Garcia v. Mazda Motor of America

• Decision Date: 01 July 2004
• Docket Number: No. 02-2260.,02-2260.
• Citation: Garcia v. Mazda Motor of America, 2004 WI 93, 273 Wis.2d 612, 682 N.W.2d 365 (Wis. 2004)
• Parties: Adele R. GARCIA, Plaintiff-Appellant-Cross-Respondent-Petitioner, v. MAZDA MOTOR OF AMERICA, INC., a foreign corporation, and Hall Imports, Inc., a Wisconsin corporation, Defendants-Respondents-Cross-Appellants.
• Court: Wisconsin Supreme Court

273 Wis.2d 612

2004 WI 93

682 N.W.2d 365

Adele R. GARCIA, Plaintiff-Appellant-Cross-Respondent-Petitioner, v. MAZDA MOTOR OF AMERICA, INC., a foreign corporation, and Hall Imports, Inc., a Wisconsin corporation, Defendants-Respondents-Cross-Appellants.

No. 02-2260.

Supreme Court of Wisconsin.

Oral argument April 6, 2004.

Decided July 1, 2004.

For the plaintiff-appellant-cross-respondent-petitioner there were briefs by William S. Pocan, Vincent P. Megna, Susan M. Grzeskowiak and Jastroch & Labarge, S.C., Waukesha, and oral argument by William S. Pocan. For the defendants-respondents-cross-appellants there were briefs by Jeffrey S. Fertl, Jeffrey D. Patza and Hinshaw & Culbertson, Milwaukee, and oral argument by Jeffrey S. Fertl.

An amicus curiae brief was filed by Stephen E. Meili, Marsha M. Mansfield, and Nelle R. Rohlich, Madison, on behalf of the Consumer Law Litigation Clinic.

An amicus curiae brief was filed by James E. Thiel, John J. Sobotik, Paul E. Nilsen, Madison, on behalf of State of Wisconsin.

¶ 1. DAVID T. PROSSER, J.

This is a review of a published decision of the court of appeals, Garcia v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc., 2003 WI App 208, 267 Wis. 2d 622, 671 N.W.2d 317, affirming the circuit court's order granting summary judgment to Mazda Motor, Inc. and Hall Imports, Inc. (Mazda).¹ The case commenced when petitioner, Adele Garcia (Garcia), sued Mazda alleging that Mazda had failed to comply with Wisconsin's "Lemon Law," Wis. Stat. § 218.0171 (2001-02),² a remedial statute enacted to protect buyers of new vehicles if they experience certain types of problems with their purchases. Consumers requesting relief under the Wisconsin Lemon Law must fulfill two requirements: they must elect a remedy by demanding either a replacement vehicle or a refund, and they must offer to transfer title to the vehicle back to the manufacturer. See Wis. Stat. § 218.0171(2)-(3). Dissatisfied with a Mazda vehicle she had purchased, Garcia elected a remedy by demanding a replacement vehicle, but she did not explicitly offer to transfer title to Mazda.

¶ 2. After Garcia filed this action, Mazda moved for summary judgment, alleging that Garcia had failed to offer to transfer title to the vehicle, and thus had not complied with the provisions of the Wisconsin Lemon Law. Both the trial court and the court of appeals found Garcia's failure to explicitly offer to transfer title to be fatal to her cause.

¶ 3. We accepted Garcia's petition for review to determine whether Garcia's demand for a replacement vehicle under the Wisconsin Lemon Law complied with the notice requirements of Wis. Stat. § 218.0171(2)(c) by providing notice of Garcia's intent to transfer title to her vehicle to Mazda. Because we conclude that a consumer's demand for a replacement vehicle under the Wisconsin Lemon Law necessarily implies an offer to transfer title, we reverse the court of appeals and remand this case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

¶ 4. Garcia presented the following facts.³ Garcia purchased a new 2001 Mazda Tribute in February of 2001. Almost immediately, she experienced problems with the vehicle's transmission. These transmission problems were covered by the vehicle's new car warranty. On several occasions, Garcia presented the vehicle at an authorized Mazda dealer for service, but Mazda's technicians never succeeded in repairing the vehicle to Garcia's satisfaction. Garcia also claimed that the vehicle had been completely out of service for a number of days. The parties exchanged letters and phone calls. Eventually, in September 2001 Garcia became fed up with the transmission problems and wrote Mazda a letter demanding relief under the Wisconsin Lemon Law. Garcia's letter contained the following statements:

It is my understanding that the Lemon Law in the State of Wisconsin is that after a reasonable number of unsuccessful repair attempts by Mazda or its authorized dealers, or that the vehicle has been out of service a specific number of days, that I'm entitled to either a comparable replacement vehicle or a refund of the purchase price. At this time the automobile has been out of service for a period of 16 days and I would like to have a replacement.

