Papenheim v. Lovell

• Decision Date: 29 March 1995
• Docket Number: No. 93-1494,93-1494
• Citation: 530 N.W.2d 668
• Parties: Gary PAPENHEIM, Appellant, v. Robert LOVELL, Appellee.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 668

530 N.W.2d 668

Gary PAPENHEIM, Appellant, v. Robert LOVELL, Appellee.

No. 93-1494.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

March 29, 1995.

Gary Papenheim, Parkersburg, pro se.

Theodore T. Duffield of Patterson, Lorentzen, Duffield, Timmons, Irish, Becker & Ordway, Des Moines, for appellee.

Considered en banc.

SNELL, Justice.

Gary Papenheim appeals a district court decision which awarded him repair, loss-of-use, and inconvenience damages for injury caused to his vehicle by a vehicle owned by Robert Lovell. He asserts substantial evidence does not support the district court's determination that his vehicle could by repair be placed in as good condition as it was prior to the accident. He therefore seeks the difference between the value of his vehicle prior to and after the accident rather than repair damages. He additionally challenges the reasonableness of the court's loss-of-use and inconvenience damages. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

I. Factual Background

On April 28, 1993, Papenheim filed a petition claiming the operator of a vehicle Lovell owned had negligently damaged his vehicle. Lovell did not file an appearance or an answer and the court declared him in default. The court then held a hearing on the issue of Papenheim's damages.

At the hearing, Papenheim testified the accident occurred when he was driving down a residential street in Cedar Falls. Papenheim claimed Lovell's truck struck his own vehicle twice in the rear after the truck pulled out from a parking place. Papenheim's vehicle, a 1991 Oldsmobile Toronado, was damaged in the right rear quarter panel, rear bumper area, and trunk lid. At the time of the accident Papenheim's vehicle had been driven 2900 miles.

Papenheim requested damages for: (1) the difference between the market value of his vehicle before and after the occurrence; (2) the reasonable value of the loss of use of the vehicle for the time required to repair it; and (3) compensation for lost time and inconvenience. Papenheim, and his expert witness, John Kannegeiter, provided the only testimony at the hearing.

The court recognized Kannegeiter, an owner of two used car dealerships and a body shop, as an expert witness. Kannegeiter testified that the focus of his current business is to purchase damaged cars at insurance auctions around the country, rebuild, and sell them. He testified that in the last ten years he has probably purchased seven to eight hundred cars for this purpose.

Kannegeiter observed the car both before and after it was repaired. He testified that it was his opinion that repair work could not return Papenheim's vehicle to the condition it had been in prior to the accident. Kannegeiter testified that according to his observations of the vehicle on the date of the hearing, repair work had failed to correct the damage. Specifically, he noted the reverse lights do not line up with the bumper correctly, some "body lines are off," the bumper does not fit the quarter panel properly, the wheel moldings do not fit, the trunk jamb is "pretty messy," the trunk lid gap is not correct, and the paint applied following repair has begun to chip.

The original window sticker price of the Oldsmobile Toronado was $25,509. Kannegeiter believed that at the time of the accident, the vehicle had a market value of $22,000. He based this opinion on a December 1990 observation of a comparable 1990 Oldsmobile which carried a market value of $22,300. Without ever observing Papenheim's car, an employee of Badger Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, Inc., located in Parkersburg, Iowa, provided a statement that the book value of a 1991 Oldsmobile Toronado with 3000 miles on it was $21,300.

In Kannegeiter's opinion, the value of Papenheim's vehicle in its damaged condition was $11,000. It was his opinion that if he purchased the vehicle in its damaged state for $11,000 and repaired it for an estimated $4000, it would have a resale market value of $17,000 to $18,000. Kannegeiter testified that the damage to this 1991 Oldsmobile greatly reduced the market value of the vehicle because potential purchasers would expect to pay a lower price for a vehicle that had been damaged to this extent.

John Deery Motor, Inc., the Cedar Falls dealer that originally sold Papenheim the automobile, estimated the amount of damage to be $4,666.63. Northwest Paint and Body Shop, located in Parkersburg, estimated the damage at $4,158.23. Northwest ultimately repaired the vehicle for this amount.

In order to present evidence of the value of loss of use of the car, Papenheim testified that he made inquiries at an Avis car rental shop regarding the rental prices of similar vehicles. At the time of the accident, Avis did not have a 1991 Toronado for rent, but rented a full-size car such as a Pontiac Bonneville or Oldsmobile Delta 88 for a weekly price of $219. Papenheim believed that his car was more valuable than either a Bonneville or a Delta 88, and upon further inquiry, learned that Avis rented luxury automobiles such as Cadillacs for $319 per week. Papenheim inquired about car rental prices again just before the hearing, and Avis informed him that its rental price for full-size cars was $224 per week or $889 per month.

