on November 17, 2003.

Plaintiff contends the “standard in the industry” for vehicles such as Jeeps is to use cast-iron exhaust manifolds. From 1991 until early 1999, defendant began using less expensive tubular steel exhaust manifolds instead of the cast-iron exhaust manifolds. Plaintiff specifically contends:

“9. *** Exhaust manifolds in vehicles such as Jeeps generally do and are expected to last the lifetime of the vehicle, and consumers thus generally do not need to pay for repair or replacement of exhaust manifolds at any time during the life of their vehicles.
11. As early as 1991, Defendant knew that its cheaper, substandard tubular steel exhaust manifolds were prone to cracking and failure. However, rather than disclosing this information to consumers or changing its design, Defendant continued to install the crack-prone tubular steel exhaust manifolds and concealed these facts from the public, thereby reaping excessive profits to the detriment of Plaintiff and the Class both by reducing the cost of goods sold (and thus increasing profits, gaining market share, and earning a higher profit margin on each VEHICLE sold) and by profiting from the sale of replacement exhaust manifolds.
12. The cracks in the VEHICLES’ tubular steel exhaust manifolds result from thermal cyclic metal fatigue, whereby the pipes, which are made of tubular steel, are stressed beyond their elasticity as the manifold expands and contracts due to exhaust gas temperature changes during normal vehicle operation. A properly designed and engineered cast iron exhaust manifold would not fail as aforesaid.
13. *** [I]t usually costs between $800 and $1,600 to replace the cracked tubular steel exhaust manifolds in these VEHICLES, of which approximately $500 is the cost of the replacement part paid to Defendants.
14. Defendant knew as early as 1991 that the tubular steel exhaust manifolds: (a) would not last as long as the conventional cast iron exhaust manifolds; and (b) would fail at unacceptably high rates. Defendant has intentionally concealed these facts from Plaintiff and the Class and continues to do so to this day in order to sell replacement parts and increase profits. Because defendant has omitted and concealed material facts about the exhaust manifolds, members of the public were likely to have been deceived about the quality, performance, and durability of those manifolds.
34. As a result of Defendant’s unlawful act or practice, Plaintiff has been injured in an amount to be proven at trial, and Defendant must be ordered to reimburse this amount to Plaintiff and be further enjoined from continuing to refuse to pay for the cost of repair or replacement of cracked exhaust manifolds.”

Nowhere in the complaint does plaintiff contend the exhaust manifold in his Jeep has failed, nor has he had to pay to repair or replace the exhaust manifold.

The trial court granted defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiffs amended complaint. The record does not contain a transcript of the hearing on the motion to dismiss.

DECISION

Initially, defendant contends plaintiff has waived review of the trial court’s dismissal because the court granted its motion to dismiss “in all respects,” and plaintiff’s brief fails to address each of defendant’s bases for dismissal. See 188 Ill. 2d R 341(e)(7) (“Points not argued are waived and shall not be raised in the reply brief, in oral argument, or on petition for rehearing”). We disagree. Plaintiff addresses the issues of duty, damages, and the statute of limitations and discusses the general pleading requirements under the Act. Plaintiff’s discussion of damages addresses the gist of defendant’s standing arguments.

Given the absence of a hearing transcript, we cannot be certain which factors the trial court considered when it dismissed plaintiffs complaint. The court apparently agreed with all of the defendant’s contentions since it granted the motion to dismiss “in all respects.” We do not find plaintiff waived review of any of the issues addressed by the defendant in its motion. That said, we may affirm the trial court’s order on any basis appearing in the record. Cronin v. McCarthy, 264 Ill. App. 3d 514, 529, 637 N.E.2d 668 (1994).

A section 2 — 615 motion to dismiss admits all well-pleaded facts and attacks the legal sufficiency of the complaint; a motion to dismiss under section 2 — 619 admits the legal sufficiency of the complaint and raises defects, defenses, or other affirmative matter that acts to defeat the plaintiffs claim. Neppl v. Murphy, 316 Ill. App. 3d 581, 584, 736 N.E.2d 1174 (2000). In reviewing a section 2—615 motion, we take as true all well-pleaded facts in the complaint and any reasonable inferences that may be drawn from them. Ziemba v. Mierzwa, 142 Ill. 2d 42, 46-47, 566 N.E.2d 1365 (1991).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
856 N.E.2d 542, 368 Ill. App. 3d 278, 305 Ill. Dec. 737, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 879, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/white-v-daimlerchrysler-corp-illappct-2006.