Brown v. General Motors Corp.
| Decision Date | 16 January 2009 |
| Docket Number | 1061660. |
| Citation | 14 So.3d 104 |
| Parties | Troy BROWN v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Charles H. Volz III, Montgomery, for appellant.
G. Christopher Gleason of The Rose Law Firm, PLLC, Atlanta, Georgia, for appellee.
Troy Brown appeals from a summary judgment in favor of General Motors Corporation ("GM") on Brown's claims against GM stemming from an allegedly defective automobile Brown purchased. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.
On August 3, 2002, Troy Brown visited Bill Heard Chevrolet Company ("Bill Heard"), an independent authorized GM dealership in Georgia. Brown selected a Chevrolet Corvette automobile and completed a retail sales contract with Bill Heard for the purchase of the car. As part of the retail sales contract, Brown and Bill Heard entered into an agreement to submit any claims arising from the sale of the car to arbitration to be administered by the American Arbitration Association ("the AAA"). GM was not a party to the retail sales contract or to the arbitration agreement. However, GM issued with the sale of the car what it refers to as a "written limited warranty" providing that GM would repair or correct defects in materials or workmanship in the car for the first three years or the first 36,000 miles of use, whichever occurred first. Additionally, Brown purchased a "GM Protection Plan" that extended GM's obligation to five years or 50,000 miles, whichever occurred first. After completing the paperwork for the purchase of the car, Brown drove the car home to Alabama. A few days later, Brown attempted to register the car and discovered that Bill Heard had mistakenly collected too much money for the taxes on the vehicle. Brown informed Bill Heard of the excess taxes that Bill Heard had collected. On August 13, 2002, an employee from Bill Heard drove to Brown's place of business with two checks to reimburse Brown for the taxes. Brown signed a new retail sales contract to reflect the difference in the amounts of taxes collected and surrendered his copy of the original retail sales contract that he had executed on August 3, 2002.
Brown experienced a series of problems with the car. On multiple occasions, Brown took the car to an authorized GM service center for repairs and, in each instance, signed an arbitration agreement with the individual service providers at the time the car was serviced. However, the service providers were not ultimately able to resolve the issues with the car to Brown's satisfaction. In October 2005, Brown filed a "Consumer Arbitration Demand" with the AAA and sent an arbitration-demand letter to GM. However, GM refused to participate in arbitration with Brown because it was not a signatory to the arbitration agreement. Brown did not petition to compel GM to arbitration.
On August 8, 2006, Brown sued GM in the Montgomery Circuit Court, alleging breach of warranty under 15 U.S.C. § 2310(d)(1)(A), a part of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty-Federal Trade Commission Act ("Magnuson-Moss Act"); misrepresentation; and violations of the Alabama Motor Vehicle Lemon Law Rights, § 8-20A-1 et seq., Ala.Code 1975.1 In October 2006, GM moved to dismiss the action pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), Ala. R. Civ. P. The trial court denied GM's motion. GM answered Brown's complaint on February 12, 2007, but did not assert any affirmative defenses in that answer. In June 2007, GM moved for a summary judgment, arguing for the first time that Brown's claims were barred by the statute of limitations. Brown opposed that motion. The trial court held a hearing on GM's motion and subsequently entered a summary judgment in favor of GM on all the remaining claims. Brown now appeals.
Brown argues three issues on appeal. First, Brown argues that the trial court relied on this Court's decision in Tittle v. Steel City Oldsmobile GMC Truck, Inc., 544 So.2d 883 (Ala.1989), which, Brown claims, is a decision that was wrongly decided and should be overruled. Second, Brown argues that the trial court erred in entering a summary judgment for GM because, he says, the statute of limitations was tolled while Brown was attempting to arbitrate his disputes with GM. Third, Brown argues that GM waived the affirmative defense of the statute of limitations when it did not plead this defense before moving for a summary judgment on that ground. Because we agree with Brown's first argument, we do not reach the latter two issues.
Catrett v. Baldwin County Elec. Membership Corp., 996 So.2d 196, 199 (Ala.2008). Analysis
In Tittle, Rodney K. Tittle purchased a new automobile from Steel City Oldsmobile GMC Truck, Inc. ("Steel City"), on October 9, 1981. GM agreed to "repair and adjust defects in material or workmanship that occurred during the first 12 months or first 12,000 miles in which the car was in use." 544 So.2d at 884. However, Steel City was unable to repair the car. Tittle finally sued Steel City, General Motors Acceptance Corporation, and GM on January 29, 1986, alleging breach of warranties. Steel City and GM moved for a summary judgment based upon the statute of limitations. The trial court granted Steel City's and GM's motions, and Tittle appealed to this Court. This Court held that Tittle's state-law and Magnuson-Moss Act claims were subject to the statute of limitations provided for contracts for sale in § 7-2-725(2), Ala. Code 1975:
This Court held that "Tittle's warranty [did] not extend to the future performance of his car," and therefore upheld the trial court's determination "that Tittle's cause of action, by statute and by the express terms of his warranty, accrued at the time Steel City delivered the vehicle to him." 544 So.2d at 891.
In the present case, Brown took delivery of the car on August 3, 2002. GM argues that, under Tittle, the statute of limitations ran four years later on August 3, 2006, and, therefore, that Brown's action, filed on August 8, 2006, is barred. Brown asks us to revisit our holding in Tittle, noting that the fact that many manufacturers offer "warranties" in excess of four years highlights the error of the approach adopted in Tittle. He notes that, under the accrual rule adopted in Tittle, manufacturers may offer consumers a warranty that is not judicially enforceable in accordance with its terms because the term of the warranty extends beyond the four-year statute of limitations prescribed in § 7-2-725(1), Ala.Code 1975.2
After carefully considering Brown's invitation to reconsider our holding in Tittle as to the time a cause of action of the nature presented here accrues, we are convinced that, in the interest of fairness and logic, we should accept that invitation and overrule Tittle.
The contractual provision at issue in this case states, in part, as follows:
In addition, Brown purchased a "GM Protection Plan," which extended the warranty period to 5 years or 50,000 miles, whichever occurred first. In essence, therefore, the "warranty" at issue consisted of a promise by GM to repair the vehicle for any defects related to materials or workmanship that occurred during the 5-year period (or the period it took to drive 50,000 miles, whichever occurred first) after the vehicle was purchased.
Brown contends that the same defects continued to occur throughout the initial three-year warranty period. For example, he contends that the automobile was in...
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In re ZF-TRW Airbag Control Units Prods. Liab. Litig.
...a vehicle accrues "at the time the manufacturer breaches its contractual obligation to repair" the vehicle. Brown v. Gen. Motors Corp. , 14 So. 3d 104, 113 (Ala. 2009). In Brown , the Alabama Supreme Court overturned Tittle v. Steel City Oldsmobile GMC Truck, Inc. , 544 So. 2d 883 (Ala. 198......
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