¶ 5. Mazda and Garcia exchanged several additional rounds of correspondence. Mazda attempted to negotiate a settlement with Garcia, offering her reimbursements of car payments and an extended warranty, but Garcia refused these overtures. In October 2001 Mazda informed Garcia that it could not locate a replacement vehicle and that she should select a new vehicle. While selecting the vehicle, Garcia claims a dispute arose regarding payment of fees and taxes.⁴

II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 6. Garcia filed this action on November 21, 2001, alleging that Mazda had violated the provisions of the Wisconsin Lemon Law. On May 15, 2002, Mazda moved for summary judgment on grounds that Garcia's letter was insufficient to establish her claim under the Wisconsin Lemon Law because she did not offer to transfer title to the vehicle. The Waukesha County Circuit Court, Lee S. Dreyfus, Jr., Judge, granted Mazda's motion because it agreed that Garcia's notice was deficient. A divided court of appeals affirmed. As the majority opinion put it: "We see no ambiguity in the first two sentences of Wis. Stat. § 218.0171(2)(c): the consumer must offer to the manufacturer to transfer title to the ... vehicle.... Garcia's reading—that the request for a replacement vehicle is implicitly an offer to transfer title that triggers [the statute]—is not a reasonable reading of the statutory language." Garcia, 267 Wis. 2d 622, ¶ 11. One judge dissented, finding it "nonsensical for the owner of a `lemon' to demand a replacement and not, at the same time, be offering to transfer title." Id., ¶ 21 (Lundsten, J., dissenting).

III. WISCONSIN'S LEMON LAW

¶ 7. The issue in this case, whether Garcia's written demand for a replacement vehicle under the Wisconsin Lemon Law complied with the notice requirements of Wis. Stat. § 218.0171(2)(c), presents us with a question of statutory interpretation. Statutory interpretation and the application of a statute to specific facts are questions of law that we review de novo. In re Commitment of Franklin, 2004 WI 38, ¶ 5, 270 Wis. 2d 271, 677 N.W.2d 276. ¶ 8. We begin the process of statutory interpretation by analyzing the language of the statute. State ex rel. Kalal v. Circuit Court for Dane County,, 2004 WI 58, ¶¶ 44-45, 271 Wis. 2d 633, 681 N.W.2d 110. As we have repeatedly stated, we construe remedial, consumer protection statutes like the Wisconsin Lemon Law "with a view towards the social problem which the legislature was addressing when enacting the law." Dieter v. Chrysler Corp., 2000 WI 45, ¶ 19, 234 Wis. 2d 670, 610 N.W.2d 832 (citing Hughes v. Chrysler Motors Corp., 197 Wis. 2d 973, 982, 542 N.W.2d 148 (1996)). Put another way, we will liberally construe remedial statutes to suppress the mischief and advance the remedy that the legislature intended to afford. Hughes, 197 Wis. 2d at 979 (citing Madison v. Hyland, Hall & Co., 73 Wis. 2d 364, 373, 243 N.W.2d 422 (1976)).

¶ 9. Wisconsin's Lemon Law, Wis. Stat. § 218.0171, became effective on November 3, 1983. Like similar laws nationwide, the statute was enacted to protect purchasers of new vehicles that turn out to be defective (colloquially known as "lemons"). See, e.g., Hughes, 197 Wis. 2d at 978-80. Wisconsin's Lemon Law provides a remedy to the purchaser of a new vehicle if the purchaser, within one year of the purchase date, experiences problems with the vehicle that (1) are covered by the vehicle's warranty; and (2a) are severe enough to keep the vehicle out of service for a total of 30 days; or (2b) the manufacturer or the manufacturer's authorized representative are unsuccessful in repairing after four attempts. Wis. Stat. § 218.0171(1)(h) and 218.0171(2)(a).

¶ 10. Although the Wisconsin Lemon Law is clearly a consumer protection statute, it does not absolve the consumer from responsibility. See Smyser v. W. Star Trucks Corp., 2001 WI App 180, ¶¶ 13-14, 247 Wis. 2d 281, 634 N.W.2d 134. Wisconsin Stat. § 218.0171 reads in part: "To receive a comparable new motor vehicle or a refund due under [the Wisconsin Lemon Law], a consumer ... shall offer to the manufacturer of the motor vehicle having the nonconformity to transfer title of that motor vehicle to that manufacturer." Wis. Stat. § 218.0171(2)(c). In another section, the Wisconsin Lemon Law requires a consumer to notify the manufacturer of the consumer's elected remedy (the consumer may choose a replacement vehicle or a refund). Wis. Stat. § 218.0171(2)(b); see also Berends v. Mack Truck, Inc., 2002 WI App 69, ¶ 11, 252 Wis. 2d 371, 643 N.W.2d 158.

¶ 11. This is not the first time that we have been called upon to interpret Wis. Stat. § 218.0171. In Hughes, we had to determine whether consumers could recover the purchase price of the car as "pecuniary damages" under the Wisconsin Lemon Law. Because the statutory language did not directly address that question, we began by reviewing the history of lemon laws in general and Wisconsin's Lemon Law in particular. Hughes, 197 Wis. 2d at 980-82. Adhering to our rule of liberal interpretation of consumer protection statutes, we determined that the purchase price of the car did qualify as pecuniary damages.

¶ 12. In Dieter, decided four years after Hughes, we faced the question of whether consumers who are aware of defects in a vehicle upon delivery may still sue the manufacturer under the Wisconsin Lemon Law. We held that they could, overruling a court of appeals decision to the contrary, because the statute contained no "hidden" defect provision and expressly disallowed waiver by the consumer. Dieter, 234 Wis. 2d 670, ¶¶ 21-22.

¶ 13. Today, we need not revisit the historical discourse of Hughes because the plain language of the Wisconsin Lemon Law appears to settle...