Northwest Paint did not complete the repair of the vehicle until over thirteen weeks after the accident occurred. Papenheim testified that he could not use the car during this time because: (1) the taillight electronics were damaged and he could not therefore legally operate the car; and (2) he did not feel it would be appropriate to use the car for business purposes in its damaged state. He testified that there were two reasons the repair of the vehicle took so long. First, he spent the "first couple of weeks" negotiating on a price of repair. Second, all local body shops were unusually busy due to a severe hail storm that occurred in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area in May of 1991. On the issue of personal inconvenience, Papenheim testified that he spent approximately twenty hours of his personal time on matters associated with the accident and subsequent lawsuit.

The trial court granted Papenheim a total award in the amount of $5,423.63 plus interest accruing from the date he filed the lawsuit and court costs. Specifically, the court awarded Papenheim $4,666.63 for repairs and $657 for loss of use of the car for three weeks, calculated at a rate of $219 per week. The court granted the loss-of-use award for only a three week period because it believed the actual thirteen week period was unreasonably long. Finally, the court ruled that $100 was reasonable compensation for Papenheim's inconvenience and loss of time.

On appeal, Papenheim raises three arguments. First, he contends the trial court erred in failing to award him compensation for loss of value of the vehicle and in ignoring the testimony of the expert witness. Second, he asserts the trial court erred in finding that he was not entitled to damages for the approximately thirteen week period he was without use of the car and that three weeks was a reasonable time for the calculation of loss-of-use damages. Finally, Papenheim argues he should receive $500 rather than $100 for inconvenience and lost time.

II. Standard and Scope of Review

In a law action, we review a district court's determinations for errors in its application of legal principles and conclusions of law. Iowa R.App.P. 4; Waukon Auto Supply v. Farmers & Merchants Sav. Bank, 440 N.W.2d 844, 846 (Iowa 1989); Grinnell Mut. Reinsurance Co. v. Voeltz, 431 N.W.2d 783, 785 (Iowa 1988); In re Mt. Pleasant Bank & Trust Co., 426 N.W.2d 126, 129 (Iowa 1988); Cross v. Lightolier, Inc., 395 N.W.2d 844, 846 (Iowa 1986). Where the trial court sits as the finder of fact, the court's findings have the effect of a jury verdict and bind us if substantial evidence supports them. Waukon, 440 N.W.2d at 846; Grinnell, 431 N.W.2d at 785; In re Mt. Pleasant, 426 N.W.2d at 129; Cross, 395 N.W.2d at 846-47. Evidence is substantial when a reasonable mind could accept it as adequate to reach the same findings. Waukon, 440 N.W.2d at 846; Grinnell, 431 N.W.2d at 785. Evidence is not insubstantial merely because it would have supported contrary inferences. Grinnell, 431 N.W.2d at 785.

We construe the trial court's findings broadly and liberally. Id. In case of doubt or ambiguity we construe the court's findings of fact to uphold rather than defeat, the judgment. Id. In addition, the review standard prohibits us from weighing the evidence or the credibility of witnesses. Id.

III. Measure of Damages

The law of Iowa governing damages to automobiles was initially established by our court in In re Gray's Estate, 201 Iowa 876, 208 N.W. 358 (1926). We expanded these rules by adding to the measure of damages the loss of the reasonable value of the use of the vehicle during the time of its repair or replacement. Long v. McAllister, 319 N.W.2d 256 (Iowa 1982). The rules formulated in Long are:

(1) When the motor vehicle is totally destroyed or the reasonable cost of repair exceeds the difference in reasonable market value before and after the injury, the measure of damages is the lost market value plus the reasonable value of the use of the vehicle for the time reasonably required to obtain a replacement.

(2) When the injury to the motor vehicle can be repaired so that, when repaired, it will be in as good condition as it was in before the injury, and the cost of repair does not exceed the difference in market value of the vehicle before and after the injury, then the measure of damages is the reasonable cost of repair plus the reasonable value of the use of the vehicle for the time reasonably required to complete its repair.

(3) When the motor vehicle cannot by repair be placed in as good condition as it was in before the injury, then the measure of damages is the difference between its reasonable market value before and after the injury, plus the reasonable value of the use of the vehicle for...