Discuss what legal rights (if any) Oliver has against Outreville Motors and Smolville Motors. Additional comments: Facts
Question:
Discuss what legal rights (if any) Oliver has against Outreville Motors and Smolville Motors.
Additional comments: Facts Oliver Oliphant is a self-employed truck driver who resides in Outreville in the Republic of Pasifika. He earns most of his income by hauling fresh fruit and vegetables using a 2011 Volvo prime mover truck with a refrigerated trailer attached. In most weeks, he made three return trips between Outreville to Port Mele (the capital city of Pasifika). In February 2023, Oliver decided that he wanted to replace his 2011 Volvo prime mover with a newer model truck. He was worried that the engine was beginning to wear out and if he continued to drive it between Outreville and Port Mele three times a week, the truck would break down. Oliver visited Outreville Motors where he saw two Volvo prime mover trucks for sale. One Volvo truck was a 2023 model, on sale for $350,000, and the other Volvo truck was a 2019 model, on sale for $270,000. Oliver had only $50,000 of savings and his bank had told him that he would be able to get a loan for up to $250,000 only - so Oliver focused his attention of the 2019 Volvo model truck, although he would have preferred to buy something newer. Oliver spoke to Spiro Spalding, the owner of Outreville Motors and said 'I need a reliable prime mover truck that is capable of carrying heavy loads of goods to be delivered to the customers on time between Outreville and Port Mele. Will the engine in this truck be able to do this?' Spiro told Oliver that the 2019 Volvo prime mover truck had a new engine installed in 2016, so the engine was 'as good as new and it will have the engine capacity and performance to transport heavy loads to your customers on time'. Oliver then asked Spiro whether the truck was suitable for three return trips between Outreville and Port Mele each week. Spiro said 'I think so. As you know, Volvo trucks are very reliable.' On 3 March 2023, after arranging the necessary bank loan, Oliver took delivery of the 2019 Volvo prime-mover truck and paid $270,000 to Outreville Motors. When handing over the prime mover truck to Oliver, Spiro also handed Oliver a bundle of papers which he described as a 'complete service history' of the prime mover. Spiro had obtained these papers from the previous owner but had never read them. Oliver placed the papers in the glovebox of the prime mover truck but did not read them. Oliver started using the 2019 Volvo prime mover truck in his road transport business. Oliver enters into a contract to transport heavy load of bananas from Outreville to Port Mele where they would be delivered to banana sellers at the fresh fruit market in Port Mele by 8am on 22 April 2023. His contract with the banana sellers also contained a term to the effect that there would be a reduction of the fee payable to him if he did not deliver the bananas to the market by that time. Oliver leaves Outreville early in the morning on 21 April. However, the engine in the truck began to overheat, which caused the truck to break down just outside Smolville, a small town about half way between Outreville and Port Mele. Oliver then spoke with Boule, the owner of Smolville Motors which is the only car and truck repair business in Smolville to see if Boule can fix it. Oliver says to Boule 'I need this engine fixed as soon as possible. I have customers waiting for delivery of these bananas by 8am tomorrow and if they do not get it in time then they will reduce my delivery fee'. Boule says 'I can fix it, but it will take about six hours to fix and it will cost you $15,000 for the repair job'. Oliver thought the repair cost was expensive and the repair time excessive, but agrees to Boule to start repairing the engine for that price and within that timeframe because he was desperate to deliver the bananas to Port Mele on time. Oliver then waits for five hours while Boule repairs the engine. At the end of the fifth hour, Boule says to him 'This repair job is more complicated than I thought. I will now need to charge you $30,000 for the repair job and it will take until 6am tomorrow morning to fix it'. Oliver says 'But you already agreed with me to fix the engine in 6 hours for $15,000'. Boule says 'I don't care. If you don't agree to this new price and new time-frame for repair then the engine won't be fixed in time for you to deliver the bananas by 8am tomorrow and you will not be able to find another repair business to help you because I am the only one in Smolville'. Oliver reluctantly agrees to the new repair price of $30,000 and the new repair time. Boule fixes the engine by 6am on the morning of 22 April and pays Boule the $30,000. However, because of the time-delay with the repairs, Oliver is still late in delivering the bananas to Port Mele and does not deliver the bananas until midday on 23 April 2023. This means Oliver received $6,000 less than he would have received had he delivered the bananas to the sellers on time. When Oliver returned to Outreville on 22 April 2023, he then read the service history papers which Spiro had given to him. He then discovered that the 2019 Volvo prime mover did not have a new engine installed in 2016 and that the old engine had merely been 'reconditioned'. Reconditioning is when an old car or truck engine is repaired or rebuilt rather than being replaced with a completely new engine. Oliver also showed the reconditioned engine and the repair invoices from Smolville Motors to Steve, his usual mechanic in Outreville. Steve said that 'there was no way that a reconditioned engine would be able to carry heavy loads such as the bananas without the engine overheating and breaking down' and that the work done by Smolville Motors 'was worth only about $8,000-9,000'. Oliver gets angry and then goes to Outreville Motors and says to Spiro 'If I had known that this engine in this truck was reconditioned, I would never have purchased it. This truck has cost me a lot of money with repairs and reduced fees from my customers'. Spiro says 'I had no idea the engine was reconditioned. I really thought it was replaced with a new engine in 2016. Oh well, It's not my problem. You should have read the services history papers before purchasing it'. For the purposes of answering the question, assume that Pasifika has received English common law and that British statutes of general application enacted before 1 July 1976 apply in Pasifika.
Smith and Roberson Business Law
ISBN: 978-0538473637
15th Edition
Authors: Richard A. Mann, Barry S. Roberts