Whittenberger v. Tom O'Brien Nissan, Inc.

3 Mass. L. Rptr. 515
Massachusetts Superior Court·Decided January 27, 1995·No. No. 93-1797-E·Published

Opinion

Cowin, J.

Finding of Fact, Rulings of Law and Order for Judgment*

This case arises from the sale by the defendant Tom O’Brien Nissan, Inc. (“O’Brien Nissan”) to the plaintiff Peter S. Whittenberger dba Pleasant Street Auto Sales (“Whittenberger”) of a purported 1975 Mercedes 450 SL which in fact was a 1972 Mercedes 350 SLC (“the Mercedes” or “the car”). Whittenberger claims breach of contract, fraud, negligent and intentional misrepresentation, breach of implied warranty and violation of G.L.c. 93A.1 O’Brien claims breach of contract, misrepresentation, fraud and breach of implied wanranty against third-party defendant Noreen O’Shea (“Ms. O’Shea”).

A juxy-waived trial was held on January 3 and January 4, 1995. The plaintiff called the following witnesses: Daniel Egnet (“Egnet”) an agent of the National Insurance Crime Bureau; David Presutti (“Presutti”) who acted as an agent of Whittenberger in the purchase of the Mercedes; John Sullivan (“Sullivan”) the general manager of O’Brien Nissan at all [516] relevant times and Paul J. O’Sullivan (“O’Sullivan”) the general sales manager of O’Brien Nissan. No one else called witnesses. At the conclusion of trial, plaintiffs counsel testified and submitted exhibits regarding his fees and costs and argument was had thereon.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Based upon the testimony of the witnesses and the exhibits at trial, the reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom and evaluation of the witnesses, I make the following findings of fact.

1. Plaintiff Peter S. Whittenberger dba Pleasant Street Auto Sales is a new/used car dealer with a usual place of business in Watertown, Massachusetts.

2. Defendant and Third-Party Plaintiff Tom O’Brien Nissan, Inc. is a new/used car dealer with a usual place of business in Quincy, Massachusetts.

3. Both Whittenberger and O’Brien Nissan are in the business of buying and selling used cars and are in the conduct of trade or commerce. See G.L.c. 93A, §2.

4. On September 22, 1990 Ms. O’Shea traded to O’Brien Nissan a Mercedes that she owned. Ms. O’Shea is a consumer under G.L.c. 93A. John Sullivan, general manager of O’Brien Nissan, handled this transaction. The car traded in by Ms. O’Shea was described on Ms. O’Shea’s registration papers as a 1975 Mercedes 450 SL with a vehicle identification number (“VIN number”) of 10702412011108. O’Shea received a trade-in allowance of $5,000.00 for her automobile.

5. The VIN number on the registration papers Ms. O’Shea gave to O’Brien Nissan contained 14 digits. All Mercedes have 14-digit VIN numbers. Ms. O’Shea sold-the car as a 1975 Mercedes 450 SL model; in fact, the car was a 1972 Mercedes 350 SLC. Sullivan, who handled the transaction for O’Brien Nissan, was not familiar with Mercedes automobiles and could not tell one Mercedes model or year automobile from another.

6. O’Brien Nissan failed to check the VIN number on the plate located on the windshield to ascertain that it corresponded to the VIN number on the registration papers that Ms. O’Shea provided with that car.

7. No one at the O’Brien Nissan organization ever inspected the VIN plate located on the windshield of the Mercedes and instead relied exclusively on the written registration provided by Noreen O’Shea. O’Brien Nissan never even checked to see if the color of the automobile was the same as the color on the registration.

8. There was testimony that the custom in the trade of automobile dealers is to rely upon the VIN number as stated on a registration or a title of a car being traded without actually visually inspecting the VIN plate number located on the vehicle. However, I do not find this testimony credible.

9. Had O’Brien Nissan taken even a few minutes to compare the VIN number on the papers Ms. O’Shea had given them with the VIN number on the windshield, the discrepancy would have been obvious.

10. This Mercedes automobile was in poor condition when it was taken in trade. For that reason, O’Brien Nissan decided to “wholesale" the vehicle rather than sell it retail so that the car would not be covered by any warranties. The custom in the trade is for vehicles sold on a wholesale basis to carry no warranties regarding the condition of the car.

11. Presutti expressed interest in purchasing the Mercedes. Presutti was told by O’Brien Nissan that the car would not be sold retail but would only be sold on a wholesale basis. This meant that it had to be sold to another dealer with a commercial class II license. Presutti thus arranged to purchase the vehicle through Whittenberger who had a commercial class II license. Presutti and Whittenberger had used this procedure to purchase cars in the past.

12. Presutti was acting at all relevant times on behalf of Whittenberger and as its agent.2 All receipts and bills of sale for the Mercedes were made out by O’Brien Nissan, Inc. to “Pleasant Street Auto Sales dba 106 Pleasant Street, Watertown, MA.” The name “David Presutti” is written above this name and address on one of the documents.

13. In late September, 1990, Presutti visited O’Brien Nissan and discussed purchasing the car with O’Sullivan, O’Brien Nissan’s general sales manager. Presutti was given an opportunity to inspect the vehicle in the wholesale lot. He inspected the car alone and was not restricted in his inspection in anyway. He did not examine the VIN number on the plate on the windshield. Thereafter, Presutti agreed to, and did, purchase the automobile wholesale through Whittenberger for $5,000.00. The evidence is conflicting as to whether Presutti had the registration with him at the time he inspected the car. In any event, he received the registration at the time of sale.

14. O’Brien Nissan sold the car to Whittenberger (Presutti) for $5,000 as a 1975 Mercedes 450 SL.

15. After Presutti purchased the automobile he decided to resell it. Preparatory to doing so, at some time in 1991, he caused it to be examined by a mechanic. This person informed Presutti that the car was not what it was purported to be. Presutti and/or Whittenberger then questioned the title to the automobile.

16. Sometime in 1991, the Mercedes was inspected3 by Egnet of the National Insurance Crime Bureau, a non-profit organization funded by insurance companies. Upon looking at the VIN plate on the windshield, Egnet saw that the VIN number was incorrect. Instead of the fourteen VIN numbers that all Mercedes have, he saw that the plate contained only the last eight numbers. The plate appears to have only eight numbers. The first six numbers could be seen but only with great difficulty as they appeared in a very faded fashion. Upon further investigation, Egnet found other and different VIN numbers on various motor components. This led Egnet to investigate further. He eventually concluded that the vehicle was not [517] a 1975 Mercedes 450 SLbut, in fact, a 1972 Mercedes 350 SLC that had been stolen in 1987.4

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Whittenberger v. Tom O'Brien Nissan, Inc., 3 Mass. L. Rptr. 515 (Mass. Ct. App. 1995).

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