Question

            Mr. Jones bought a new pick-up truck for his landscaping business from Victor Motors, an automobile dealership specializing in trucks. Unfortunately, while there were no major defects with the truck, a number of small things kept going wrong, including wheel alignment, faulty wiring and a leaky exhaust system. In addition the truck tended to stall in heavy traffic. During the summer Mr. Jones had the truck repaired ten times. These small annoyances continued and finally, in disgust, he returned the truck to Victor Motors. However, Mr. Avenue the manager, pointed out to Mr. Jones that their contract contained a very extensive exemption clause excluding "all conditions or warranties, express or implied, statutory or otherwise," and refused to accept the truck back or to return Mr. Jones’ money. Mr. Jones commenced legal action. What can Mr. Jones argue? What can Victor Motors argue? What would be the result?

Answer 1

It is illegal to disclaim the lawful warranty of a product which is expected to have reasonable quality standards that define it's merchantability and fitness for use. The manufacturer is liable for the quality flaws as the performance of the product breaches the implied warranty of merchantability, irrespective of exemption clauses it might put in the contract.

Mr Jones can argue that the product was not of implied standards of merchantability as expected from such a product by a reasonable customer. The company deliberately inserted exemption clauses because it was aware of the flaws and it must be held liable for selling substandard product.

Victor Motors can cite negligent use by Mr Jones who did not abide by the instructions provided in the manual, which led to frequent issues. Other reason might be some harsh working conditions that the vehicle was subjected to, which were different from what the vehicle was meant for, leading to incidents.

The court is likely to rule in favour of Mr Jones, because the circumstances indicate that the defendant's intent was not fair, as he inserted exemption clauses, and the nature of frequent troubles faced by the customer indictes poor workmanship that was known to the company.