Opinion
C.A. No. 03C-03-275 SCD.
Submitted: August 26, 2004.
Decided: September 7, 2004.
Upon Consideration of Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment — GRANTED.
ORDER
This 7th day of September, 2004, upon consideration of Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment, it appears that:
(1) Defendants Morgan purchased a used car from Plaintiff Delaware Motor Sales, Inc. At the time of the sale, Defendants signed two loan applications — one calling for a down payment and one financing the entire purchase amount. Defendants indicated to Plaintiff they had made a down payment in cash. Plaintiff submitted the loan application that included a down payment, rather than the loan application that would have financed the entire price. Defendants never paid Plaintiff the down payment. Plaintiff is suing to collect this money.
(2) Defendants have asserted fraud or misrepresentation alleging that the car was in an accident prior to its sale, contrary to the representations of Plaintiff's agent.
(3) Plaintiff has filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. A motion for summary judgment may only be granted where there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Merrill v. Crothall-American, Inc., 606 A.2d 96 (Del. 1992).
(4) Plaintiff argues it is entitled to summary judgment in this debt action because Defendants signed documents at the time of purchase that indicated they were aware Plaintiff was making no warranties about the car except the limited warranty for 30 days or 1000 miles for the power train, power steering, charging system, starting motor, air conditioning system, and power window system. Plaintiff argues that even if it its agent made an express warranty that the car had not been in an accident, such a representation was supported by the CarFax report that indicated no accidents for the car.
(5) Defendants assert as a defense to payment that the car had been in an accident and/or damaged and that Plaintiff misrepresented this fact prior to purchase. Defendants state they would not have purchased the car had they known of the damage.
(6) Defendants have failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact. There is nothing in the record to support their allegation that the car actually was in an accident prior to the sale. In fact, as noted above, Plaintiff states a CarFax report gave the car a "clean" report, indicating no accidents had been reported.
(7) Plaintiff has included documents signed by Defendants at the time of sale indicating vehicle was sold essentially "as is" — with a limited 30 day/1000 mile warranty on the power train, etc. The Buyers Guide that Defendants signed even warns that they should get any oral promises made in writing. Nowhere does Plaintiff make any warranty that the car had not been in an accident and/or had no damage. The oral representations alleged by the Defendants are of no moment as the sales agreement provides, immediately below their signatures:
The seller, DELAWARE MOTOR SALES, INC./DELAWARE IMPORT VEHICLES, INC., hereby expressly disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, and DELAWARE MOTOR SALES, INC./DELAWARE IMPORT VEHICLES, INC., neither assumes nor authorizes any other person to assume for it any liability in connection with the sale of the vehicle.
WHEREFORE, it appears that there is no material issue of fact. Plaintiff is entitled to recover the amount of the down payment, $5,265.56 plus pre-judgment interest at 4.14% annual percentage rate from January 25, 2003 to date (I use that rate because it is the rate agreed to in the retail installment contract) and post-judgment interest at the legal rate pursuant to 6 Del. C. § 2301 from the entry of judgment until paid. Plaintiff is directed to submit a form of order to conform with this ruling. Plaintiff is also awarded court costs.
Plaintiff Delaware Motor Sales, Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED.