10002763

Evert v. Ganley Westside Imports, Inc.

Ganley Westside Imports, Inc.

CV-06-604927

4/8/2009

C.P.

Cuyahoga

Automotive

DISCLOSURE

The Court confirmed the judgment of the arbitrator. The Plaintiff purchased a car from Defendant. While she was at the dealership, she asked several times if the car had ever been in an accident. Each time she was told that it had not. In actuality, while being used as a loaner car by the dealership, the car had been in an accident which caused approximately $14,000 damages and was out of service for eight months. The arbitrator found that, even though the salesman was not aware of the accident, Ganley, through its General Manager, was aware of the accident and had therefore misrepresented the status of the car in violation of the CSPA. The arbitrator found that the violation had not been the result of a bona fide error, as Ganley had no process in place to deal with these types of customer inquiries and did not place the information in the sales file or deal jacket for the car. The arbitrator found that the car was a new vehicle, as defined in R.C. 4517.01(C), as title to the car had never passed to an ultimate purchaser, despite the fact that the car had 7,100 miles on it. As the car was a new vehicle, the failure to disclose the damage was a violation of the CSPA. The arbitrator also found that the failure to integrate the representation that the car had not been wrecked into the sales contract was a violation of the CSPA, as the representation was a material term to the contract. The arbitrator awarded Plaintiff economic damages in the amount of $11,571.65, which were trebled to $34,714.95, and non-economic damages in the amount of $5,000, and $200 in statutory damages for the failure to disclose the damage to the vehicle and for the failure to integrate material terms into the contract for total damages of $40,119.95. The arbitrator declined to award attorney fees.