Weng v. Allison
Case Date: 04/10/1997
Court: 3rd District Appellate
Docket No: 3-96-0230
_________________________________________________________________ IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS THIRD DISTRICT A.D., 1997 MICHAEL and KARLA WENG ) Appeal from the Circuit ) Court of the 14th Plaintiffs-Appellants, ) Judicial Circuit, Rock ) Island County, Illinois ) v. ) No. 95--SC--32771 ) ) Honorable THOMAS ALLISON ) Dennis DePorter Defendant-Appellee. ) Judge, Presiding _________________________________________________________________ JUSTICE HOLDRIDGE delivered the Opinion of the Court: The plaintiffs, Michael and Karla Weng (buyers), bought a car from the defendant, Thomas Allison (seller). When the car failed to perform as they expected, the buyers sued the seller, claiming breach of express and implied warranties. The trial court entered judgment in favor of the seller. We reverse and remand. At trial, the buyers testified that the seller told them that the car in question was: "mechanically sound," "in good condition," "a good, reliable car," "a good car," and had "no problems." The car was 10 years old and had been driven approximately 96,000 miles. Without test driving the car, the buyers agreed to purchase it for $800. When the buyers attempted to drive the car home, they noticed that the car did not seem to operate properly. They took the car to an automobile dealership for an inspection and learned that the car needed extensive repairs (costing approximately $1,500) and that it was not safe to drive. Subsequently, they brought suit against the seller. After hearing the evidence, the trial judge found that the seller's statements indicated to the buyers that he never had any problems with the car. The court found that in order for the statements of the seller to become express warranties, they would have to constitute the "basis of the bargain" between the parties. The trial judge found that the statements made by the seller to the buyer could not become the basis of the bargain unless the buyer reasonably relied upon them. Finally, the trial judge found that no one could have reasonably relied upon statements to the effect that a 10-year-old car, driven 96,000 miles and being sold for $800, had "no problems" and was "mechanically sound." The trial court ruled that because the statements did not constitute the basis of the bargain, they were not express warranties, and entered judgment in favor of the seller. Initially, we note that the seller has not filed a brief on appeal. However, the record is simple and the issues are such that the court can easily resolve them without the aid of an appellee's brief. Therefore, we turn to the merits of the case. See First Capitol Mortgage Corp. V. Talandis Construction Corp., 63 Ill. 2d 128 (1976). The buyers argue on appeal that the trial court erred in finding that the seller had not breached express warranties. A reviewing court may not reverse the judgment of a trial court concerning the existence of an express or implied warranty unless it is clearly contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence. Adolphson v. Gardner-Denver Co., 196 Ill. App. 3d 396, 400-01 (1990). For a judgment to be against the manifest weight of the evidence, it must appear that a conclusion opposite to that reached by the trier of fact is clearly evident. First Security Bank v. Bawoll, 120 Ill. App. 3d 787, 794 (1983). We find that the trial court's judgment was against the manifest weight of the evidence. Express warranties are enforceable if the statements at issue are: (1) affirmations of fact or promise which relate to the goods and become part of the basis of the bargain; or (2) descriptions of the goods which are made part of the basis of the bargain. (810 ILCS 5/2-313 (Michie 1994)), see, Redmac, Inc. v. Computerland of Peoria, 140 Ill. App. 3d 741 (1986). If the goods fail to conform to the affirmations or promises, the seller may be held accountable for breach of warranty. In this matter, the seller's statements to the buyers that the car was "mechanically sound," "in good condition," and had "no problems" were affirmations of fact and descriptions of the car that created an express warranty. Capital Equipment Enterprises v. North Pier Terminal Company, 117 Ill. App. 2d 264, 266 (1969) (representation by seller that crane was "in good condition" created express warranty); Sass v. Spradlin, 66 Ill. App. 3d 976, 981 (1978) (seller's statement that truck was in "undamaged condition" when it in fact had a defective transmission was breach of express warranty). We find the trial court's ruling that the statements of the seller could not have been part of the basis of the bargain simply because no reasonable persons could have relied upon those statements was erroneous. The trial court misconstrued the role of reliance in determining whether an affirmation of fact or description is part of the basis of the bargain. Affirmations of fact made during the bargain are presumed to be part of the basis of t |